Communities In Schools® (CIS®), the national organization that works inside schools empowering all students to achieve in school and succeed in life, announced the recipients of its 17th annual All In for Students Awards. Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Menzer from the Colonial School District (CSD) has been chosen as this year’s Education Partner Award recipient for his partnership with Communities In Schools of Delaware. Delaware CIS Executive Director, Dr. Carlton Lampkins nominated Dr. Menzer for the award after praising him as a visionary who clearly understands the needs of his school district and the neighboring communities. “His advocacy for CISDE in every school in the state is far-reaching, as he has done presentations for the State Chiefs Council and the State Board of Education. He is committed to the value of having CISDE as a partner in the challenge of improving student achievement, school climate, graduation rates, and dropout rate. Dr. Menzer honestly believes in CSD’s ‘The Power of WE’ mantra, and the importance of a ‘village approach’ to helping our students and their families live a better quality of life,” Lampkins says.
Dr. Menzer has partnered with CISDE by serving as an ambassador for CISDE to be in every school throughout the State of Delaware. In 2021 Dr. Menzer exerted his leadership by advocating for collaboration on efforts to improve graduation rates in 5 school districts in Northern New Castle County that have students in the City of Wilmington which suffers from low academic achievement and high crime (i.e., labeled the crime capital of the small to medium cities in the US). This initiative, Boost ’22, focused on seniors in the Class of ’22 and getting them across the finish line. In 2022, that initiative changed to Boost ’26 with the same school districts in order to track 9th graders to graduation in 2026. The vision of Dr. Menzer for his district is to have CISDE as a significant part of the academic and social-emotional programming in all of his schools and programs. (more) “I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this award for a program that I strongly believe is needed not only in the Colonial School District, but throughout the country. CISDE has been a proven asset to our students, and the site coordinators are viewed as essential support by our school administrators. By working with CISDE coordinators, educators have a greater opportunity to serve the needs of the whole child which helps ensure their academic, civic, social, and emotional success,” Menzer says. The All In for Students Awards, created in 2007, honors the exemplary dedication of CIS staff, educators, community partners and CIS alumni, who go all in for students, empowering them to stay in school, graduate and go on to brighter futures. The awards ceremony will be held in Detroit, MI in conjunction with the annual Communities in Schools’ annual Leadership Town Hall on September 6- 8, 2023.
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