By Jill Jensen, staff writer

Albert Lea High School juniors Ana Chavez, Tabe Htoo and Kasee Yar spend almost every study hall in a small room in the library, making friends and getting help with homework through the Success Coach Program.

The program, which helps students overcome cultural, language or poverty barriers, is part of a collaborative integration plan between the school districts in Austin, Southland, Hayfield, Lyle and Albert Lea, said Judy Knudtson, the integration plan coordinator for Albert Lea.

District 241 was eligible for the program, which is funded by integration revenue from the Minnesota Department of Education, because of the influx of different cultures coming in and because the school district adjoins Austin, a racially isolated district, said Kristin Heinz, a success coach at Albert Lea High School.

She said the Success Coach Program, which began fall 2010 in the Albert Lea Area Schools, teaches cultural tolerance to American students and provides resources to acclimate new students, like Chavez, Htoo and Yar, to a new environment.

“This program helps everyone in this school — every student,” said Htoo, who moved to the U.S. from Thailand about three years ago. “If they need help, they can come down and ask questions.”

Heinz said she and co-worker Araceli Cardenas have met with around 50 students at Albert Lea High School during the 2010-11 academic year. They check in with teachers, keep an eye on grades and monitor attendance.

“We try and hound them like a parent,” Heinz said.

Cardenas said they also help prepare the students for college, work with parents to include them in their child’s education and connect students to community resources.

Over the past year, the program has formed what’s called the Multi-Cultural Club, which Chavez, Htoo and Yar joined. It allows students to participate in community activities such as canoeing or bowling once per month. Heinz said they also taught classes to ninth-graders on cultural awareness and celebrated Cinco de Mayo.

“It’s not just working with the students, but also trying to make the school more culturally tolerant,” Heinz said.

Because the Success Coach Program operates during school hours, Heinz said it can be “difficult” to meet with some students if they do not have a study hall. But she said most find time to stop in if they need help with anything from a class project to finding a dentist.

“It’s whenever they need it, they can come,” she said.

Heinz said the program mainly assists people learning the English language who speak Spanish or Karen, a language spoken in Burma.

“I do think it’s made a difference to the students who are new to the school,” Heinz said. “I think they feel more comfortable and more confident — maybe like they have a place here.”

There is a success coach at each elementary school, Southwest Middle School, the Area Learning Center and two at Albert Lea High School.

Austin Public Schools have had a Success Coach Program in place for the past four years, said Lori Henry, ELL coordinator.

Henry said the success coaches work to increase parent involvement in the schools and help students overcome barriers to student success.

“The issue is to try to close the achievement gap between students who are minority students and who are non-minority students,” she said. “And also to increase the experiences non-minority students have with minority students in a way that’s meaningful and sustained.”