Edwina Koch, the new student success advocate, loves making new connections with students and staff.
Koch always knew that she wanted to work in the education field but decided being a teacher wasn’t for her after working in the position for a while. Last year she worked as a senior advocate at the Step Up program, a program that’s a community partner with PPS.
“Step Up taught me that student success means more than just doing well in school,” Koch said.
She explained that not every student likes school or wants to go to college. For some students their success means having a better relationship with their peers or teacher–or just showing up to school. Being able to find something that makes her students happy at school is what’s helped her build better relationships with them.
One of the freshman advocates from Step Up, Bri Christensen, who was also a freshman advocate last year worked alongside Koch.
“I watched her grow relationships with some hard to reach students,” she said. “She was able to help them graduate, which was really respectable and admirable.”
Christensen feels that Koch is a very compassionate person with her students and her co-workers.
“She’s just fun to be around,” she said.
Sophomore Isabella Ferguson thinks that Koch is a truly sweet and kind person.
“She always makes sure I’m okay,” she said. “One thing I love about her is she’s a beautiful, loving person.”
Though Ferguson spoke with her more last year when she was in Step Up, she still feels like she can go and find Koch if she needs someone to talk to now.
“She’s a good listener too,” she said.
In Koch’s current role in the school, she supports all students, but she specifically works with students who are consistently tardy or absent. Though she wasn’t initially looking for the student success advocate role that the administration offered her, she feels very lucky to have it.
“I love working with students because I feel like I can have meaningful conversations with them,” she said. “I love everyone’s different personalities.”
Koch also feels that the community is an amazing thing to be a part of.
“I work in a building where everyone is trying to help students be their best, and I think that’s just so rewarding to be around,” she said. “We have a lot to be grateful for.”
There are many things that Koch plans to reward students with for tardy and attendance improvement. Students can get to go on trips, earn awards, or get food and snacks. She explained that with individual students there’s more one-on-one talking about creating a plan for them to reach certain goals.
As for the rest of the school year, Koch wants to get more comfortable with her role. She also wants to get to know and collaborate with as many staff members as possible, so she can help as many students as she can.
Koch really enjoys what she does for her students and will continue to build strong relationships.
