KCC Coach Spotlight: Abbygail Schroader
Meet Abbygail Schroader
Abbygail Schroader is a first-year AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coach. She also serves at Ohio County High School in Hartford, KY, working part-time for the Migrant Education Program. Ohio County is a rural area that has a large Hispanic community.
For Schroader, the biggest takeaway from this year has been seeing college become a reality for so many students who did not think it would be possible for them. She has been the person who takes the time to make sure they reach their goal of going to college or technical school, whether it is a student who is undocumented, in foster care, experiencing homelessness, or facing other difficult circumstances.
She described a meaningful experience with a high school senior student as an impact story. The high school had struggled to contact this student enrolled in virtual courses for a few months.
“When she finally answered my email, I learned that she was deaf, homeless, and now pregnant,” Schroader explained. “Upon hearing this and speaking with our Family Resource Coordinator, I learned that she had been homeless since her sophomore year of high school, but yet she has a 3.9 GPA and a 22 on her ACT.”
Since December, Schroader has met with this student every week to finish her FAFSA, college applications, scholarship applications and helped to sign her up for Vocational Rehabilitation.
“When I met with this student the last time, she said that she could not have done all of this without me, and that is about as successful of a story as you can hope for doing this job,” she said.
Schroader wanted to share some words of wisdom for future Kentucky College Coaches:
“You see students you know in the hall, ask how they are, ask if they have turned in everything, and send email reminders because you never know when you might be the difference between them getting away from a tough home-life or not. All of this being said… remember that you may be the ONLY person in that student’s life that is concerned about their future.”