Breakthrough Manchester 2019 Annual Report

COLLEGE-BOUND
AT SNHU
Breakthrough Manchester College-Bound at
SNHU successfully completed its third year of
high school programming. In 2018-2019, the
program supported 9 juniors, 16 sophomores,
and 27 freshmen who began their college
access journeys with Breakthrough Manchester
as rising 7th graders. In fall of 2019, the high
school program moved into serving all four
grades for the first time, accepting 30 new
freshmen!
The College-Bound Program
is fully funded by
Southern New Hampshire University
“My favorite part of
College-Bound is the
workshops on Saturdays
and that I had an advisor
to communicate with and
help me through my first
year of high school.”
— College-Bound Student
BREAKTHROUGH IMPACT
CARL DESIR
Carl Desir, a Breakthrough College-Bound
student who was born in Haiti, is currently a
sophomore in high school at the Academy
for Science and Design. Carl has been
a Breakthrough student since 2015 and
served as Program Assistant this past
summer. In this role, Carl gained experience
in communication skills, team building,
leadership, and reliability to ensure every
day ran smoothly. Carl developed a strong
connection with the students and strived to
inspire them to be themselves. Carl will be
returning as Program Assistant for the current
School Year Program, which will give him an opportunity to continue growing
his leadership skills.
Carl was recently invited to attend a Breakthrough Collaborative “Catch
the Breakthrough Spirit” national event to speak on his experience with
Breakthrough Manchester. Carl had the opportunity to visit San Francisco on behalf
of the national organization with Deb, our Executive Director, and speak at this
annual fundraiser with fellow Breakthrough students and teachers from across the
country. He shared that, “Breakthrough Manchester is not only a place where
kids come to learn and get guidance for college but also a place where kids
come to get out of their comfort zones, express themselves without the worry of
judgment and reach for goals that they thought they would never achieve.”
HIGH SCHOOL
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:
FRESHMAN YEAR
Study Skills
Self-Advocacy
Public Speaking Workshop
Planning High School Track + more
SOPHOMORE YEAR
SAT Prep
College Tours
College Research
Career Readiness + more
JUNIOR YEAR
SAT Prep
College Panel
College Search
Standardized Testing Tools
College Tours + more
SENIOR YEAR
College Tours
Paying for College
College Life Preview
FASFA and Final Prep
Writing for Admissions + more
For a complete list of
high school programming tools visit
www.bit.ly/CollegeBoundSNHU
One of the highlights of Carl’s trip was meeting Chris Lee, former Breakthrough Atlanta student and
cast member of Broadway’s Hamilton. Chris performed songs from Hamilton at the event,
as well as an original song that he wrote about Breakthrough.
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