i finally got sick of trying to contact the administration at the SDL and i contacted principals, counselors and extended day specialists at all the schools to move forward in trying to get MU students into the after school programs. miracle of miracles, they actually got back to me. of the 20some schools in the SDL, i’ve heard from a few elementary schools and the high school, so i began meeting with them today to determine what kinds of programs and services are needed where.
i was in my first elementary school in probably 11 years today. it kind of felt the same. even though it was a completely different building, elementary schools i guess are kind of standard. the kids were so cute. the meeting was awesome, i met with their extended day specialist and their community school director and they told me about the programs that are currently offered and the process we’d have to go through to get students working in their after school programs. It was so exciting to feel like i’m finally getting somewhere. It kind of made me want to be a community school director. i don’t know what kind of training and experience has to go into that position, but what she does seems really cool. essentially, a community school is where not only are education and enrichment opportunities offered to the students, all different aspects of the community are brought into the school: family support, medical care, cultural programs… all of the resources that can be found in the community are consolidated into the school where parents and children can access them together. this elementary school and the one next to it are the “model” community schools for the rest in the district, and i’m excited to learn more about how a community school works and how it’s compared to regular schools. Now that i’m all excited about this opportunity, the only thing that can really stand in my way is student interest. i hope so badly that i can get an insane amount of interest from MU students so that we can make these after school programs successful. the SDL needs help so much and i think that MU students have so much to offer. i guess only time will tell. I meet with the after school programs director in the high school tomorrow, so i need to switch gears from little kids to big kids for that. i hope to really emphasize my interest in getting these kids involved in community service tomorrow. i’ve been doing a lot of research on drop out rates and absences and retention in low income school districts and a lot of studies attribute community service and civic engagement to declines in drop out rates, and god knows, this school needs that. i guess my main concern with these programs is sustainability. i’m only here for a year and after that, these programs will either sink or swim. i want everything i’m doing to be worth it and i’m afraid that eventually i won’t be able to pull it off or that things will fall apart.
loveaudrey
