We're All in the Same Boat

"For 75 years, Finland's expectant mothers have been given a box by the state. It's like a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys that can even be used as a bed. And some say it helped Finland achieve one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates. It's a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it's designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they're from, an equal start in life. The maternity package - a gift from the government - is available to all expectant mothers." 

Continue reading the rest of this fascinating article here.       

There are so many reasons to love this article and the concept of giving out baby boxes to an entire country.  But, this quote from an expectant father hits the nail on the head for me,

"It strengthens that feeling that we are all in this together."

Giving the box out to all families, regardless of their background says something very important.  It says, as my friend David Lindner often declares: we're all in the same boat.  You and me.  We may not look the same.  We may not be from the same race, culture, socio-economic status, or neighborhood.  But parenthood instantly unites us.  We are both filled with hopes, dreams, doubts, fears, and an incredible amount of love for our children.   Both of our children are worthy of an equal start in life (how comforting and encouraging!).   

This is radical thinking for those of us in the US!  Most of the time, we do just the opposite of this: we give the box (metaphorically speaking) to just some of the families.  We draw lines in the sand.  Us and them.  They need the box.  I do not.  And since I do not need the box, I am better.  More powerful.  Above them.  And so I grow up feeling empowered, believing that my voice matters, that I can do anything I set my mind do.  They grow up feeling like they were the ones who needed the box.  (You could also flip this around to say...We draw lines in the sand.  Us and them.  I deserve the box so I get to have the box.  They don't deserve the box so they don't get one.  The box is just one more advantage in life that will help me achieve my dreams.  They grow up wondering why they never got to have a box). 

P.S. The "box" in the paragraph above isn't anything specific.  But, it could be a million different little things that pop up in our daily lives.

It is a passion and pursuit of mine to be more like Finland in my daily interactions.  At The GreenHouse, we call it Empowerment or Asset Based Community Development, but I think that calling it Finland works, too!   

One specific way I'm currently pursuing this mindset is through my new volunteer role as Classroom Coordinator for both of my kids classrooms.  My mantra for the year with regard to facilitating parent involvement: Everyone is valuable, everyone is needed, everyone has something to offer.  

As I seek to set up systems that invite, rather than exclude, I am starting to see some glimpses of Finland in our classrooms.  It's exciting to see parent involvement going way up as compared to last year.  Kids whose parents have never been involved before are now getting the pride and joy of knowing that their family is the one providing snacks for the class or donating supplies or having their voice heard.  

Imagine a school, a community, a nation where we all had "that feeling that we are all in this together."    

   

Vote for the Underdog!

If you know anything about Jonah, you know that he loves music.  And while I've had occasional (severe) moments of angst about his school, I at least got lots of comfort last year knowing that once a week, his class went to Mr. Rock's room for music.  (Is there a more perfect name for a music teacher?).  I knew that while Jonah was at music class, he was full of joy - dancing and singing his heart out.  Not expected to sit still.  

Well, this year there is no music program and there is no Mr. Rock.  Turns out, the music program was funded by a grant which has since dried up.

Bummer.  Because that was one of the things that I really liked about the school.  And not just for my kid, but for all the kids. Because I know that music is great for ALL kids. 

A few weeks ago, I was flipping through a magazine and I saw an advertisement for a grant opportunity from Clorox that will provide funds to schools in one of three areas: Play (sports, recreation), Explore (academic discovery), and Create (music, theater, arts).  Free money?  The possibility of getting our music program back?  Yes, please.  Let's give this thing a shot!  

I contacted the school about the grant and offered to nominate the school in the "Create" category.  I simply asked that they send me some general (brief) information about the school and the former music program.  They did not send me the information I requested.  I nominated the school anyway.

I created fliers and asked the school to translate them into Spanish and send them home.  They sent them home.  In English.  A week late.  I'm getting the fliers translated into Spanish on my own.  They'll go out this week. 

I swore I would not ask my friends and family to vote for this cause until I saw that others at the school had started voting.  My 8 votes those first few days just weren't going to get us anywhere.

Well, the good news is that word has started to spread.  And parents, teachers, and others are starting to vote.  Those 8 votes are now 218.  So now I am asking you: Will you join me in voting for the underdog?!

Would you vote for Strauch EVERYDAY from now until December 9th?  You can vote online once per day AND text a vote in once per day.

To vote online, go to http://www.powerabrightfuture.com/gallery/.  Search for Strauch in the Keyword Search box and vote. 

To text your vote, text Clorox0663 to 44144.

Come on.  It will only cost you a few minutes.  Do it now!  And again tomorrow!  And again the next day!

We may not win.  We may even get creamed.  But, we have to try, right?  And even if we don't win the online voting for the Create category, maybe we'll win the Judge's Choice award!

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.” Saint Augustine

Education is on the Brain

What kind of crazy people intentionally put their high-performing, spirited child in an under-performing, Title 1 school with very traditional teaching methods and very few resources?

We do!

Yes, it's our neighborhood school so getting there is very convenient for us.  But we know that we have other options.  Thanks to the internet, we can easily find out which schools in our area have higher API scores or better ratings on GreatSchools.org.  We even know which schools in Sacramento would be a better fit for his gifts and temperament.  And yet, we've chosen to put our son in our neighborhood school (at least, for now).  

Why on earth would we do that?  Shouldn't we find the "best" school around and make sure he has access to every opportunity available to him?  (In fact, one of his teachers last year hinted that's just what we should do.) 

Well, for whatever reason, I sometimes go against the flow.  (Good thing I married an against-the-flow kind of guy!)  While I know that conventional wisdom tells me to put him in the charter school on the other side of town, I can't help but wonder what's to become of the other 600 students at his school.  Who is going to stay and fight for them?  Who is going to help bring resources from where they are in excess to where they are lacking? 

Idealism?  Dreaming?  Faith?  Calling?  Maybe a little bit of each. 

For the most part it's been a really positive experience. 

• I love that Jonah goes to school with our neighbors and we can't walk up or down any of the halls without seeing one of them and saying hello. 
• I love that he is a minority at the school (only 8% of the students are White).  This gives him an amazing opportunity to make friends with children from different cultures and backgrounds.  (Also...really good for me to be a minority and to experience some of what that feels like).  
• And I love the teachers at the school who are completely heroic in my book.

But, there are also things that have caused me a whole lot of angst over the past two years. 

• I really don't like the lack of strong leadership.  How can we be an excellent school without a strong vision and a plan to carry it out?  
• I really don't like the lack of parent empowerment.  Part of this is because I know too much. I've been trained in Asset-Based Community Development and I've seen it work in powerful ways.  So it kills my soul to see many talented and gifted parents who, I believe, want to be involved, but don't feel empowered to offer their gifts, skills, and talents to the school.  (For example, at the "Parent-Admin Chats," why is the principal leading the meeting and doing all of the talking?).  
• Finally, I really don't like that the kids do a whole lot of boring worksheets, which are taught to the "middle" of the class, rather than creative writing, art, and science.    

So, where does that leave us?  Most days, it's fine.  The truth is, Jonah loves school and is happy as a clam.  He has a terrific teacher and a bunch of friends and he loves the last part of the day when his teacher reads them the Junie B. Jones series.  So, as long as he's happy, I'm happy.

But as I mentioned in my last post, last week was a really hard week - and frustrations with the school were a big part of that.  I felt utterly powerless and that led me to want to control things.  My mind started reeling, attempting to "fix" the entire broken system - in my own strength.  That didn't go over so well.   When I finally realized that I could not physically handle the pressure of "saving the world," it was too late and I'd already become a big stress ball with a leaky eye.  Thankfully, God reminded me of who He is and who I am not.  

In the midst of all of this thinking about education and school this past week, I saw this video on another blog.  Please take a minute to watch it - and then let me know what you think!

 

My favorite line from the video: "We should be waking them up to what they have inside of themselves."  Amen!  I couldn't agree more. 

Also, I don't think I've mentioned here that Steve is doing an (unpaid) internship at StudentsFirst.  It's been a really positive experience and we are so grateful that he has a stimulating place to go everyday to work on meaningful projects and meet new people (while he continues to look for a job).  It's so interesting to have him on the front lines of education reform, something that's been a passion of mine for so long.  We've been having lots of interesting discussions lately.  Education has definitely been on our brains. 

Back to School

We recently got a letter in the mail from Jonah's school.

 
Killing me.  Someone forgot that the principal is your PAL.

Jonah's first day of first grade is tomorrow!  I can't believe it.  But he's ready, and I'm very ready to have him back in a more structured routine again.

Tonight we went over to the school to see the class lists posted up on the office door and to find his new classroom.  It's not at all what I was expecting!  At our school, you can request a teacher so last spring, I briefly toured each of the three first grade classrooms and met the prospective teachers.  In the end, I really didn't have the foggiest idea who I should request for Jonah so I just put down the teacher that all of the other parents were requesting.  And I kinda believed that we were going to get her (wishful thinking or presumption?).  But, we found out tonight that we did NOT get the teacher we requested.  They added a fourth first-grade classroom because of high enrollment and Jonah is with the new teacher.  It feels a little strange to have NO idea who my son is going to be spending 7 hours a day with for the next 9 months.  But, the good news is that his class only has 21 kids in it!  (last year, he had 29 in kindergarten).  I'm sure that number will go up over the next few weeks, but it sure was nice to see tonight.

I was also thrilled that he is going to be in a real classroom, rather than a dinky portable (the other three first grade classrooms are in portables).  I am hoping this means that he will have a little bit of room to move around and be creative.  As strange as it sounds, physical space is one of my main concerns for Jonah in regard to school.  So, tonight's information was not at all what I was expecting, but I'm hopeful and excited to meet the new teacher tomorrow.   

Kindergarten is long gone, but at some point, I'd still like to sit down and write about last year and what it was like for us to enroll Jonah in our neighborhood school.  There were many highs and many lows and they both came at unexpected turns.  I fully intended to write about our experience that first year, but it seems that the things that are closest to my heart, such as education, my kids, and my neighborhood, take the most time for me to sit down and process.  So, maybe soon....

For now, we're looking forward to a new year with new friends and new opportunities to use our gifts as a blessing to others.  Maybe this year, I'll volunteer to proofread the letters that go home from the office staff.  

Processing Statistics

The last few weeks I've been working on a couple of grant proposals for The GreenHouse. For one of them, I needed to include updated statistics on the academic performance of the schools our students attend. So, off I went to the California Department of Education's website where you can get data on any school in the state. The results were sobering. Not that they there were new to me - I've seen them many times before - but still sobering, nonetheless.

Since this blog gives me chance to process things like this, I thought I'd share the results here. Process along with me if you choose.

First, a few definitions to help you understand the scores:

The API (Academic Performance Index) is a number between 200 and 1000 that reflects a school's performance level based on the results of the statewide STAR test and CA High School Exit Exam. The statewide goal is to have all schools at an API of 800 or higher.

Statewide Rank compares a school's API to the API of all of the schools statewide that are the same type (elementary, middle or high). Each school is given a ranking from 1 to 10 (1 is the for the worst/lowest performing schools, 10 is for the best/highest performing schools).

Socioeconomically Disadvantaged is a term that refers to a "student neither of whose parents have received a high school diploma OR a student who participates in free or reduced lunch."

Below are the API scores for Grant Union High School - the school that students from The GreenHouse attend....and the school that my own children will attend if we still live in this house in 10 years (and if they attend their district school):

1261 students took the test. 1258 of them were classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged.
API score - 606, Statewide Rank - 2

And now, the API scores for San Ramon Valley High School - the school I attended in Danville, just an hour away in the Bay Area:

1551 students took the test. 9 of them were classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged.
API score - 868, Statewide Rank - 10

Not really sure how to process that. I just know that it makes me pause and scratch my head and wonder...How we can do better at redistributing the resources - from where they are in abundance to where they are most needed - so that that there are no more "2" schools?

It sounds a little bit like a kingdom playground.