With layoffs at Microsoft and other local businesses, counselors at Redmond High School (RHS) are seeing more and more kids dropping out of activities or sweating over how to pay for SAT, ACT or AP tests, caps and gowns, graduation party tickets and more.
“Some will suffer in silence or choose not to participate in opportunities because they know their parents can’t afford it,” said assistant principal Melissa Pointer.
Another barrier for low-income students is having access to technology needed to complete homework such as PowerPoint presentations.
Many kids whose parents are unemployed are working after school to help out.
“To have to get on a bus and go to a public library to use a computer puts them at another disadvantage,” Pointer added.
According to Pointer, a significant portion of the RHS student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals at school. Those kids are somewhat used to asking for assistance, she said. But it’s those whose parents have just recently lost jobs who may be falling through the cracks, not getting help that they need and deserve.
A confidential “RHS Help” program has been created to address this problem. Funding comes from a variety of sources.
A primary contributor has been PEMCO Insurance which gave the school $1,500 when RHS teacher Mike Town won the Stanley O. McNaughton Golden Apple Award. Other resources are from Saul Haas Foundation, the RHS PTSA, Target Stores’ “Take Charge of Education” program and Microsoft’s “Hunt the Wumpus” program.
But more support is needed as follows:
• Monetary donations addressed to the “RHS Donation Account.”
• Donations of new or slightly used Wi-Fi ready laptop computers that students can check out of the RHS library.
• Donations of sports physical exams from licensed medical doctors.
Rebuffing the myth that all teens in Redmond are privileged, Pointer noted, “Where there is a large number of people who are very comfortable, I think the challenge is even more severe than in schools where everyone struggles. The social, emotional struggle to fit in, to keep up pretenses, creates a lot of anxiety. We want to equalize the playing field, to give everyone access to technology and full participation.”
To make a donation or request assistance, e-mail rhshelp@lwsd.org.
