Entry #4: Blurring the line
dividing school and community

Okabena, MN -- Some people have asked, "how do you survive without T.V.?" You see, out here on the road hooking into cable isn't all that easy, and the "rabbit ears" don't pick up much. But the real question is "can you keep two teenagers busy without video games and the electronic box?" The answer is "yes" if you can live in a community like this.

In fact, this past week it seems we have been busier than at home.

There was the harvest dinner one night right after a swim in the community pool. A Booster Club supper preceded the weekly H.S.football game which was also the same afternoon as the middle school volleyball game, There were extra band lessons before the pep band performance, a "See You at the Pole" rally, and two cross-country races sandwiched around the regular math and writing assignments. Add this to the committee and parent meetings that I attended and I'm exhausted too!

As I reflect on the findings of this past week, it is clear to me that in this area, there is a blurring of the line dividing school and community. The school is just as big a part of the area as are the churches, the retirement home and the local businesses. There really is a lot of collaboration between the different institutions. This is most evident when you see many of the same people at social gatherings and school functions.

Take Vernon and Grace Kay for example. As they sat behind us at a volleyball game, I figured they were grandparents of a player. After all, they were 82 years old. Come to find out, they have no relations there, but come to "everything at school as long as it doesn't interfere with their square dancing." In fact, Vernon explained to me in great detail the installation of the new gym floor. Since he was a big proponent of the remodeling and new school plan, I figure he wanted to make sure it was done right.

As I visited classes such as life skills, business partnerships and community involvement, the distinction between school and community blurred even further. There is very much a give-and-take with this type of arrangement. Starting Monday, several special needs students will be interviewing residents of Lakeview Nursing Home, putting their stories into a booklet form and presenting it to residents and their families during a project-ending tea.

The "Quasar Quick Stop" (school store) has a group of women who come in weekly for their coffee time. Through a partnership with a local grocer, the store also provides other essentials to townsfolk such as milk, catsup and cake mix.

Yes, the local residents will step up to provide the school with van drivers on a daily basis, workers to assist with registration and materials for the tech class to build town signs But they also reap the benefit of those beautiful signs on the edge of town (see below) as well as a cleaner highway into town thanks to the 25 students who picked up 50 trash bags of garbage.

There is a downside to this interwoven relationship. The community responded when the school faced a crisis. Right now, there is much concern about the direction of small farms and agriculture in general. There is a crisis in the farming communities. Will the school be able to assist the community? More about this next time.

There truly is a two-way street here at Southwest Star between the school and community, busy enough that my two middle schoolers don't even ask about watching the tube.

Until next week, from somewhere in Minnesota,

Darrell

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Photo by Corrine Lee