Schools and Education
By Rainy Martin
Every parent has watched it happen. A child hesitates before raising a hand. They avoid introducing themselves to someone new. They quietly decide they’re “just not good at that.” Confidence rarely appears all at once. It grows through small moments when young people try something difficult, discover they can do it, and begin believing they’re capable of even more.
As Park County celebrates Give a Hoot this July, Community School Collaborative (CSC) is inviting community members to invest in creating more of those moments. Every donation made through Give a Hoot helps provide career exploration experiences that remain free for local students while introducing them to caring adults, new challenges, and opportunities to discover strengths they didn’t know they had. Donations to CSC can be made throughout July through the Park County Community Foundation’s Give a Hoot campaign at give-a-hoot.org/organization/CSC4Kids.
One of those students is Ethan. When Ethan enrolled in Sleeping Giant Middle School’s Young Entrepreneurs class, he was a quiet, soft-spoken student who didn’t relish speaking in front of others. Through Community School Collaborative’s ten-week Job Shadow Program, he was matched with the team at glassybaby, where he learned the fundamentals of welding while discovering that success in the workplace requires patience, problem-solving, time-management, communication, and a willingness to keep learning. That experience didn’t end at the welding table.
Throughout the semester, Ethan participated in CSC’s Livingston Healthcare Cougar Career Day, developed his own products for the Livingston Farmers Market, learned how to introduce himself to customers, answer questions about his work, and talk with adults he had never met before. Each new experience asked a little more of him. Each success quietly built another layer of confidence.
Confidence isn’t built by telling young people they can do hard things. It’s built by giving them the chance to do hard things. By the end of the semester, that growth had become unmistakable.
When Community School Collaborative hosted its annual Donor Appreciation Party, staff invited students to share what they had learned through the Young Entrepreneurs class and Job Shadow Program. Ethan volunteered.
Standing in front of more than seventy community members, he confidently answered questions about welding, entrepreneurship, and everything he had learned over the previous ten weeks. At the end of the conversation, CSC Program Director Erin Barcus asked him one final question.
“What was the most important thing you learned during your job shadow?”
Ethan paused for a moment before answering. “I learned… that you always have to be ready.”
The room smiled. Weeks later, people are still repeating those words. Not because they were polished. Because they were true.
That simple sentence captured something much bigger than welding. Ethan had learned to expect challenges, solve problems, adapt, and step forward when opportunities appeared. Those are the qualities employers value, communities need, and young people carry with them long after middle school.
Community School Collaborative exists to create experiences like Ethan’s. Career Days, Job Shadows, Pop-Up Clubs, and the Young Entrepreneurs partnership aren’t simply about introducing students to careers. They’re about helping young people build confidence by trying new things, taking healthy risks, solving real problems, and discovering they are capable of more than they imagined. When young people develop those qualities, they're better prepared not only for tomorrow's workforce, but for the responsibilities, relationships, and opportunities that come with adulthood.
During Give a Hoot, every donation helps create more moments like these for Park County students. Sometimes the greatest gift a community can give a young person isn’t confidence itself. It’s the opportunity to earn it.