Tucked away in a small office building with a view of the Summit tennis courts, the Office Group has a talent for flying under the radar. It is a humble space, identified by little more than a small sign above the door, but inside, a vibrant academic and interpersonal community thrives. Students gather to do homework. Tutors provide assistance in areas from calculus to literature. College counselors assist with essay-writing, scholarship applications and financial aid. Building a future takes a village, and the Office Group is a village unto itself.

Founded by Summit’s head football coach Corben Hyatt, his wife Kristal Hyatt and Brad and Melissa Kent in 2014, the Office Group began with the goal of helping local students succeed in school and build futures for themselves. The inaugural cohort was comprised of ten male Summit students, but the founders always dreamed of expanding the program to include students of more varied backgrounds. 

This vision became a reality in 2017, when the Office Group opened its doors to young women and students from all of Bend’s major high schools. As of this year, the organization has served 287 local students, all with unique experiences and hailing from every corner of our community.

However, the most diverse aspect of the Office Group is not its members, but the wide array of services it offers. Ranging from college counseling to tutoring and mentorship, the organization provides students with an arsenal of college-preparatory tools. Experienced professionals assist members with their coursework and Advanced Placement curriculum. Each student is paired with a college counselor who assists them with compiling their list of prospective schools, writing essays and applying for scholarships and financial aid.

“[My college counselor] read through all of my essays, which we’re talking probably 40 of them,” said Lina McDonald, a Summit graduate and freshman at the University of Puget Sound. McDonald, who had long dreamed of attending college and medical school, also benefited from tutoring in her AP Calculus class, individualized SAT prep and financial aid advice.

For many members of the Office Group, the guidance they receive through the organization is the difference between attending college or not. Without the Office Group, McDonald says, she wouldn’t have been able to fully optimize scholarship opportunities, leaving her in crushing debt before she even reached medical school.

“I’m really, really grateful because I think that [the Office Group] allows a lot of extremely brilliant people, like the other students that I was there with, to go to good schools and to get a good education without having to worry about the finances as much,” said McDonald.

This is, at its core, the mission of the Office Group. When Hyatt and his colleagues launched the organization in 2014, he did it knowing that there were many students in our community—bright, capable students—whose futures were limited by financial constraints and lack of knowledge regarding college admissions and financial aid. Many of the local teens served by the Office Group come from low-income backgrounds and will be the first in their family to pursue higher education.

This lack of familial knowledge is easily remedied by the guidance of an experienced college counselor, but according to an article from the Miami Herald, the average hourly cost for these services is $250, sometimes much more. For students like McDonald, the steep price rules out private college counseling entirely. Through the Office Group, however, the resource is provided free of charge.

“My parents don’t have the money to get me college counselors or tutors or anything, so that helped me a lot,” said Madalyn Ladd, a Summit junior and Office Group member.

Prior to entering the program, Ladd found success both as a student and an athlete. She maintained straight A’s, competed on Summit’s women’s wrestling team and was well-liked by her teachers. However, as a prospective first-generation college student, she knew the journey to higher education would likely be a difficult one. 

Then, during the spring of her sophomore year, Ladd was encouraged to attend a presentation from Hyatt in Summit’s Future Center. Now, thanks to the Office Group, she has received private tutoring and will begin the college application process this summer with expert assistance.

Furthermore, the positive outcomes of the Office Group extend beyond higher education. Nicholas Brees, a former Summit student and member of the organization, credits the Office Group with teaching him the tools to launch a successful career. After graduating from the University of Denver with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting, Brees is now working as a tax accountant at Deloitte, a multinational firm in Boston.

“Through [the Office Group], I ended up graduating with both my undergrad and master’s in four years and have started a very stable career for the rest of my life,” Brees said.

For Hyatt, the most rewarding part of running the program has been watching his students, including Brees, succeed. He makes an effort to stay in touch with former Office Group members as they make their way through college and launch their careers, and always looks forward to celebrating their achievements. 

“What’s exciting is to see these students graduate from college and then have a path toward whatever their career path is, and being successful in that,” Hyatt explained. “That’s our biggest reward.”

For students like McDonald, Ladd and Brees, the Office Group has served as more than just a college-preparatory opportunity. It is an opportunity for historically underserved students to alter the trajectory of their lives.

“The Office Group is honestly one of the only reasons that I was able to get out of a not-so-great situation in Bend,” said Brees. “They were the lifeblood that helped save me.”

Since its inception in 2014, the Office Group has assisted hundreds of local teens in building their futures from the ground up. So, consider this: are you a high-achieving, self-motivated student with limited access to college-preparatory resources? If this is the case, the Office Group may be right for you. When you cross the threshold of the Office Group for the first time, you are opening a door that will change your future for the better.