Dena’s Success Story

Meet Dena! Dena has been involved in SAVE for 7 years! Dena participated in our Academic Mentoring Program on UNO’s campus while she attended All Saints Catholic School, and she is now enrolled in our Follow Through Program at Roncalli Catholic School. Recently, Dena has been working extremely hard in school, improving her grades drastically, and tried out for the tennis team! 

Mister D, our staff member, has acted as a mentor to Dena since she was in the 3rd grade at All Saints, and now, he leads the Roncalli Follow Through sessions that Dena attends. As a part of our Follow Through Program, we work with each individual student to build tangible plans to improve academic success, increase extracurricular engagement, and to encourage future-readiness. Mister D and Dena collaborated and developed a plan to help her reach her goals, which include going to college to study the medical field and increasing her extracurricular involvement! 

The incentive plan for grade improvement started by providing her a tennis net for her backyard last semester so she would start to build the confidence to potentially try out for the team, which led her to trying out for the team and benefiting greatly from her participation! Mister D was able to go watch a match recently and ask her a few questions. Side note: TWO of Mister D’s Follow Through students were playing in this meet, one from Roncalli, and one from Marian!

Why did you decide to try out for tennis this year?

“It’s a good way to stay active, and it’s not like a main sport like basketball or volleyball.”

How have your academics improved since joining the tennis team?

“My grades have improved (quite significantly, according to Mister D). Playing on the tennis team motivates me to keep my grades up, so I can stay eligible to play.”

Do you plan to continue playing tennis next year? 

“Yes, and I plan on making the varsity team!”

How has SAVE helped you with your tennis ambitions?

“SAVE has gotten me the equipment that I need to participate, and checks in on my grades to make sure I’m on track to play.”

We are so proud of Dena’s progress, specifically for stepping out of her comfort zone with tennis and trying something she had never tried before. Go Dena! We can’t wait to see what else you accomplish! 

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At SAVE, we know there are three main pillars to student success: academic excellence, extracurricular involvement, and future-readiness. When students find inspiration in one area, all of the other areas tend to improve as well. Extracurricular activities have the potential to not only inspire students, but keep them academically accountable as well. 

Because the benefits of extracurricular participation are so great, we work hard to remove barriers that interfere with our students’ ability to participate, such as registration fees, needed supplies such as shoes or a tennis racket, the knowledge of activities and clubs, the inspiration to want to be involved, and the resilience skills/mentorship required to try new things. 

Our program model, spanning from the 3rd-12th grade, allows us to develop profound trust with each of our students. Each student has the opportunity to be equipped with 10 years of SAVE support, mentorship, and programs, giving them the foundation to THRIVE! 

Want to join us in equipping students with what they need to thrive? Learn more on our Donate Page!