3 minute read
Rising Up
University of Mary Bell Banner Award winner Leslee Webb, ’00, meets the needs of students as a social worker.
The mascot of South Central High School (SCHS), the alternative high school in Bismarck, is the phoenix — a bird that rises from its own ashes. The story of the phoenix is one of rebirth, a second chance at success after a time of difficulty or struggle. This story is emblematic of many of the students at SCHS who are getting a second chance at earning a high school diploma.
Leslee Webb, ’00, a devoted staff member at SCHS, has served as the school’s social worker for the last six years. Webb has been integral in changing and creating programs to support students not just in their academic needs, but their physical, emotional, and social needs as well.
Keeping in line with their phoenix mascot, two of the programs Webb started are called The Nest and The Perch. The Nest helps students who are new or expecting parents.
“I noticed that we had a high number of young parents and expecting parents in our school – a lot of years, up to twenty percent of our graduates can be parents. I knew about a program for people to bring their baby to work with them for the first six months and thought we should give that option to our students here,” Webb said. “I helped create a program for students to bring their baby to school for the first six months, and we have a parent support group to teach them how to take care of their baby.”
The intent of The Nest is to ease the return to school once becoming a parent. It also allows parents to bond with their infants. Both male and female students can request to bring their infant to school. But it’s not a daycare, students care for their children throughout the day and are encouraged to be in regular classes as much as possible with their infant, and The Nest is available to the parents to allow them to care for diapering, feeding, and soothing needs.
The Perch serves students’ basic needs by providing clothing, hygiene items, food, and more. “We created partnerships to provide food and snacks for students so no kids in our building go hungry,” Webb said. “Meeting students’ basic needs and really ‘wrapping around’ kids outside of the classroom allows them to go into the classroom able to learn. If you’re hungry, if you have a lot of insecurity with housing or food, how do you concentrate on learning?”
Along with these programs, Webb leads various groups to teach students life skills such as how to find an apartment to rent, cooking skills, how to buy and take care of a car, and how to handle finances, and more. “It’s a lot, but there are a lot of needs,” she said. “We have to be responsive. “
A realization I had to come to in my career is that I can be enough personally, but one person will never be enough to meet all the needs of these kids,” Webb said. “I can use all of my efforts and do whatever I can do, but I’m only one person. It takes a village.”
Webb says the University of Mary taught her the Benedictine values that resonate with her each day. “The Benedictine values are so needed in our world today. Hospitality in particular really speaks to me. If we can’t even make a person feel welcome, what are we even doing?” Webb said. “We need to be able to connect with people, and there are a lot of people in the world that don’t feel seen, or heard, or listened to, or connected with. If you can do that on a basic human level, that’s what you should be doing, whether you’re a social worker or not.”
Webb enjoys coming back to Mary to speak to students and visit the professors that made an impact on her. “I try to come speak to classes and visit once or twice a semester. It’s my way to thank the University of Mary for the education I got, and hopefully I impact the students, and that something I say sticks with them, and they go on to make a difference in their career.”
