Honoring St. Cloud Dreamline Manager Kim Johnson

Kim Johnson has been a Dreamline Manager in St. Cloud, Minnesota since 2016. Her exit from the position is sad for the Sanneh organization. But, she leaves us with the assurance that she has made many lives better through her generous actions.

As a manager, Kim supports Dreamline Coaches while they work with youth in local high schools. “I would describe the mission of my work as youth-focused,” says Kim. Prior to her role in Dreamline, Kim spent about 20 years in education, mainly working in elementary schools as support staff. For Kim, her role as a Dreamline Manager allows her to continue her passion for youth-focused work. Her main role as manager has been supporting Dreamline Coaches by giving advice and leading them through the process of relationship building, data collection, and all aspects of Coaching. By aiding Coaches in their work, Kim is helping students thrive and grow.

The impact of Kim’s leadership—and Dreamline as a whole—is seen through the success of its Coaches. In 2020 our very first cohort of Teacher Pathway Program applicants graduated from St. Mary's University with degrees in Education. While in the program, the graduates also served as Dreamline Coaches for two years. In addition to this recent success, Kim notes that “over the past 4 or 5 years now, so many awesome coaches that have worked with us have gone on to work in the school district. We have right now...two [Dreamline Coaches] that are Deans in our schools.” Similarly, Coaches are also serving as “behavior support” in Dreamline affiliated schools. Overall, Kim and the Dreamline leadership have given Coaches the building blocks they need to do bigger and better things.

Beyond academics, Kim stresses the importance of building relationships with her Coaches. Describing her team as a family, Kim states that “we learn from each other, we hold each other up, we’re always supporting each other.” Kim’s commitment to strengthening her team emotionally is especially important these days as the majority of schooling has moved online—leaving many without vital in-person connections. The strength of the Dreamline team is one of the many reasons that it is appreciated by students and their parents. The Dreamline program is in high demand. Kim mentions that “we have parents that request for their students to be in Dreamline, we have non-Dreamline students requesting to be in Dreamline.” It’s not often that you see such strong support for an academic program from both youth and their parents. Parents and students alike value Dreamline because they see how it is bettering students’ lives academically and socially.

The importance of the work that Kim and Dreamline are doing can not be overstated. They are meeting the critical needs of youth who are struggling and sometimes feeling hopeless or even abandoned. So, we send Kim off with much gratitude and recognition for all the hard and critical work that she has engaged in for many years.

Thank you, Kim.