We Serve:

147 middle school students

126 high school students

41 total teachers

111 student volunteers

425 total students annually

In 2014:

92% students qualified for free/reduced lunch

97% students were of color

78% will be the first in their family to pursue a higher education.

100% of Breakthrough seniors graduated high school

100% of Breakthrough graduates went on to pursue a college degree or enlisted in the armed forces

Over the past 20 years Breakthrough Kent Denver has served over 2,300 Denver Public School Students and over 550 young high school and college age students.

This special celebration will highlight the past 20 years and our vision for the future. Most importantly, we will recognize and thank the incredible individuals who have made Breakthrough a success throughout the years.

The cohesiveness of the Breakthrough Kent Denver Student Board is essential to the success of the Breakthrough program, and although much of the work done by the members of the board is behind-the-scene stuff, it gives the program significant support and momentum. The mission of the Board is to “provide support to the Breakthrough Kent Denver program by assisting in marketing, promotion and development of Breakthrough Kent Denver with students and families on and off the Kent Denver campus.”

The Student Board, led by senior co-chairs Allie Padgett and Brooke Tuchman, has so far endured a big transformation. Brooke and Allie, along with the Breakthrough staff, began this year with high expectations for the board, to make it more productive, and develop it into a more effective panel. They both agree that their strengths and weaknesses compliment each other very well and produce a strong, unified, leadership force. When interviewing them, Allie stated that this school year she hopes to see “growth in the board, with more organization and clearer positions for everybody.” Brooke agreed, and said that another goal is to “make the board a more comfortable place, with a healthy working environment, and to utilize the entire board to the best of everyone’s abilities.” They have high hopes for implementing new strategies, and a new approach, which have so far been very successful, with the help of the entire student board.

- Devyn Haecker

Breakthrough had yet another exciting, action packed Saturday school. With the amazing help from the Breakthrough Student Board, as well as the Model UN club, we managed to have a mock Model UN debate. The day started out with the usual excitement, obvious by the loud cheering as the kids walked through the door. However, instead of the typical classes, the kids were split into different countries and prepared for their debate. The students debated heated topics such as ISIS, education, equal rights, and Ebola, with massive amounts of enthusiasm and poise. They were all determined to represent their countries well and act as if they were at and actual UN meeting. They began to engulf the personality and culture of their country as they continued their research. It was both inspiring and exciting to watch as the students eloquently spoke about their countries views on these difficult issues. This experience was something the kids had never been exposed to, they had never discussed or maybe even researched these topics before. Our goal this year is to fill Saturday Schools with energy and new experiences. You never know, maybe an experience like this can expose a kid to a whole new skill and activity that they could be passionate about.

- Allie Padgett

We are Breakthrough and we commit ourselves to hard work, dedication, respect, fun, and most of all, excellence in learning.

Email: ccapeless@kentdenver.org
Website: www.breakthroughdenver.org
Location: 4000 East Quincy Avenue, Englewood, CO, United States
Phone: 303-770-7660
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Breakthrough-Kent-Denver/23076156828?ref=br_rs
Twitter: @BreakthroughKD