Since 2017, we have partnered with school districts in Dane County to place more than 250 high school students in K-8 classrooms, where they serve as academic tutors and behavioral mentors.

These Tutor-Mentors have enriched the lives of everyone involved, including more than 5,000 younger students.

I am grateful for the enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved.

Denise Hanson, Founder and Executive Director

Root 2 Rise Thrive, our new program, helps former Tutor-Mentors transition to college, career, and community by fostering professional growth, improving banking and financial literacy, obtaining driver's licenses, preparing résumés, and paying college tuition.

During 2023-2024, Root 2 Rise continues programming in the Marshall and Sun Prairie school districts, and at One City Schools in Madison (with Tutor-Mentors from West High School).

This year, we also began pilot programs in the Reynolds School District in Portland, Oregon, and at Milestone Democratic School, a charter school on Madison’s southeast side. 

He never took school seriously until he became a Tutor-Mentor. Everyone - including the classroom teacher he helped - noticed the change.

Damari Thomas (usually known as DT) says Root 2 Rise was the first time he felt treated with respect by anyone except his mother - and the first time he felt like attending high school classes instead of "goofing off."

Five years after DT helped in her Lincoln School classroom in Madison, teacher Angie Hall still remembers DT's passion for helping kids, especially those who were withdrawn and wouldn't share their problems with anyone else. DT credits the experience with his decision to pursue a career in special education. He now works at Toki Middle School in Madison.

Root 2 Rise: Thrive has provided him with technology and and career support.

"Root 2 Rise made students feel so connected and motivated. A few were close to dropping out of high school. This program kept them engaged. It pulled them back in," says Hall.

"I know every school would want Root 2 Rise to be part of their programming."

A Tutor-Mentor, a teacher, and kindergarteners.

A partnership that worked.

“Root 2  Rise brought out a side of me I didn’t think I had,” says Martina Sancristobal, a West High School student who was a Tutor-Mentor at One City Schools in Madison.

She originally volunteered for two hours daily, but often stayed for two or three times as long, eager to work with the 5- and 6-year-olds she helped, focusing on kids with special needs. ”We grew close. I think they really connected (with me) when they learned I could speak Spanish." "Martina became a partner," said teacher Jaclyn Thompson. "I couldn't wait until she arrived, and neither could the kids.

"It was a sense of relief to have someone so dedicated, especially to deal with the challenges following Covid," Thompson said.

Colleagues who worked with other Root 2 Rise students were equally enthusiastic.

“I wish I had received this kind of help when I was younger,” Sancristobal said. “Growing up, I always wished I had teachers who looked like me.”

The prospect of participating in Root 2 Rise was so appealing that Martina was willing to pay to do so – and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she would would receive a stipend for completing the program.

Martina felt “disconnected” from school at the end of her junior year, a feeling that vanished when she joined Root 2 Rise. “I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything," she said. She now plans to pursue a career in education.