This paper explores programs and strategies for helping at-risk students succeed academically and socially. It defines at-risk students as those facing challenges like poverty, abuse, mental health issues, pregnancy, or other obstacles. The paper outlines several programs available in Idaho and elsewhere, including ARISE which provides after-school life skills training, Englishton Park Academic Remediation and Training Center which uses wilderness activities to help students, and Success For All which provides tutoring and support. It also discusses the benefits of online schools, peer mentoring, and bringing in motivational speakers like Jeff Yalden who was once at-risk himself. The paper argues that various support programs can help prevent at-risk students from dropping

1. Running Head: HELPING AT-RISK STUDENTS 1
Helping At-Risk Students
Bree E. Hohnbaum
College of Western Idaho

2. HELPING AT-RISK STUDENTS 2
Abstract
This paper explores and analyzes the things, not only a teacher, but anyone can do to help a
student that is at-risk to further succeed and even to help them get into a program to help them
live a better life and succeed, not only in school, but in a particular society they might live in.
This paper is conducted through research of both on-line and off-line (“Those Who Can, Teach”)
resources to explore what teachers, parents, or a friend might encounter as they enter a school.
Many resources are listed here, although there are many others to be explored, these are just a
few of the wide variety of options available for these types of at-risk students. This paper also
defines what an at-risk student is and also programs that are available in Boise, Idaho as well as
around the world.

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There are many types of at-risk students today and such conditions could be, but are not
limited to “poverty, homelessness, child abuse, alcohol and drug use, teen parenting, sexually
transmitted diseases, adolescent suicide, violence, cheating, and school drop-outs.” (Ryan,
Kevin, and James P.98). Many risk factors also come along with these types of things as well.
There are many things that teachers, can do in order to prevent at-risk students from either
getting on a worse track, or dropping out and also there are things that we can notice about these
types of students, to catch them early enough, to further help them to exceed. New and improved
technologies and programs are exposing themselves to the world on what we can do to help our
students of today exceed, not only in school, but in life in society as well, for school is not only
used for educational purposes, but to teach the students how to act in a public society.
ARISE is a long-running program that is available to students. ARISE is a life-training
program available to students for after school and even on the weekends. This program gives
students a place to escape to, and to help them make it through some rough times. They have
highly skilled facilitators there as well, available to help these troubled youths succeed in the
society that we all live in today. From the research I have conducted on the program, it seems to
be most popular in Florida right now, but it traveling to be nation-wise and this is one of their
goals. It seems to be a legitimate group and has been a non-profit organization since 1986. They
even have their own hotline that students may call if they are having troubles at home or the
program is not available in the students’ particular city they live in. (ARISE: life skills p.3).
There is another alternative education program which is quite good for students who
would like to get away for awhile, maybe the ones that are having a bad home life or even no
home at all. It is a summer camp called Englishton Park Academic Remediation and Training
Center. It has been proven to raise student’s depression level and also anxiety level as well. It is

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very much like being in a classroom, but the atmosphere is different so that the students do not
feel as though they are at school, putting them more at ease and more susceptible to the behavior
modification process. Each person also has a personal teacher who is also a therapist that they
see regularly to monitor their progress. There is over 600 acres of woodland at this Remediation
center to explore activities to help the particular student strengthen their troubled lives. This is
an excellent program for a student to get into, however, it is location-specific, so it may not be
offered everywhere, but it is Nationally Recognized and Acclaimed, and there is a 90 percent of
students wanting to return to the camp each summer. (EPP program information p.3).
A certain public speaker named Jeff Yalden is another route to go for at-risk students
who need a little more guidance. He is in the National Speakers Association which holds only
about 10 percent of public speakers today. He is not only a public speaker for the United States,
but for over 48 countries to date. He was once an at-risk student himself, and even was close to
dropping out of school altogether, and he tells his stories over and over again trying to get
students to think like finally did, and to change their lives around for life really does have a
meaning and purpose. He inspires students to take charge of their own lives and that school
really is important if you wish to succeed in life and a career. He incorporates comedy into some
of his speeches to really connect with the adolescents. One has to e-mail the website in order to
figure out how much he costs to come and speak at a school, but I am sure it is not very cheap;
however, there is a 100 percent money back guarantee that comes along with him. If there is a
big problem with troubled students at a particular school, he would be the right guy to hire. (Jeff
Yalden, award winning p.5).
Success For All, another program for helping at-risk students is a very good one to get
the troubled youths into as well, however, it costs more than a couple of the previous ones I have

5. HELPING AT-RISK STUDENTS 5
listed. This program was first introduced in 1987 at John Hopkins University. The money
portion of the program goes to helping out the students who do not have what the others have,
which could include food, clothing, somewhere to stay, medical care, etc. The program raises
the students reading levels as well as attendance so that the student will not fall behind or get
held back in school and can further participate along with the other students in the class and this
will prevent them from feeling left out or being too old for their grade from getting held back.
This program includes tutors for students and regular reading assessments to monitor not only
their progress, but to make sure the student is still on track with where they are needed to be.
The only downside to this is the 800 dollar entry fee. (Riley, Richard w. Success For All p.1).
There is actually an at-risk student program online for Hispanics for Boise, Idaho. It is a
non-profit, online, charter school and it targets those Hispanics of low-income families and even
those who are dealing with pregnancy at school. It can also help those who have been kicked out
of their schools or have even recently dropped out, as opposed to going to an alternative school
that is in the classroom. The online school gives the students a little more freedom to learn at
their own paces. The classrooms that are online are a lot more one-on-one with the student to
teacher relationship than it would be in a larger, public school in which the teacher may not have
to time to focus on one single student and if the student is already depressed, this could make
issues worse and they could feel ignored. This online class helps the student through all of those
fears and even the shy ones sort of break out of their shells because it is a lot less personal, and
they are not afraid to ask questions to the teacher that they may not ask in front of the whole
class, thus giving the student more confidence to not only succeed in school, but to even develop
an interest in school that they may not have had before. This can also keep the students out of
the special education program, for those students who have diseases, such as Aspersers

6. HELPING AT-RISK STUDENTS 6
syndrome, to be able to participate in a “regular” classroom and feel a lot better about
themselves. (Associated Press p.1).
One thing to be sure to have at a school is Peer Mentors, someone besides just the school
counselor that can help students stay on the right path, or even students who have been down the
wrong path themselves and then found the right way to go by someone else mentoring them. At
Borah High School in the year 2005, there was a program there called Challenge Day and it was
a select chosen 20 or 30 students from each grade and from each team and the counselors put
them all into the gym and told everyone that whatever was said there that day, unless it was
harming to themselves or to others, stays inside of that gym. No one really opened up until
everyone started doing activities to help each other out and to break down the walls the students
had put up. The point of the whole day was that some students were at-risk and some were not,
but it was to show how everyone has problems and that it is okay to let someone know when you
have a problem or are not doing too well in school. Some of the students even got help from
being abused at home that day and some met new friends that they would not normally hang out
with, and the whole day in total was a real success. Days like Challenge Day can be used in
school, not necessarily to eliminate the at-risk factors, but to get the students to open up more
and for the teachers to notice that there may just be more than a problem.
There are many other programs available for not only teachers to explore, but students as
well. Some are non-profit, and some have a rather large cost to pay, but the point is to let
students know that there is help and they are not alone in the problems they do have. Tutoring is
available most anywhere, in any city or state, just by looking at the ads in the paper, even. At-
risk students will never be fully eliminated but there are actions teachers can take in order to
prevent problems from occurring further or saving some students from abuse, which is not

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tolerated in schools whatsoever. Exploring the options that are available either online or through
a local program or even an international camp will help the youths of the day; the future leaders
of America and other countries succeed with flying colors. Help is out there. Targeting at-risk
students is only the beginning. There are many more things that can be fixed within a school, but
this would be one great place to start.