American singer and songwriter Nina Simone wonders with her enchanting lyrics, “who knows where the time goes?” With 2022 seeming to fly by, we might be asking ourselves this very question! What we do know is that throughout this year and the over 25 years that Communities In Schools of Mid-America has been serving students and families, our Student Support Coordinators and staff have been dedicated to the work of being “All In for Kids.” As the calendar year comes to a close, we thought it would be fun to share some of our most-read articles of the year. 

1. Begin Here! Our most recent Annual Report is now available. Malissa Martin, CEO, and President of CIS of Mid-America, writes that two things stand out about 2022: the learning environment of our students and a generous gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. 
    

2. As the school-year came to a close in April 2022 our Special Program Manager, Leslie Harmon, welcomed students to CIS of Mid-America’s alumni program, the Alumni Allies Network. 
    

3. In May we focused on Mental Health Awareness and introduced readers to six schools whose focus on health and wellness is making a real difference in the lives of students on our caseloads. 
    

4. In June we highlighted diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and wrote an article Celebrating What Makes Us Unique. 
    

5. As the new school year prepared to get underway in late July we highlighted our Summer Engagement Conference and the excitement our Student Support Coordinators shared about their work. 
    

6. In October we wrote about a partnership with CIS of Mid-America and local businesses in Fort Scott, Kansas, that helped to foster a mentorship program for students at Fort Scott High School. 
    

7. November is Native American Heritage Month, and we introduced you to Hensley, a 3^rd grader at East Elementary School in Anadarko, Oklahoma, who is “a powerhouse [who] represents her school, family, and tribe with pride.” Hensley’s blog post was our most read article of 2022. 

We’d also like to share a few statistics about how our supporters connected with us this year. On Facebook, we reached 83,614 that have connected with us about our work in some way. 321 new people followed our page, and most of our followers are in Ottawa, Lawrence, or Topeka, Kansas. We launched a new #StudentSpotlight that are some of our favorite stories to publish, and we recorded our first-ever live podcast.  

The last few years have been challenging, but our dedication to students and our commitment to their success doesn’t waver. In 2022 we continued to surround students with a community of support that empowered them to stay in school and achieve in life, and we’ll continue to do this work in 2023 and beyond. Our work is done directly inside schools so that we can build relationships that equip students to succeed inside and outside of the classroom. As the year ends, we send a hearty “THANK YOU” to all our readers, donors, and friends who support Communities In Schools of Mid-America. Your support enables us to do this work each day. 

See you next year!