Kelvin Pooler helps Renaissance students open up, succeed

By Sarah Nigbor
Posted 3/16/23

RIVER FALLS – When Kelvin Pooler received a Wildcat Pride award at the River Falls School Board meeting Feb. 20, it came as a complete surprise. He was seated in the audience but had no idea …

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Kelvin Pooler helps Renaissance students open up, succeed

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RIVER FALLS – When Kelvin Pooler received a Wildcat Pride award at the River Falls School Board meeting Feb. 20, it came as a complete surprise. He was seated in the audience but had no idea the honor was coming. He thought he was there to see Ciara Roberson’s debut as the student representative on the school board.

When his name was called, he thought it was a mistake. He had just witnessed River Falls High School students Luke Linehan and Brooks Rivard receive Wildcat Pride awards for helping a stranded family in an accident.

“No, no, no, I didn’t help them,” Pooler thought. “They’ve got it wrong.”

Then a student nudged him to go up and accept his own award, he laughed.

“Thanks to you, our students have received much needed clothing and homemade meals,” said RF School Board member Tood Schultz. “As a Restorative Services Community Circle facilitator, you have also provided our students with a safe place to share their experiences, hardships, and dreams without judgment. You are there to celebrate student successes and listen when students are facing tough situations. You make time for everyone and lead by example. All of our days are brighter when you come to the Renaissance.”

Pooler is a St. Croix Valley Restorative Services Community Circle facilitator who works with kids at the Renaissance Charter Academy twice a week. He has developed a special bond with many of the Ren students, because he provides a safe place for them to talk and be heard. He not only provides a non-judgmental ear, but clothing (purchased with his own money) and home-cooked meals.

Executive Director Bridget Warren said SCVRS has been running the program at the Ren for “years and years.”

The nonprofit organization implemented a formal restorative youth leadership program curriculum in 2017, which is a prevention/early intervention program built upon restorative justice principles and practices. Many of the kids who take part in the community circles have experienced trauma, have serious anxiety or mental health concerns, or are participating in risky behaviors.

“Often, these issues go ignored, leading to increased concerns and/or involvement in the juvenile justice system,” their website states. This model helps “young people stay healthy, in school and out of the juvenile justice system.”

“Having the curriculum is nice because it lays out the topics to cover,” Warren said. “Each facilitator can take it and make it their own. Kelvin’s really made it his own. The feedback has been so great and they’ve asked us to up to twice a week.”

The 55-year-old recovering alcoholic is no stranger to trauma and consequences. In 2008, he killed someone while driving intoxicated, which sent him to prison. When he was released, he swore not to drink again. The Bronx native and youngest of 10 came to River Falls after being transferred to Minneapolis-St. Paul airport with Northwest Airlines.

“For years what kept me from not drinking was guilt, not a program,” Pooler said.

He and his wife built a house. She battled Stage 3 ovarian cancer. The stress pushed him to try one drink, which progressed to spiraling out-of-control in six days. A neighbor called police when they heard him yelling at his children in the garage. He knew he had to do something.

Pooler enrolled in an out-patient alcohol treatment program for eight months. He was required to take a 13-week men’s course with SCVRS. There he met Erin McNiff-Kirby, a licensed marriage/family therapist, and Jacob Otis, a master’s level social worker/programming director who he credits with steering him onto the right path. After his session was complete, he began volunteering at SCVRS, which led to joining the staff 14 months ago.

“From Kelvin’s position starting as a participant, I’ve never seen anyone say ‘I really like what you do here and I want to do it too,’” Warren said. “He started volunteering, then facilitated sessions online.”

Pooler said in the Bronx, which he described as overpopulated, people are pushed through programs just to get them out. When he first went to SCVRS, he didn’t know if they were going to “push him through” and take his money.

“I’ll put in as much as you put out,” he said. “By the third session, I just sat back for a reason. I was there for me to get the help that I needed. I just wanted to make sure that I was getting what I was needing.

“Everyone has welcomed me and treated me like family. The first day I started there, I was able to participate and volunteer for a group.”

Bond with students

Community Circle sessions focus on building future leaders and teaching them how to communicate openly and honestly. SCVRS contracts with the school district to provide no-cost mental health services to students.

“They felt that they didn’t have anyone to talk to,” Pooler said of Ren students. “I can talk to them, but I can also refer them to a therapist.”

Many of the kids have been bullied in traditional school settings for not knowing how to play sports or for being “too sensitive.” Many come from troubled home backgrounds as well.

“I tell them ‘Don’t become the bully’ and do it to someone else here,” Pooler said. “They actually have walked a mile in their shoes.”

Warren said they teach kids that decisions have a ripple effect. One choice, one action, can affect everyone, one person at a time. 

“I give them the rock in the water analogy,” Pooler said. “You don’t understand the affects you have on everything else.”

The sessions have a “no blame” policy. Pooler’s goal is to plant seeds and help students identify red flags.  

Pooler’s support doesn’t end at the talk sessions. When he saw what some kids were eating for lunch, he was flabbergasted. This prompted him to start making home-cooked meals for students. Just last week he brought in a spread of pulled pork, ground turkey, ground beef, shredded steak and Spanish rice.

He also hits up sales wherever he can and buys clothes and shoes for students. Warren said he’s an expert at finding deals, such as Walmart’s penny sale. He brings them to the Ren and kids can take them, no questions asked.

“I bought all of the kid coats too,” Pooler said. “I let them know (at Walmart), I see some of the kids come to school with blankets on. I just don’t understand. Being from the projects, I’ve seen a lot of this. I know my mama would never have let anyone go hungry. We had no money, but I never grew up knowing that. We always ate every day.”

“As you can see, Kelvin goes far above and beyond,” Warren said.

Pooler shrugged off the praise.

“I just like doing this job. I don’t do it for recognition. A lot of kids come to the school because it’s their only refuge,” Pooler said.

Renaissance Principal Chris Silver said many of the kids don’t get home-cooked meals, so they appreciate it.

“The cool thing about working here is you know all the kids, you know their stories, you know where they shine and where the challenges are,” Silver said. “For a lot of kids, we might be the only folks who say ‘How are you doing’ or checking in.”

Pooler recounted seeing a student at Walgreen’s who never speaks in school. She startled him when she said hello. She told him she spoke to him because he always says hello to her, even if she doesn’t always answer.

“They feel comfortable here, there’s no chaos here,” Pooler said. “A lot of kids don’t like to go home. We work on finding a safe space for them, whether it’s in their house or at school. We teach self-care. A lot feel obligated to help their parents because they’re going through stuff. They are so strong. Just think of the chaos they’re going through and they still show up to school and do their work.”

Pooler’s voice was filled with pride as he recounted two students who were recently accepted to college. Silver said hard work has made kids’ dreams come true.

“That’s one of the things that is happening more often,” Silver said. “Kids are looking at their future, looking at two-year and four-year schools rather than just staying in survival mode.”

Both men said it’s hard not to take students’ stories home with them. Many are sad, many are frightening. But the goal is to help them become happy endings.

“The stuff they tell you, you can’t cry or show your sadness,” Pooler said. “The kids worry that I will be upset. The kids want to comfort me and ask me if I’m ok. Sometimes they just want to get stuff off their chest. People, whether they’re right or wrong, just want to get their story out and be heard.”

The circles begin with check-ins, where the kids tell Pooler what’s going on and how they’re doing. Everyone is expected to be quiet, respectful and listening.

“That’s a traditional aspect of restorative justice,” Warren said.

Kids are allowed to draw while talking, fidget with a toy, whatever it takes for them to feel comfortable opening up.

“When people tell something vulnerable, if they’re looking at someone, they feel judged,” Pooler said. “They can leave if they need, to walk away and process.”

Silver said he’s noticed compassion between students increase since Pooler arrived. When they see someone who is down, they are quick to provide support.

Pooler has been compiling lists of programs and resources to provide the kids, who once they leave school, they’ll be prepared for the next step into adulthood. SCVRS hopes to also implement an after-care program.

“A lot of them here don’t know what to do after leaving here,” Pooler said. “I tell them, don’t make a promise to me. Make a promise to yourself. Some of the simplest things, they just want to hear from someone that doesn’t want anything from them.”

Pooler said SCVRS isn’t able to solve all the kids’ problems, but they can point them in the right direction. The organization has three full-time staff who combine their strengths to help people at the times they need it most.

“I always run into people in the stores who ask if I remember them,” Pooler said. “You never know what will be said that could touch someone. We need to get the community talking to each other. I talk about my life too. People will say, ‘you don’t understand what I’m going through.’ But if tell my story, it makes people know I do.”

Silver said the Renaissance has enjoyed student success stories and he hopes to keep the ball rolling.

“The program for the past seven years supports students who don’t succeed in traditional high school settings,” he said. “I think that’s a welcome shift. The kids here might come from tough situations, but they rise above it and go out and do amazing things. We are supporting students with incredible potential at the right time.

“What I’ve worked hard at, in the environment and climate and day-to-day actions, we want every kids to feel like they have a place here regardless of where they come from, where they’ve been, and that’s been my personal mission and of the program.”

For more information about SCVRS, visit restorativeservices.org or call 715-425-1100.

Renaissance Charter Academy, River Falls School District, St. Croix Valley Restorative Services, Kelvin Pooler, River Falls, Wisconsin