Expansive Opportunities in Action: 4 Leaders Who Developed Supports Beyond Traditional MTSS


Give [students] something that allows them to see we recognize who they are.

Matt Coleman

School: Springfield High School

Leader: Carmen Gelman

Expansive Opportunity: Mariachi Band

“It’s an expansive opportunity, specifically for a group of students that were marginalized. It was part of a multi-pronged effort to engage kids and create connection in different ways.”


School: Cottage Grove High School

Leader: Iton Udosenata

Expansive Opportunity: Boxing Club

“[Cottage Grove High School] had very clear expectations about how kids needed to be in school if they were going to get to participate in the after school boxing club. This relatively small group had big needs in terms of not feeling connected to school.”


School: Mountain View High School

Leader: Matt Coleman

Expansive Opportunity: Skate Club

“We got with the local community… and built out a skate park. [We gave] them something that allows them to see that we recognize who they are as a group of students.”


School: Westview High School

Leader: Mark Jackson, REAP & Matt Coleman

Expansive Opportunity: African & African American Student Outreach

“[There is] the classic mental health support, math support, and reading support. All of those things, we were doing. But this is meant to illustrate thinking about more than just the traditional ways that we think about what it means to strategically or intensively support kids.”


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