About Us

Who We Are

Cougars Care has provided:

Cougars Care is a non-profit organization that was created at Coronado High School in order to help meet the tangible needs of students that present themselves every day.  In 2005 and 2006, conversations began among the administration about how Coronado would be able to assist with the needs of students as the staff at Coronado was continually being inundated with requests for help with sports fees, class fees, school supplies, requests for food, graduation expense requests, as well as countless others.  By law, we couldn’t simply transfer money from our student government accounts for example into other accounts even though compassion abounded and staff and students felt the desire to respond to the numerous needs brought forth.  Meanwhile, our free and reduced lunch population had grown from single digits to approaching fifty percent. 

Conversations begun by the administration spurred by an idea borrowed from a fellow high school in Longmont was the genesis of Cougars Care.  Susan Humphrey, the principal at Coronado High School, approached me and asked me to do some research on how to begin an in house foundation that could respond to the needs of our students.  After a few months of research and processing how to respond well to our community, I was given the charge to begin Cougars Care. 

Cougars Care began with humble beginnings and a few hundred dollars to respond to needs.  Our immediate task was to educate the staff and students about Cougars Care.  It has never been designed to be an organization that worked behind the scenes.  Our goal is for every staff member and student to be aware of Cougars Care and have an idea of how to access its services. 

A student committee was formed in order to engage in the process of assisting its community.  The Cougars Care committee is always open to any staff or student.  Its goal is to, by consensus, determine the most prudent and compassionate way to respond to our fellow students and staff in need. 

The process of requesting a grant from Cougars Care is always confidential and safe for those requesting help.  If a student finds himself or herself in need and is unable to pay a class fee for example, he/she approaches any staff member and requests assistance.  An application is filled out in conjunction with that staff member while the staff member verifies the need.  Then, the request is submitted to Cougars Care Committee confidentially.  The only people to be aware of the actual name of the student requesting the grant are myself, the staff member who has signed the application, and our business office personnel that transfer the money into a particular account.  Though the student committee has the responsibility to decide to fund the grant or not, they do so knowing the details of the request but not the name of the individual. 

When the Cougars Care Committee considers a grant request, we hold two values dear.  First, we consider that no grant request has greater value than another.  We consider all requests to have value.  Therefore, a request for track shoes is not less or more important than a request for assistance with a class fee.  Second, we want every participant on every level to be involved and have ownership on every level.  Therefore, we never grant 100% of a request.  We always ask the person requesting to take ownership in their request.  Typically we will pay 50% of a request and ask the participant to pay 50% or we will pay 100% and ask the individual to volunteer between 2 to 6 hours in the class or area that he/she is asking for help with.  For example, if Cougars Care is granting a request for an art fee, and 100% of the grant is paid, we ask the individual to volunteer a few hours in the art room.  Further, as another step of continued ownership, Cougars Care doesn’t transfer money to the appropriate account until the individual has paid their portion or volunteered their hours. 

However, there is one exception to the deliberative process that takes place.  If a student finds themselves in need of food, clothing or school supplies, those requests are met immediately by any staff member on campus. 

With on campus and community fundraising as well as tremendous support from the Coronado staff, Cougars Care has been fortunate enough to have a significant impact within our community.  Since its beginning, Cougars Care has granted in excess of $50,000 of fees, supplies, and food to its students and staff.  Further, it has helped 100’s of students and staff at Coronado.  Educationally, Cougars Care has helped more than 500 students pay for class fees and stay in classes, which they would have previously been forced to drop.  Moreover, Cougars Care as achieved its goal of becoming a known entity on our campus as an avenue for assistance for anyone in need. 

While Cougars Care has tried its best to impact the Coronado community, its vision is to duplicate itself throughout the district and be a model for other schools.  To this end, we will continue to serve our community and spread the vision.         

 

What We Do

Cougars Care Highlights

 

Thanks to our Board of Directors and our many donors!   

 

We...

From Good News - Coronado HS - 2015 

Cougars Care

Mr. Urban and his Cougar Care cadre of students put together 100 boxes filled with non-perishables food items on Friday night, November 20, including all the Thanksgiving staples. They returned on Saturday morning to add fresh bread, fresh pies, and fresh vegetables. Truly a feast! Staff and volunteers added $10 gift cards from King Soopers to purchase a turkey or ham and helped the families in need by carrying their boxes to their cars or delivering them to their doorstep. Doing good feels good! 

The Need

The USDA released a new sobering report, revealing that 44 million people (1 in 7), including 13 million children (1 in 5), in the U.S. lived in food-insecure households in 2022. This is an increase of 31% and 44%, respectively, from 2021. These are the highest rates of food insecurity since 2014 and the largest one-year increase in food insecurity since 2008. Food insecurity increased for nearly every subgroup and population mentioned in the report.


READ THE USDA REPORT

Coronado High School has nearly a 50% free and reduced lunch rate.  In reality, the rate of students in food risk is much higher in high schools than reported.  For many reasons, not all students that qualify for free and reduced services apply.  Often times the needed paper work doesn't get filled out for a variety of reasons: stability of family, transition and transitory issues, as well of others.  We are continually seeing an increase in need by our students.  

Nearly 1 in 7 Coloradans Struggle With Hunger - see the Hunger Facts 

The Press

Article Written by Madison Marcy for The Cougar Chronicle - 2015 

With as many students as Coronado has acquired over the years, there is an even bigger need for support in the community. While students can get help from other out of school resources, an amazing in school resource is Cougars Care, a club run by Spanish teacher Mr. Urban. Cougars Care is completely unique in the way that it helps the Coronado community, and is absolutely amazing at getting everyone what they need. Meeting Tuesdays after school in room 110, a group of dedicated students gathers to address the week’s needs, and to discuss current help for students.  The club members themselves make the decision regarding what kind of help to give the student, and what they as a club can do alongside the student to accomplish the goal. Cougars Care asks students who ask for their help to work alongside the club to accomplish the goal, whether that be paying part of the fee themselves or doing community service in order to have the whole fee paid for.

“Cougars Care is really important for the students, and it feels really amazing to be able to help out people who may not have the means to have a good school experience. I think the fact that we as a group get to decide together how to help, is really important as well, ensuring that everyone gets help in the way that they need it,” said Emma Longwell, 11.

Cougars Care on average helps 200 to 300 students a year, helping the students to not be dependent but to go out and look for help themselves instead of sitting back and not saying anything. The fact that the student has to either do community service or help pay the fee lets the student know that support is there but it is something that Cougars Care wants to help them work towards, like a goal. The confidentiality of the students is also amazing, Mr. Urban being the only person who knows the student asking for help, makes it so there is no bias, and that every student is put into the same place, needing help, no matter who they are or what they have.

“What Cougars Care is for me is a way to think about students holistically, we don’t just think about them as math students or Spanish students, we understand that they have complex lives and needs,” said Mr. Urban, Spanish teacher, and Cougars Care Adviser.

Cougars Care is open to everyone, whether they come every time or if they come once; it is an open place to be able to help other students. As a club their goal is to help all students, and to make Coronado a better community as a whole, one step and one student at a time.