The year 2020 saw numerous challenges, with the COVID-19 pandemic having a lasting impact in our society. With schools, business, and transportation shut down, many people struggled to connect with others, especially students. Pendleton Heights Middle School noticed this struggle, especially realizing the need for a tutoring program for students who have a difficult time completing and understanding homework on their own.
PHMS, after determining the necessity of a tutoring program, established COACH (Connecting, Organizing, and Creating Hope), a program designed to gather mentors and tutors for students. Program objectives centered on using 50 volunteer mentors to provide supportive coaching to help students improve school performance and social, emotional and organizational skills.
The Open Hearts, Open Purses giving circle voted the COACH program as the winner of the $10,000 grant in 2020, enabling the COACH program to provide students with help and guidance as they navigate their years at PHMS and beyond.