Alice Cho: [00:00:00] EDR, it stands for Educational Divide Reform. It’s a non-profit organization that was founded in 2014. We began very active with adult learners. And then in 2020, we transitioned more toward the younger students. We first started with Brockton Public Schools. We worked at Brockton South Middle School, working with students all the way from grade one.

four through eight, we held math and English classes to help students, review the things that they learned throughout the year. And then in 2022, that’s when we began the Pathfinder program. So Pathfinder, it started because we realized that, okay, we’re helping the young students from grades four through eight, but what after that?

What can we do to help the high school students who sometimes might be the ones who really need attention as they begin to think life after high [00:01:00] school graduation? So Pathfinder first began to help and provide opportunity for career exploration and college readiness.

Jonathan Hughes: Hi everyone and welcome to the MEFA Podcast. My name is Jonathan Hughes. And you just heard from one of our guests on the show today. And we have a lot of them. Her name is Alice Cho and she is going to tell us about Educational Divide Reform and their college and career readiness program called Pathfinder.

Now they came to us through the use of our own MEFA Pathway, which they use to help students in the Brockton public school system as well as other districts, research college and career programs. So we’re going to hear from Alice about that program and we are also going to hear from her colleague Anna.

And two students who use the Pathfinder program, Keisha and Tam. Now a word before we jump right in, and that is that we had a few technical [00:02:00] difficulties with the audio recording during portions of this conversation. Mostly it went fine, but I’m afraid that the audio connection, at least to one of our students, was not as clear as I would like it to be.

But right now, let’s Learn about growing aspirations, about introducing students in Gateway Cities to colleges and careers, and more from our guests on the show today. So let’s meet them.

Alice Cho: Hello, my name is Alice Cho, and I have been part of EDR ever since I was in college. So I started out working as a teacher.

During the COVID times, when we started our program for elementary to middle school students, that’s when I joined as a teacher and I started working if I had to count, that would be four years about. And after I graduated college, I joined here as a full time staff. So I do multiple roles. But then we’re very active during the [00:03:00] summer also in the fall for our Pathfinder program.

In general my main role is the academic site where I make sure that we’re designing the curriculum, creating assessments that meet the needs of diverse student populations that come to our program.

Ana Berhe: I’m Ana Behre. I’m a teacher at Plouffe Middle School in Brockton. And during the summer and fall, I work with EDR as a student manager.

My role is like a little bit of everything. I do the coordination between parents. Also, I do the student behavior in the side that just make sure everything runs smooth, no major issue. If the student’s having a hard time, just hey, have a conversation, make sure they’re okay mentally before they return to the classroom.

If they need a break, I also address those issues. We do communication with the student, explain to them what’s the program during the enrollment [00:04:00] time. And it’s I am that person between home and the program most of the time. So that’s my role. And I’ve been with ADR for years. I started part time teaching online during COVID.

And from there, I did also after school program, and then during the summer, we do the program, summer program, and the Pathfinder program that the one Keisha and Tan are enrolled in, and we work together in that sense.

Tam: Oh, hi, my name is Tam, and I’m currently a senior at Brockton High.

Jonathan Hughes: And you were participating in the Pathfinder program?

Tam: Yeah, I was participating in the Pathfinder program because my counselor sent me a form of light resistor ring. Actually, I was busy at that time, but you know the name of this program, Pathfinder? Sounds so cool, so I decided to give it a try.

Keisha: Hello, let me introduce [00:05:00] myself. My name is Keisha Etienne. I’m a sophomore from Brockton High School. I was participating in Pathfinder program.

Jonathan Hughes: What’s EDR and what is Pathfinder? Tell me about the history of both of those programs.

Alice Cho: So EDR, it stands for Educational Divide Reform. It’s a non-profit organization that was founded in 2014. We began very active with adult learners. We were first collaborating with Boston Adult Technical Academy, BATA.

And so we were helping over aged teenage students in high school to have the skills and capacity to be able to successfully graduate high school and begin preparing for college. So that’s how we first began our non profit organization. And then in, that was pre COVID, so from 2014 all the way to 2019, that was our main work that we were doing.

And then in 2020, we [00:06:00] transitioned more toward the younger students because when COVID hit, you’ve seen how a lot of academic institutions, a lot of public schools, they were impacted by that. So we began to work closely. We first started with Brockton Public Schools. So we worked at Brockton South Middle School, working with students all the way from grade four through eight, we had it’s called step up.

So what we essentially did was we held math and English classes to help students. Review the things that they learned throughout the year and prepare for their following academic year because sometimes summer can be a time that students can use to catch up and also it could be a time where educational loss can happen when students aren’t able to catch up.

So we use that time to strategically help students prepare for their following year. And alongside that we. did a lot of extracurricular activities ranging from [00:07:00] Taekwondo, music we did K pop this year, musical theaters, and all just different activities to make sure that the students were not only studying, but they were having fun while learning.

So 2020, it was such a roll. We did all of this new things that EDR normally did not do, and it was the first launch of this programs for the younger students. And then in 2022, that’s when we began the Pathfinder program. So Pathfinder, it started because we realized that, okay, we’re helping the young students from grades 4 through 8, but what after that?

What can we do to help the high school students who sometimes might be the ones who really need attention as they begin to think life after high school graduation. So Pathfinder first began to help and provide opportunity for career exploration and college readiness. So what Tan and Kisha was part of [00:08:00] this summer it was the Pathfinder program really focusing on the career exploration piece.

That’s summer, and then we have the fall part where we then go into college readiness. So it’s more from like an exploration piece, self discovery to a more narrowed roadmap for the students as they begin to think about their actual careers and dreams. So that’s in the fall.

Ana Berhe: We have the step up program that we run during the summer as I am from Brockton.

So this is a community that is where there’s a lot of struggle and we want the student to close the gap. on their academic year and the program provide them that opportunity because, when kids stay Two months out of school, things like it get lost. The step up give them the opportunity to learn, to reinforce their math skill, writing, like English is writing and reading.

So it’s a way and we work very close to give them that [00:09:00] resource so they can succeed the following year. And for the step forward, it’s no, the Pathfinder is more like we’re focusing on We start with maybe junior, sophomore, we welcome any group that want to learn. And on that way, we if they start with us sophomore like Keisha, they have the opportunity to grow and that’s our intention.

So they start to learn about career, how to improve themselves during high school. Because a lot of the students coming from underprivileged community, there is a lot of, that prevent them to know what’s available, what’s provided. So we come in with those resource to show them what’s available, what you can do in terms of financial aid, in term, in terms of career opportunity, what do you need to prepare yourself very early?

to succeed. So that’s how we come in to support our school and our community.

Jonathan Hughes: Keisha, I’ll [00:10:00] ask you, how long were you in classes for, or the Pathfinder program for? Like, how long did that run throughout the summer, and then what were some of the things that you did?

Keisha: I only did two weeks in the Pathfinder program.

And in this program, I’ve had so many experiences. They not only help us to have an idea on what we want to do after finish high school, but they teach us how to live together and how to grow together. And every single day, every single person make us believe that we can do everything we want to do.

Every day we came to the program, we had the opportunity to be debate on different profession or career. We got the opportunity also to ask question in the part. And the part that I liked the most was the first, when the guest speaker give us some [00:11:00] time to, to make something about the subject of the day.

We learn so much then in this program and after the, we get in a small group to talk about what we learn during the day. That’s all I did in this program.

Jonathan Hughes: And what about you, Tam?

Tam: Let me tell you something. Throughout the summer every time the weekend approached I couldn’t help but think another Saturday again another week again.

You know how it feels like. Which means I was stuck in a loop of ordinary days, repeat themselves, like, all the summer long, right? But after a week with backfire, My Saturday came differently, like I no longer feel like another week again because I vividly remember each day of that special week with Pathfinder and it was the longest week I have ever experienced.

Jonathan Hughes: Did you have a favorite [00:12:00] profession that you learned about? Was it something that you thought you would be interested in? Was it something different?

Tam: I can tell you every professor and every guest speaker are all amazing and remarkable. But before Pathfinder I, I’m interested in psychology and education.

But after attending, I discovered another passion of mine in communication. I’ve always loved sharing and public speaking, yet insecurity has held me back. My English wasn’t really good, and I wasn’t confident enough to talk. Yeah, but thanks to Pathfinder, I reconnected to That part of myself that I have lost.

Yeah. And I’m stepping it out of my comfort zone to reach my full potential, even though it’s really hard.

Jonathan Hughes: And Keisha?

Keisha: Me, I already knew what I wanted to pursue since I was a little kid. But when I participate in the Pathfinder program, this program make [00:13:00] me focus on what I wanted to pursue when. And then I also found a new one that I like. I think it’s the Cybersecurity and Criminal Justice.

Jonathan Hughes: Oh. Yeah. And what was the first thing that you, what was the thing that you went in with? I didn’t catch that if you said. That thing that you always wanted, that you knew that you wanted to do since you were little. What was that?

Keisha: It was.

Jonathan Hughes: So I will ask Allison and Anna, how do students or anybody actually, how do students. Find their way into the program. I know it was recommended to you, Tan. Is it recommended typically by counselors to students that they identify? Or is any student just welcome to, to give it a shot?

Alice Cho: At the very beginning, we first collaborated with the bilingual department of Brockton, and that is where the communication to the students happen. So there are an awesome bridge for us as we try to share the news [00:14:00] of our programs. And then after that, we have also visited the school itself. We would go into info sessions.

If the school provides us with a spot during their assembly time, you would go and speak to the kids directly. And a lot of times Brockton Public School will provide. Mostly students who are English learners who probably would not receive this sort of opportunity because sometimes when they’re not in the general classroom, a lot of activities, extracurriculars might be held back from them until they Are proficient in English, but I think that shouldn’t be the case.

I feel like regardless of your English level You are still in high school. You should be able to experience all these different activities out there and we have this exposure So that is why we try to find students who might be in the blind spot Bought from all of these different systematic parts and then make sure that they are receiving or are able to join our program.

Jonathan Hughes: I want [00:15:00] to talk a little bit more about the program itself. It’s a, so from what I heard is two weeks. In the summer, right? And what is part of this? We had another guest speakers, and I want to know how you find those partners in the community to come in and talk. And I know that somebody from MIFA was in earlier, which is how we got to know you, I think.

But how do you find those folks? And what else is part of that two week period? Are there other activities?

Alice Cho: Are we have the summer and the fall session? I can maybe later talk about what we have in plan so that Pathfinder will be a full year cycle. But right now, what we have established is the summer and fall summer two weeks.

And in the fall, we have a 10 weeks long Saturday. We meet every Saturday and then help students in the college readiness part of their college application process. And for the summer part where I think Tan and Keisha [00:16:00] talked very well about was where we have career workshops, mentor group sessions, campus tours, There are many different activities that we try to provide for the students so that they can get as much experience as they can.

We have from morning till afternoon, so it begins at 9 a. m. all the way to 2. 30 p. m. It happens in a university setting because we want to bring students to that environment. We’re going to be talking about college. It won’t really come to them fully if we don’t really introduce them. To the college in the first place.

So we hold it at in a university setting. We’ve done it for the past three years at U. S. Boston. So we have a classroom there that we use and the students come in. The morning part is designated for career workshops. This is where the guest speakers come from all diverse backgrounds. This year we had people come in from law and government, from [00:17:00] education, from what Keisha mentioned as IT and cyber security.

She was actually a professor at Bridgewater State University who first founded the criminal justice integration with cyber security. in the school for their grad school program. So we invited her to actually come and speak to our students. And this year, we actually took the students to the school to Bridgewater and held the session in the cyber security building at the school.

It was really nice. I think that opened the eyes for students to actually not only listen. And be part of the workshop, but also fully immersed into the environment where these are all taught for the college students. A lot of our guest speakers, they come in through personal connections. We, for the law and government part, we have someone named Linda Champion.

She’s actually an attorney now working at one of the law firms here, I believe, in Massachusetts. But she is one of our board members for [00:18:00] EDR. We invited her to come and she says she has a lot of connections from different diverse fields. She would connect us to other people to come and speak for us.

So it started as a personal connection part. But then you also see Jennifer for her. We realized a need for this area for our students. We teach a lot of career paths to the kids, but there’s no actual step by step guidance that we had in our first year. In the second year, we realized we should have some sort of system where the students can maybe create something, have their own account, and keep track of where they’re at in their journey for their future.

So that’s where we were looking around and we saw MIFA Pathways and I thought that was just a very Well, comprehensive educational platform where students can actually begin their career journey early on. Fortunately, Brockton Public School already collaborates with Meiko Pathways. We try to invite guest [00:19:00] speakers who not only are excellent in their professional fields, but also represent our student population, which means that when the students hear their personal stories, they can find points of relation from their guest speakers.

For instance, we’ve had for this year, we’ve had speaker who was from biracial community. She actually grew up half Korean, half Mexican. And she struggled, she knows what the struggle is to have to live in a community where sometimes she could be discriminated, or because of her accent, people will have stereotypes against her.

And she would talk about that, And her personal story in overcoming that and becoming the person that she is today. So a lot of our guest speakers are people who our students can relate to and actually really inspire them because they probably were in the same shoes that our students. We’re in now.

Ana Berhe: So we want to bring them the reality [00:20:00] because a lot of time we talk, you talk about something, but when you bring someone that worked in the field that had their own story, and then a lot of time it tell the kids that it sent this message to the students. This person went through all this struggle, but see where she or where he is.

So it’s more realistic than just come and tell. Want to be a pilot? You need to do this. Want to be a doctor? But I’m bringing a pilot. I’m bringing a doctor. I’m bringing an engineer to show you the steps. The opportunities, how you can prepare yourself to become one of them. So it’s become more realistic. And this one, give the student the opportunity to ask the question directly to the person.

Alice Cho: I would also want to mention, because we talked about the morning part, which is the career workshops. . And then in the afternoon, so we have lunch at school and then in the [00:21:00] afternoon, we begin the mentor group sessions, which is, I would say, one of the most important time of our program because this is where students actually digest the information that they learned in the morning workshops and talking amongst each other.

There’s we have mentors who are there to guide and facilitate the conversation, make sure that the students are making the lessons that they learned. their own. Our mentors are also current college students or maybe grad school students who have walked the road up until now and know what the students are facing.

So they’re able to relate very well with the students. Also, some of them are able to speak the students languages. So it really becomes a good conversation. I think it Looks almost like a brother and sister conversation, but that’s what we’re looking for. We want them to feel comfortable when they come to our sessions, make sure that even as Anna mentioned, even if they’re shy to be able to just ask and want to go out of their comfort zone and [00:22:00] continue to learn and grow.

Jonathan Hughes: And so what are some of those things? And that will run for 10 weeks. Is it 10 Saturdays, you said?

Ana Berhe: There is 10 Saturdays, but we do session. Students will be design, designate some advisor or some mentor. They will work throughout the weeks. They can schedule an appointment with them. Saturdays when we all are together we go over, we look at what they’re working, because we’re focusing on their essays.

College choice if they need to apply for financial aid, so we go, but during the week. Also, they schedule an appointment with one of the mentors. They have that one on one session. The support is continuous, so to help the student, push them a little bit, so they can give a little bit more, so they can succeed in what they intend to do.

Alice Cho: Just to go off of what Ana started, so The fall program now focuses on college readiness. One of the most intimidating part about college [00:23:00] application, according to our students, was the college essay part. The writing, for anyone, it’s not very easy. And it’s also harder when you are from an English learner background.

We make sure that the students are equipped with the tools and equipped with the support that they need to write and craft an essay that really reflects their personal story. The 10 weeks, it’s a time, it’s, writing, it takes a while, so we have placed a longer time frame for the fall so that the kids have enough and ample time to create their personal essays.

As Anna mentioned, our mentors are very active during the fall. To provide that one on one support because now we understand that students, they come with stories that sometimes they need privacy. They want to talk about it before they write it. So we had the one on one sessions where students talk about their stories, discuss and brainstorm on what they think is best to write in their college essay, find the [00:24:00] right prompt for them, and then they begin it.

With that mentor throughout the 10 weeks so alongside that we understand that writing on its own can be very, you know It’s very ritual. It’s always the same. So we add in more campus tours within those weeks, so Some weeks we are online where we do different workshops. We talk about financial aid scholarships We even go into professional life skill workshop college survival skill workshop also and all of that.

And we go on campus tours and this year we have a very special schedule for our students that we’ve not had before because in our summer we had one of the students give a feedback saying that I want more hands on experience. I want to be part of like more skills training. So what we Applied for this year is to take the students to a skills workshop for the medical field [00:25:00] held at Harvard Medical School So we’re going to be part of that event and bring all the students And have them join that session so that they can get a feel for what a medical professional job would look like and be part of that journey.

So we want to provide more of that as we continue our program, where it’s a good balance of not just workshop, mentor sessions, but also real life experiences.

Jonathan Hughes: Have you seen students? Graduate the program and go into college and know how they’re doing. What’s the feedback been?

Alice Cho: The first cohort, which was in 2022 we’ve had students go into colleges such as UMass Boston, to MCPHS.

to Bridgewater State University, to Simmons University, so I realized that, so the students will continue to contact me about their results, and then we would celebrate together. Something that I noticed is the universities that they have applied to and gone [00:26:00] in, Were schools that we actually went on campus tours to so it feels I realized that there was this connection where the places that we showed where the places that they applied, which made me under realize that, wow, it’s so important that we are exposing students to the right colleges, because probably that’s the only places that they might apply in the end.

So we have had a good number of students actually go to university. They came into our program very hesitant about the idea of College being their option for their future, and it was very, I think, a very meaningful time for us and also for them to realize that they actually found a passion that they wanted to pursue, and when they realized that college was part of the journey, they decided to just dedicate and commit to this program and actually stick through, finish their college essay portion and actually apply.

We have seen that pattern the past two [00:27:00] years. So coming into this year, we want to create a stronger alumni network first. So for the first time within our pathfinder program, we’ve had students. From our Pathfinder program feed into our younger students program, Step Up and Step Forward, where they came in as volunteers.

A big, it was a big move from our program because this meant that we are going to create a cycle where the students Receive, but they also give back to their community. Two of our Pathfinder students joined in as volunteer as high school volunteers for our younger students. And it was very nice to see them because they know what the students are going through.

And what we have planned is, as I mentioned before, is to create Pathfinder into a full one year set where it’s called Pathfinder Advance, where we have four different phases. One being in the summer for a career exploration. [00:28:00] That’s in August. That’s two weeks long. Phase two, focusing on college readiness, where the students go through the 10 weeks program of college essay writing and further skills development.

And then phase three being Just a focus on skill development where students we have a different set of certification and training programs that we have in mind where we can talk about graphic design, video setting and also just coding all this different technical skills that can directly reflect to the job market for the students to build that skills during our face three work alongside our mentors that they can receive full support and receive real exposure to actual job training.

And then in the fourth phase, we’re going back to. So the third phase is in the spring, the fourth phase going back to the summer where they now will use all the things that they’ve learned that they’ve accomplished to actually impact their community. [00:29:00] Through volunteer work.

Jonathan Hughes: Now, as a final question, I asked Keisha and Tam if they would recommend the Pathfinder program to a friend and what general advice they would have based on what they learned in that program.

Keisha: Sure. I would recommend them 100% this program to every student if I have spoken to tell them. But I just tell them to participate in the program because it’s a good good thing and they will learn a lot of things just like me. I learned if you’re bilingual student, you can come. And you will also learn to speak English because you will practice English every day just like me. They help me to speak and to be confident.

Tam: Oh, yeah, of course I will recommend for my friend, because I already recommend for my friend. But I want to recommend for more people. I know there are so [00:30:00] many young people out there who are lost, who are struggling to find their way. And they all deserve this opportunity to get motivated, to get guidance, and to discover their potential.

So yeah, I believe that once they know their value and find out the purpose in life, yeah, nothing can stop them.

Jonathan Hughes: Anna, Tan, Keisha, anything else before we go?

Ana Berhe: For us from EDR, our goal is to motivate, to inspire, and to show our students A pathway to their life, and to their career, and to the success of their life.

Independent from where they come from their social status, nothing matters. The most important, what you’re bringing in to help you grow and achieve your goals. Professional, personal, whatever goal you have in life. So that will be our motto. And we will [00:31:00] do it with a great pleasure because that’s the main umbrella of the program.

Help our community, help our students, and I’m hoping that we will have more fun. more opportunities so we can reach out to more students.

Alice Cho: All students deserve programs like this and we want to expand it to as many students as possible who are out there, who are concerned about or who are worried because of their current status, who are You know, worried about their academic part or maybe just their career and future.

We want to be able to help them understand that regardless of their background, they already are coming in with gifts. That’s probably when talents that they don’t realize that they already have, and we already understand that Keisha and Tan, they mentioned that they’re bilingual, that already is a skill in itself, [00:32:00] and we want to uplift that and start from there, start from them, and help them understand their full potential, keep building that until that they can come to a level where they’re able to use those talents in a way that they can use it.

Impacts community and also gives back to other people and inspire the young generations to also do the same thing that they did. So we want to continue that sustainable model, that cycle within our community, starting from Brockton and going beyond that border. We’ve already started working with Chelsea for Pathfinder this year.

So we want to expand it to more cities, more gateway cities that actually need the support.

Jonathan Hughes: Best of luck to all of you, and thank you so much for being here.

Alice Cho: Thank you so much.

Jonathan Hughes: [00:33:00] That was our show. I would like to thank Alice, Anna, Keisha, and Tam for taking time to be with us and to share their experience and their efforts with us. Now, as always, if you liked what you heard today and you want to hear more from us on planning, saving, and paying for college and career readiness, then follow the show and you can do that wherever you find your podcast.

And please remember to leave a review and to rate us. It helps us keep doing what we’re doing and getting the show out in front of folks like you. Now I would like to thank our producer Shaun Connolly. I would like to thank Meredith Clement, Lisa Rooney, Lauren Danz, and AJ Yee for their assistance in getting the show posted.

Once again, my name is Jonathan Hughes and this has been The MEFA Podcast.