AN UPDATE!

"Talk about Two Different Worlds!"

Greetings from the Former Traveling Counselor,

Talk about 2 different worlds!! I recently reviewed the diary entries we submitted for the 1999-2000 school year (link to 1999-2000 index) and realized how much has changed for us in just a few months.

This school year finds my wife driving school buses to pay off trip expenses, our two boys fully engaged in the academic and social life of the 8th and 9th grades and me back in the classroom after eight years of counseling. In order to remain at my home junior high in the community of Canyon Park, I had to take whatever job available. Due to reduction of counselors, I am now teaching four PE classes and one 9th grade Social Studies.

Last year at this time, I was basking in the warmth of southern Georgia and Florida while attending numerous PTA, Site Council, and community meetings with an occasional classroom visit.

In stark contrast, I am planning the day to day activities for 150 students while reviewing the state standards, school policies and grading procedures. Yikes, I'm a first year teacher again!!!

Community collaboration is still my top priority

As I mentioned in the final entry last summer, the greatest obstacle to collaboration is isolation. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the particular details of our own jobs in education and not have time or energy to make changes that will ultimately make our jobs easier and improve the health and well-being of our youth.

I am even more convinced that the realization of consistent success for our students in and out of the classroom hinges upon increasing the involvement of our parents and community. There are many able to teach PE and Social Studies, but few calling for parents and the greater community to increase their investment with our kids. This remains my most important task.

So, using the Johns Hopkins framework for involvement, I was able to put together a Power Point presentation using photos and items from our trip. My hope was to be a catalyst for change to my own staff while being available to others in our district.

By December, I had done seven presentations to over 200 people ranging from the principals of our 30+ schools to the Coffee Club at our local mobile home park. Each time, I find myself energized to share what we learned along with my vision of what could be.

After my first presentation to the Canyon Park staff, I had hoped to start a new committee, sort of an "action team" to oversee current partnership practices and develop more. The question was, would there be any interest? Amazingly, we have 14 on the committee including five parents, one district representative and our principal. To date, we have decided to focus on two overall goals --improving two-way communication with parents and collaboration with the community. This committee has embraced both the importance of our task as well as the realization that change will take several years.

50-percent participation is unacceptable

The committee tallied those in attendance at our annual open house -- the one time that most parents come to our campus. All told, about 50% of our students had someone show up. In my mind this is unacceptable and there is certainly room for improvement here. Thus, one of our ideas is to implement school-wide parent/teacher conferences -- a new concept for our district.

Since our school has a remodeled front entrance, another plan is to get a large reader-board that can be seen from the road. Most schools I visited last year had this simple but effective form of communication in a prominent location. City codes and cost are just two of the obstacles we will need to overcome.

Luckily, while being mired in the daily routine, there have been several surprises that have kept me focused on my long term vision. Our school has recently been awarded money from the 21st Century Program which will allow us resources for after school activities. Once this is up and running, I expect to see collaboration with several outside partners such as our YMCA, police and parks and recreation departments.

Another find, was discovering Peg Beam, a retired volunteer from that same nearby mobile home park that I spoke with. Each morning, greeted by her wonderful smile and positive attitude, everyone that passes through the library benefits. However, as she told me the other morning, "I get back a lot more than I give."

Her presence has inspired me to continue my quest to "build a bridge" between our school and this neighborhood of hundreds of retired folk. The benefits to both institutions are countless. As I talked at the Coffee Club in Peg's neighborhood, I envisioned our students helping rake leaves, wash windows and assist with tasks more difficult for seniors while the elders proofread papers, read with 7th graders and ate lunch on our campus.

The reality of failure

While these dreams continue to fuel me, I am also faced with the reality of four failing students in my Social Studies class. Each of the kids are quite capable academically but lack the support, involvement and foundation for success at home. Poor attendance, problems with the law, failure to do any school work at home and the breakdown of the family unit have been the major contributors that I, as a teacher, have little control over. At some future time, our schools will need to find ways to link our families to the resources they need to raise their kids.

That may well be the next goal our action committee undertakes. Until then, one change at a time and with adding one "Peg" at a time, our school community will move toward a full partnership school.


<<< Read the last On the Road diary entry

Comment on this diary entry


Read some background about Darrell Lee

Back to Darrell's Diary Index