Voices of Making Waves

This new monthly series was created to tell the stories of our current students at the Making Waves Academy (MWA) and the Making Waves Foundation’s college success program (CAP), following their journeys from 5th grade through college and early career. We will illuminate MWA’s holistic approach to K–12 education and CAP’s college-success model by featuring the voices of MWA teachers and staff, CAP coaches, and our students, families, and alumni. With this series, we hope to shine a spotlight on our work and the lives of the historically underrepresented and underserved youth we serve.

In the first installment, we hear from MWA’s social workers, who provide support to students in grades 5–12 and their families as part of the school’s innovative Center for Holistic Support Services. This work, which has always been foundational to the Academy’s focus on their students’ social-emotional well-being, has taken on a new urgency as the entire school community copes with the challenges of COVID-19.