Hi, my name is Chloe Mann, and I am a recent DPS graduate! I got involved with the Denver Public Schools Foundation at the end of my junior year, when I applied for a student grant on behalf of my school’s Women In Business Club. During my senior year, I was featured in the “Storytelling” video that was played at the Foundation’s Annual Achieve Gala, and spoke at the Gala about what I think it means to be a changemaker. This summer, I worked as an intern at the foundation.
One of my skills that has grown tremendously in my time working at the foundation is my professional communication skills. At my past internships, I was given a lot of leniency in regards to how professional my communication was because I was still a high school student, and communicating exclusively internally. At the DPS foundation I was trusted to find and establish relationships with new corporate partners, so I held myself to a higher standard when emailing and talking to external partners.
Prior to starting my internship, I had heard the DPS Foundation tagline “When our students and schools thrive, we all benefit.” It wasn’t until working with the Foundation that I was able to truly understand the impact made when students, families, and educators are supported. One initiative that I helped with was purchasing and handing out tote bags for teachers at the DPS New Educator Fair, to give teachers resources as they prepare for their first year as a DPS teacher. We surveyed current teachers to ask what items they would like to be gifted when they were a first year teacher to determine what we would put in the bags. The new teachers’ faces lit up as they looked in the bags and were met by their favorite pens, a coupon for a free coffee drink, and other supplies they wouldn’t otherwise have been provided. I knew that with these teachers feeling seen and supported, they would be the best teachers they could, creating classrooms where their students also felt seen and supported.
Another aspect of my internship included planning and facilitating service days where corporate partners would bring groups of employees to beautify schools as volunteer projects. These days were long and often in the heat, but when the educators saw the makeover their school got, they would often get teary eyed. They knew that when the students returned for the school year, they would be excited about the brand new paint on basketball courts and freshly weeded community garden, and that excitement would carry into the classroom.
The mission of the DPS foundation to support Denver Public Schools matters to me because every student deserves an enriching education, in an environment where they feel safe and valued, just like I had. Thanks to the DPS Foundation, I got to share my passion for women in leadership positions across all fields, and empower many girls at my school to increase their ambitions and achieve their career goals.
This summer has shown me how powerful it is when people come together to support a community, and I’m proud to have been a part of the DPSF mission.
