Page 16 - JSF Annual 2024 final

Groves Learning Organization
Empowering Students to Thrive Inside and Outside of the Classroom
Aubrey Lang struggled with school for years before attending Groves Academy in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. When her
school transitioned to at-home learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, her mother Meredith Lang saw her daughter didn’t have the necessary tools to complete her homework.
“During COVID it was the hardest time; I didn’t have support,” shares Lang. “The teacher would do videos and expect us to [apply the lessons]. It was eye-opening. I needed to come to school.”
The Lang family lives in Richfield, Minnesota, and learned about Groves Academy through a friend. After Lang started at Groves in seventh grade, her mother saw a difference.
“I knew it was a place where she could be seen, participate, and not be a wallflower,” says Lang’s mother. “Before, [we were] prisoners of homework. At Groves, there is a school-life balance. I’ve seen her confidence skyrocket.”
Through a speech-language evaluation and later therapy, Groves Academy helped Lang identify and work through a rare speech-language disorder called “cluttering.”
Groves Academy also empowered her to thrive outside of class. A longtime hockey player, she has competed across the United States—including the National Hockey League Winter Classic—and serves on the NHL Youth Advisory Board. Aubrey is also a sea cadet in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps program. She aspires to earn her commercial pilot’s license and continue to play hockey in college.
“To be a pilot, you have to speak clearly with the tower. As a college athlete, you have to represent yourself,” her mother points out. “These are lifelong skills she’s honing; preparing her to be the professional and adult she wants to be.”
A star student, Lang participates in multiple activities at Groves Academy, including speech, choir, the building design committee, and basketball. The sophomore is also a student ambassador.
“I am more confident, and I feel like I can answer more questions in class,” she says. “I learned to advocate for myself.”
Her mother adds that financial aid from Groves Academy, supported in part by JSF’s matching grant for the organization’s tuition assistance program, also helped Lang succeed.
“We are so blessed that Groves has nurtured Aubrey so she can bloom,” she says. “She just didn’t know how, and I didn’t know how to support her. I’m a single mom with two kids—it [is] a priority of mine to [help] them be as successful as possible.”
Becca Ausk, Lang’s music teacher, can attest to the student’s growth.
“Aubrey is a motivated, intelligent person who gives everything she does her unique touch,” writes Ausk. “She infuses comedy and creativity into each class and perseveres through any obstacles that arise. The growth she has shown since being at Groves Academy has been astounding, and I’m very eager to see what she accomplishes in the future.”
14