Lexington, KY - Americans recognize the value of educating all students; we agree that education is the key to staying competitive. We can't thrive with a workforce dependent on the under-educated, and there are those who argue that a well-educated citizenry is crucial to national
security.
We can't agree about the best way to get there. Do we need more teachers? More money? More charter and magnet schools? More technology? More federal involvement? More accountability?
It's no wonder we become immobilized by the divergent discourse and frustrated by dogmatic policy then decide to do nothing because we believe there is nothing we can do.
What if instead of inactivity, we choose a small action? What if instead of starting with policy, we start with a child?
To riff on Margaret Mead: One thoughtful, committed citizen can change the world, particularly if that citizen has an hour or two each week to volunteer at a school.
When children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, we as a community need to help them answer the question and to facilitate achieving their goals.
"That's how children succeed. You don't just go to school and work there all by yourself and succeed. You have to have support from your family and community," said Alice Nelson, family/community liaison for Fayette County Public Schools, whose work involves advocating volunteerism and coordinating business, churches, civic institutions and families to work with schools and students.
Nelson described the symbiotic relationship between children, classrooms and the community.
"We need our students to be well-educated and to grow up to be able to serve as solid members of our community," she said. "We all have a responsibility for that happening."
In explaining the ways in which all members of the community are responsible for the education of their children, Nelson frequently references the partnership between the accounting firm Dean, Dorton, Allen, Ford and Breckenridge Elementary. Three years ago, the accounting firm celebrated its 30th anniversary. Partners and employees agreed to give the money they would have spent on a party to their community. They formed a committee to figure out exactly how they would do that.
Committee member Hunter Stout remembered his fraternity's adopt-a-school program and suggested the firm adopt a school. While driving to work days after that suggestion, he heard a radio report about Breckenridge Elementary's drive to raise funds for new playground equipment.
The alliance began with a $10,000 donation that allowed the school to purchase the new playground equipment. From the beginning the firm and Breckenridge Principal Karen Haskins agreed that this would be a long-term partnership.
Volunteers from Dean, Dorton, Allen, Ford began by tutoring students one-on-one in reading and math. Prior to the tutoring, many students have felt the frustration of sitting in a room full of people who understand something they don't. That frustration often remains internal, but it also can result in bullying behavior.
When students given to bullying are partnered with a mentor, the aggressive behavior often stops, Haskins said. Haskins views this as a direct result of spending time with someone who cares enough to come be with them without judgment.
Relationships have grown out of the tutoring. Stout attends the basketball games of the student he mentors every Saturday morning. When asked why he does that, 28-year-old Stout fumbled a bit sheepishly, and then explained that he wants the students to know that they are not lost in the shuffle and that someone beyond their parents and teachers care about them. And really, he said, he enjoys it.
He becomes much more articulate when he pragmatically explains that businesses can "think of it as an investment."
"Hopefully these kids you are mentoring now in 20 years will be people you want to employ," he said.
Haskins said that when the volunteers come, it makes students feel special, because someone is spending time with them who, unlike family, doesn't have to and, unlike teachers, isn't getting paid. She said she knows it is working because, "you see it in the kids making gains in their academics, in their behavior, and their attitude about school and life in general."
The mentor/student partnership influences more than just one student, Haskins said. It improves the entire classroom when one child is no longer struggling.
"It helps the teachers to know that they are not in this alone; they have people who will come out and help," Haskins said. "It does take everybody to raise children and mold them to being good citizens, so it's not just on the teacher's shoulders."
Hastings added, "you feel like you are on an island, and you are doing the best that you can do." And when the Dean, Dorton, Allen, Ford volunteers come, she said, "It's like bringing in the troops, and it just lifts everybody up. It's like help has arrived. It kind of re-energizes everybody."
Alice Nelson, The Fayette County Education Association, the district PTA, principals, teachers, parents and community leaders have launched a volunteer engagement task force with the message to volunteers, "we need you; we want you; you are welcome here. We have something meaningful for you to do." They hope to launch a website with information, forms and training videos for volunteers and teachers by next fall.