Opportunity Thrive

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Opportunity Thrive

We are a nonprofit focused on creating healthier staff cultures and resilient educators in schools.

12/03/2026

Adult relationships in our schools matter. Let’s invest in trust and collaboration.

25/12/2025

In this holiday season, we are thankful for the teachers and schools who serve our students and families with compassion and dedication. May you find time to enjoy meaningful relationships and to rest your mind, body, and soul this break. May you thrive!

13/11/2025

I've been hearing a lot of bashing of the idea of resilience for educators lately, and I get it. I really do. I understand that it feels unfair to ask educators to focus on their resilience when the system is failing–too high of a workload, too many roles, too many bad behaviors, too many toxic leaders. It's all too much, right?

But, what if it isn't an "either/or" but an "and?"

What if we can grow our resilience AND improve the system?

Here's a few truths that I believe:

#1: Every human needs resilience. Challenges will come your way, and you will want the capacity to not just survive but continue to grow in spite of or because of the challenge. Believing in your need for resilience is not the same as owning all of the dysfunction; it's claiming your power over the things you actually control–your own thoughts, words, and actions.

#2: Systems, organizational (not technical), are humans, relationally structured together to achieve a goal or mission. Sometimes, I think we forget this. We blame "the system" but forget that the policies, practices, and structures were designed and created by humans, which means they can be recreated by humans too. When we blame the amorphous system, we are, in a sense, throwing up our hands and saying, "Well, there's nothing we can do. It's the system." Instead, what might happen if we recognize we are the system, we own the mess, and we collectively fix the mess?

#3: Human to human relationships will always be more important in the success of our schools than curriculum, policies, or data assessments. Research has show over and over again that relational trust between teachers, administrators, and the community is the key to successful schools. Bryk and Schneider found this in their study in Chicago Public Schools as published in Trust in Schools. Dr. Roland S. Barth recognized this in his publication Improving Schools from Within. The other components are also important, but relationships are (to use an old analogy) the horse that drives the cart.

#4: Hope is powerful but so is pessimism. It’s just about what road you want to traverse because the destinations are vastly different.

13/10/2025

Michigan's FY 2026 School Aid Budget provides important funding for districts to use for recruitment and retention of educators. At the low end, the estimates are that Opportunity Index 4, 5, or 6 school districts will receive an extra 11.5% per economically disadvantaged student in 31a funds. Of this funding, 30% can be used to support retention and recruitment efforts. This means that these districts will have between $500,000-$4million to spend on these efforts.

The budget identifies two key guardrails:
#1) Districts have to identify that they are going to use the funds for these purposes by November 1.
#2) At the end of the year, the districts have report to parents and guardians how much funding they received and how they are going to use the funds.

At Opportunity Thrive, we believe that retention efforts must focus on creating healthy adult cultures within our schools and supporting educators as they navigate the complex dynamics of working in a school environment.

If you are an educator or a school leader, connect with us to learn how we can support you in accessing and utilizing these new funds effectively. Together, we can create schools where educators want to work and where they can be effective in their efforts.

14/08/2025

If this resonates with you, please contact your Michigan representative:

🔗 https://buff.ly/3zyPm96

06/08/2025

When the Executive Director and Board Chair join forces to learn together, you know magic is going to happen! Thank you for the great learning opportunity this morning!

05/08/2025

Check out the latest Substack post from Rebekah Schipper, the Executive Director for Opportunity Thrive. 👀

🗨️ " If an educator experiences a true sense of satisfaction in their work, and is engaged in their job, they will make the successful shift for another school year. If they are dreading going back, finding that their mind only lands on misery when thinking about the work, then the shift will be both unsuccessful and consequential." 🍎

Opportunity Thrive is helping to build a successful 💪 transition to engagement once more.

To read more, follow the link 🔗
https://buff.ly/VWw4rFK

30/07/2025

Opportunity Thrive is celebrating 🙌 for the work they're doing to create effective, collaborative, & healthy cultures in their schools 🏫

Fennville Public Schools is a PreK-12 public school system, serving over 1200 students. Fennville, as a community, is tightly knit, rural, agricultural, and a stone's throw from some of the most beautiful beaches in Michigan. The school system has a student population that is over 80% socio-economically disadvantaged and over 50% Hispanic or Latino .

This diversity is reflected in the 💗 & passion of every educator 👩‍🏫 who serves in the district. Their mission is about more than academic standards; they care about creating communities of adults who can facilitate healthy communities of students 👨‍🎓

Our partnership with the district is aimed at growing and supporting their educators 🍎 & facilitating healthier, collaborative practices. We are honored to share in this journey with them!

22/07/2025

Read 👀 the latest Substack post from Rebekah Schipper, the Executive Director for Opportunity Thrive.

🗨️ "The cliff is one so many of us who work in –whether inside or as consultants on the outside–are facing."

🗨️ "The cliff is built on the back of looming financial, human capital, and societal obstacles."

🗨️ "If we want to improve outcomes for our , we need to have a collective of effective educators." 🍏

🔗 https://buff.ly/ONIKf3O

14/07/2025

3 reasons Opportunity Thrive can affect positive change in your District.
💪

We work with educators and districts from across the state of Michigan to improve our schools.
🍎

🔗 https://buff.ly/n4Mky60

06/07/2025

Opportunity Thrive is partnering with to build resilient cultures within our districts. 💪

CONTEXT
The policies (local, state, and federal), leadership practices, evaluation processes, etc.

COMPOTENCE
The individual and collective skills to build positive relationships with students, effectively manage a classroom, and successfully teach learning targets.

CAPACITY
An individual’s capacity to navigate stress in healthy ways.

CONNECTION
The collaborative relationship between staff that encourages risk-taking, innovation, creativity, and honesty.

- see what we can do for you 🍎

🔗 https://buff.ly/fUWKYXi

04/07/2025

Happy Independence Day from Opportunity Thrive.
🎆

Here is to all the working tirelessly to shepherd the next generation
& build a better tomorrow!
🍎 💪

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+16165666847

Website

http://www.opportunitythrive.org/

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