Pitkin is finishing a masters program to become a school counselor and her work this year with struggling students has been invaluable as she’s had to overcome her own biases and judgements around underperforming students.

“I have learned that I’m wrong a lot,” she said. “I’m almost 20 years removed from high school and things have changed so much. Coming from the corporate world, I was very judgmental of some of the students. Now that I’m here, I see it’s not that easy. I just didn’t really have a good understanding of the wide array of challenges that students face.”

The academic coaching program instituted this year at Viewmont hopes to change that. As academic coaches, Pitkin, Gabe Johnson and Joy Farley were recognized by the Davis School District Board of Education for their dedication to students at VHS.

VHS Principal Travis Lund is credited with creating the academic coaching positions as a way to address the complex issues that can stop a student from graduating and having a balanced life. Adopting the Josh Shipp quote, “Every child is one caring adult away from being a success story,” the coaches were asked to be that one caring adult in a student’s life. 

“It has been an incredible program,” Johnson said. “A lot of these students don’t always hear ‘good job’ because they’re not the types of students that get that kind of recognition. We ask that each student we work with gives 100% effort, and sometimes just showing up at school is their 100% effort that day.”

It’s Johnson’s first year at Viewmont and his main focus is to identify students who might be struggling and give them the support, resources and encouragement they need to succeed. Because each student faces different challenges, it can be an ongoing process to create a strategy for success, and coaches are dedicated to finding creative solutions.

Johnson worked with a student who ended up missing the first part of school due to health concerns. The teen had missed a lot of assignments and felt overwhelmed with what he had to do to catch up. Johnson helped him work through one assignment at a time and celebrated every success. The student ended the semester with a 4.0 GPA. 

“Travis created the positions and got the ball rolling,” Johnson said. “Eventually the district wants to have academic coaches in every school.”

Farley taught in the Philippines for several years before moving to Utah. As she works to get licensed to teach in the state, becoming an academic coach has given her critical experience. It could be the structure of classes or being overwhelmed by assignments, but the teens targeted in the program often struggle and frequently drop out of school. 

Many students working with an academic coach don’t fit in with a structured form of education. Farley works with 16 students and each one has a learning strategy created just for them. For one young man, Farley’s approach wasn’t working. He was frustrated and wanted to drop out. Farley met with his mother and got some valuable information. 

“I thought I was doing him a favor but I was actually cutting a thread that is the only thing keeping him in school,” she said. “The plan I’d created was too strict. Now I have a really good relationship with him and he respects me more. I’m not another reason he doesn’t want to go to school. I get to help kids as another person they can trust, a person who can stand with them and know that there’s hope for them.”

Pitkin coaches a student who has a full-time job and gets home from work at 11:30 at night. She hopes to create a plan that allows him more time for rest because he’s exhausted when he comes to school. They’ve discussed options of a reduced school schedule or a different job or finding more distance learning opportunities.

A lot of the work is trial and error, and all three coaches admit they’ve made mistakes. It’s a constant process of gathering information, building trust, becoming aware of challenges and stepping out of judgement. 

“What I hope to do is not make pre-judgements or assume I know a person’s situation. Everything isn’t always as it seems,” Pitkin said. “I definitely worry about a lot of the students I work with. I want them to be okay and have happy lives.”

The biggest takeaway from the first year of this coaching program is that kids are overwhelmed, valuable and fragile. The coaches said they provide tender loving care and no micromanagement. While not all students are interested in working with an academic coach, the participating students are making progress. 

“Sometimes academic coaching isn’t about academics,” Farley said. “It’s about having the kids stay in school. Having a kid stay in school is a huge success.”