About Reach a Student
Objective: To provide WPS students the ability to access and share positive insight on any school related matter.
As the President of Reach A Student, I enjoy seeing how our community unites to help one another. The original idea was conceived in 2015 when me and my sister Sarina were on a long road trip. Knowing how much I benefited from having her as a mentor, it was clear that she felt that 'stewardship' was something she wished she had. We recognized this to be a recurring issue for so many others: some students had extra guidance from either parents or older siblings while others did not. We sought to minimize this disadvantage by creating a program rooted to help ease this flaw and provide support that is often an unvoiced need for many students.
The idea of the site was unfortunately not well received by our parents who felt such an endeavor would distract from an already full schedule of education and after-school activities, but together me and Sarina sought the advice of Mrs. Mary Beth Davies, the Director of the WPS Middle School.
Mrs Davies really connected with the spirit of the idea and encouraged her to pursue it. Her confidence in the program was inspiring and helped her focus on making Reach A Student a reality. Mrs. Davies has been so inspiring to both me and Sarina and to so many fortunate to have had her lead us through our formative middle school years. We simply cannot thank her enough for all she has done for so many students at Windermere Preparatory School. Each time a new milestone was reached with our website design, she was there to guide and support us. Mrs. Davies felt the idea would have a positive impact on the school and arranged for us to meet with WPS Headmaster Dr Marcy and subsequently Dr Williams, the Director of High School. Both Dr Marcy and Dr Williams were equally supportive of our objective to provide all students the ability to access and share positive insight on any school related matter.
Serving as Sarina's Vice President while I was in middle school, I was inspired to create a unique new program focused entirely on helping the neurodiverse community of Central Florida. Connect A Kid would not exist if not for all the experience I've garnered through Reach A Student, and together the difference our volunteers are making locally is one we can all be proud of. Separately, my Teens That Teach program gives free group and private tutoring sessions for academic and standardized test preparation.
