This fall, Applerouth turned twenty. When this all started back in October 2001, working with my first student out of my dining room, I could never have imagined the journey that was beginning.

I assumed I was taking a break between gigs, a rest stop between management consulting and fine arts. Thanks to my students, I soon learned otherwise.

My early students, one in particular, helped me see that I had a choice. I could stick strictly to teaching content, say algebra, and create a short-term gain — a better grade on the next test and a better GPA for the semester. Or, I could offer something more fundamental and lasting by teaching the content plus the skills that build students’ self-belief and academic self-concept.

I chose to focus on my student’s relationship with learning, with overcoming obstacles, with changing his self-beliefs.

Having spent years working at summer camps, teaching in AmeriCorps, and tutoring disadvantaged students, I knew how I wanted to show up with kids and young adults: to validate them, treat them with respect, help them realize their potential and feel good about themselves. I understood that the relationship was primary.

I wasn’t interested only in the short-term goals that we set together, but in the transformation that takes place when a student not only learns something but starts to see themselves and their abilities differently.

That transformation was always the motivator for me and for the tutors, educators, and hundreds of other brilliant professionals who were drawn to work with me.

We love the wins — the moments when students suddenly understand themselves differently and move past self-limiting beliefs. When they realize they’re not so bad at math after all, or that they can manage their own schedules effectively, or learn how to succeed on tests and other academic challenges. This is the gold.

On this transformational mission, Applerouth has served over 40,000 students across the country and internationally.

The hurdles kids face are always changing. We’ve supported students navigating hard classes, demanding schedules, academic anxiety, motivational challenges, many versions of the SAT and ACT, and every manner of AP exam or unit test that teachers and testmakers could throw our way.

As students’ needs have changed, our work has changed and evolved, but our commitment to our students — to building their self-beliefs — never has, and never will.

Our first clients were students who were struggling academically. From study skills, we moved into test preparation and then eventually circled all the way back around to executive function coaching, helping kids manage themselves and their resources.

Then and now, the academic hurdles that brought students to our door were points of inflection, challenges that offered the potential to make a difference for years to come.

As we look forward to our next chapter, we remain dedicated to meeting our students exactly where they are, to meeting them with encouragement, to perceive what’s possible for them, and to help them take steps towards realizing their potential.

The timeline below says it all: our core belief has remained constant, even as education and the world have changed. And this purpose is what will drive us forward as we continue to transform lives by giving students the skills and self-belief to achieve their goals.

Thank you for being part of our journey and partners in our transformational mission.

Jed