Making a MARC

Today I left the MARC for the last time. I will be retiring at the end of the week.  The MARC was the dream of a small group of educators to do something about a large neighborhood in our attendance area. We simply wanted to make a difference in the lives of the children in that under served geographic area.  We met with the administration of the community and worked out an agreement so that they would let us use a room in their Community Center and we would provide some volunteer tutoring.  Their hope was that the tutoring would hold families in a community that could be somewhat transient. As we got into the community of majority second language families, we realized that the needs were much greater than  mere tutoring.

At about the same time in 2010 a family in our larger community lost their precious daughter to a sudden illness, a beautiful blonde teenager with the heart of an angel.  It was devastating for the family but instead of drowning in their sorrow, they decided to create a living memorial to their faithful, spirited and talented daughter, establishing the McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation. Their mission was to honor McKenzie by inspiring and helping  young people find their purpose in a world of challenges.  Through church connections some of the teachers who had been volunteering at the MARC were put in touch with the Wilsons (Divine intervention?) Today the Foundation funds many diverse projects that all build on McKenzie's passion and honor her life by helping young people realize their full potential. The MARC (McKenzie Academic Resource Center), which now takes up the entire Community Center in our under served area is only one of the many projects that carries McKenzie's name and is proud to represent her faith and spirit. Because of the Foundation and Chets Creek's involvement,  the MARC today is involved in family life in a variety of ways - a preschool program, middle school and high school tutoring, a  weekly Saturday Sunday School-type program, Blessings in a Backpack and a multitude of other social service-type programs.  The Foundation pays for a full time school-to-Center Liaison.  The model has now been replicated in another school community in another part of town.

This year I have been tutoring on the day 4th-5th graders come. As I walked through the Center today, this is what I observed.

Small group Math turoing

A second language student who speaks no English working on
 a new language-based computer program, Imagine Learning,
also being piloted at the school. 

A computer lab where students can get extra practice in  iReady and Achieve 3000,
programs being offered at the school and for homework for extra practice.

Small reading strategy group

Individual tutoring

This is place that once was hardened soil but today nourishes a rich green garden of possibilities.  Seeds were planted that today have begun to bloom and the beautiful colors of McKenzie's butterflies swoop down to brighten every day.  Dreams have become reality.. and the best is yet to come...

Other People Who Inspire

I have written about the "stories" of people at Chets Creek who inspire me every day.  I am fortunate to be surrounded by incredible people whose lives impact my heart. I have still another group that have touched me and all of our school community is such special ways...

Liz works with families

Liz Duncan is a National Board Certified Special Education teacher at Chets Creek with a strong moral compass.  Even though she cares about teaching, she cares even more about doing the right thing for the children whose lives touch hers.  Her own personal mission collided with our school mission when several years ago our school recognized an under served population of children in our attendance area.  Our leadership team made a conscious decision to make a difference in the lives of the children in that specific area.  We met with the community's home  owners and agreed on a small space where we could offer tutoring free of service in the community.  Teachers volunteer their time for tutoring.  Of course, as we began to tutor we began to meet families every week bringing and picking up their kids. It didn't take long to realize that the need was so much more than tutoring.  We began to help with small projects (covering windows with plastic to keep out the cold, power washing homes, delivering food, looking for English classes for second language adults, providing clothes and household furniture and goods...), but it was soon evident that we needed a more comprehensive plan to meet the need.  Liz led our efforts and soon worked through church contacts (Beach Church and the Church of Eleven 22) to reach the McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation.  They agreed to become partners in funding a comprehensive program within that community. While that in and of itself is remarkable, it's not the end of the story.  It was just the beginning.

The MARC serves Chets students.

Soon it was evident that the program had grown into more than we had imagined and the Wilson Foundation was interested in using the model for city wide expansion.  We needed a teacher liaison to act as our school go-between to make this massive dream come true.  None of us knew if this would work or what a job like this would look like. What would it pay? Would the job have benefits? Could the county negotiate a contract with a non-profit? Even with all the uncertainty Liz was willing to step out in faith and say, "I'm willing. Use me."  Who does that?  Obviously someone who cares deeply and is so committed that she actively listened for the call and then acted.  Certainly, as expected, there have been bumps in the road as the program has grown and changed. but when I think of the children and families that have been helped, whose lives have been changed, it humbles me deeply.  Somewhere along the way Liz even opened her home to "angel baby," a child who needed a family that is with her still. The MARC (McKenzie Academic Resource Center) is an example of full service comprehension programming through a grass roots effort, the dream of a small group of educators to make a difference in the lives of the children that sit in their classrooms.  Liz so inspires me because she wasn't content to sit around and just talk about the need.  She stepped up. She saw the need, and she responded.

We wore purple t-shirts all year to support Miss Pat.

Miss Pat and Ralph Thomas are also part of our Chets family.  They inspire us all.  Ralph is a 70-year old custodian at Chets and is an Amazon of a man who affectionately high fives every kid he sees.  His wife, Miss Pat, is our head custodian.  They came to us after escaping the flooding of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  They lost everything.  As if one tragedy in a lifetime isn't enough, last year Miss Pat was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer... What I expected was gloom and doom but what I saw was a woman with a smile and an extra skip in her step.  Even on her worst days, she was at school smiling and even dancing her way through the hallways. Check out the faculty's video to lift her spirits. We wroe purple shirts all year to honor Ms. Pat and to remind her to "let the good times roll!" She is now cancer free but she has taught me that when you have faith, nothing, and I do mean nothing, can really keep you down.  She knows that attitude is simply a choice you choose each day. The children (and adults!) in our building know her and love her and have her remarkable example to emulate.  I am so much better because I have watched Miss Pat live her daily life and face her trials with joyous faith and thansgiving.

Karen Morris is another of the remarkable people that call Chets Creek home.  She is a second grade, second career teacher who co-teaches with... her sister!  Together they are two of the most gracious women that I know.  They are always thoughtful and the first to volunteer if there is someone in need.  I have watched them with awe and learn from their example every day.  What I love about Karen is that she saw a need in our school and a way to meet the need and then did something about it.  As a teacher you can't help but notice when a child outgrows his clothes, when the pants are a little too high and the long sleeves barely cover the elbows, when clothes begin to fade and have rips and tears that go unmended.  You know when you have to glue the soles together of a child's tennis shoes that these are often signs that a family is stressed.  Maybe the crisis is temporary or maybe it is chronic, but nonetheless, the child is in need. He can't really learn while he is carrying such a heavy burden. As those things happen, teachers at our school, on a very regular basis go out and buy clothes for needy children or go through their own child's closet to find clothes that no longer fit or sometimes put the word out to other colleagues with kids about the same size.

2015 Clothes Drive at Chets Creek

But Karen decided to do more than just hit and miss.  Instead she decided to organize an annual clothes drive.  Children all grow out of their clothes and often the clothes are still in very good condition, so why not gather all those clothes together in an organized fashion and then redistribute the clothes, allowing families at Chets to come and get what they need? That's exactly what Karen began to do several years ago.  Once a year she organizes a week long clothes drive that ends with a Saturday shopping day.  Karen has corralled  a faithful group of friends and PTA volunteers to sort through all the donated clothes (no small task) and to be there on Saturday. On Saturday morning every table in our over-sized Dining Room is loaded with clothes, divided by size and gender.  There is even a section for household goods and books.  The line of those waiting is out the door!  What I love about Karen is that she didn't just see a problem, but she did something about it that has bettered the lives of so many.

I am sure in every school there are people like these who walk the talk, people who live their lives in such a way that you are somewhat in awe.  Don't get me wrong, they are not perfect people who have perfect lives, and they would be the first to tell you that, but they are people who choose to live their lives with integrity and in service to others.  Can we ask for better role models for our children?

Sleepover, 2015

One of the things I love the most about our annual First Grade Sleepover is the way that family's get involved in the event.  This year our theme is "...lions and tiger and bears. Oh my!" to go with our Wizard of Oz school theme.  One of the things that families are asked to do with their child is to make a lion, tiger or bear - stuffed animal for Sleepover.  The directions are emphatic that you don't have to sew and that the idea is simply to have fun with your child.  The week before they are due, we make stuffed animals/pillows with the children that come from the large mobile home community.  These children are mostly second language students and so we incorporate making the animals/ pillows during the day that we tutor after school in their community.  Parents are invited in to help stuff and make the creations but we supply all the "stuff."   The picture on the right below with the big bear show the pillows that the students made together after school at the MARC. 

A parent in the classroom volunteered to make four extra pillows, just in case another student showed up without one, and of course, they did, but for the parents that are actually able to work with their children to make something special, this becomes  a wonderful shared experience.  The pillows and animals come in the week before the event to they can be displayed in the lobby on the evening of Parent's Night.

On Parent's Night students come with their family to make a keepsake pillowcase.  Each student sends in a pillowcase (and we ask that parents that are able, to please send in an extra), so that we make sure to have a pillowcase for every student that shows up.  We had over 100 children show up with their families to make pillowcases!   The first grade teachers have plenty of stamps set out with acrylic paint so each child can work with his family to make a pillowcase.  As they leave, the students are given a little bag of Teddy Grahams.

It's just such a nice tradition!  Teachers who now have grown children talk about still having the pillowcase that their child made in first grade.

The actual day of Sleepover began with a parade filled with first graders in pajamas, dark halls, flashlights and glow-in-the-dark bracelets.  The students ended in the Dinning Room watching and meeting the Wizard of OZ characters while they ate breakfast and the Principal (in her red sock puppet pajamas... with footies!) lead a dance party where first grade teachers danced on the stage and students danced to all the popular kid songs.  

Then it's off to Center about literature run by the Resource Team.  The music teacher reads a children book about a party under the moon that includes singing and dancing, of course.

Coach provides an active outside game that included a read aloud!

Art read the popular Paddington Bear that ended with a painting art project.

And Mrs, KK, our Media Specialist ended our day with a shadow puppet show of one of our favorite books, Ira Sleeps Over complete with popcorn and dancing with a disco ball!

What an amazing day!

Mckenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation

Out of a tragedy rises a legacy of hope.  McKenzie Noelle Wilson, the beautiful young daughter of Blake and Stephanie Wilson died suddenly - cutting short the promise of a future filled with love, caring and hope.  The Wilsons could have chosen to spend the rest of their days mourning the senseless loss of their faith-filled daughter, but they chose instead to start a foundation in her memory that would embody all that she was.  It is such a n honor that they have chosen the nae of their beautiful daughter to put on the center where we first began tutoring.  It is indeed humbling.

The Foundation raises money through the sale of LiveNGrace bracelets, the 5K McKenzie Run, and various projects through Kenzie Clubs all over Jacksonville.  The money is used for an orphanage in Africa and to support two MARCs (McKenzie Academic Resource Centers) in town - one of which is in the Portside Community that services Chets Creek Elementary, where I teach.

Debbie Harbour, one of the
MARCs most dedicated volunteers.

Teachers at Chets Creek volunteer their time at the MARC.  I volunteer on Mondays during the K-1 day for two hours each week with two other very faithful and dedicated  Chets Creek kindergarten teachers and a retired Speech Pathologist.  I mostly work with six of the children from my own class who come faithfully.  I have met their families - had conferences because I could easily grab a sister or aunt as an interpreter (most are second language learners).  I have met their older brothers and sisters who often pick them up at the end of the day and their baby brothers and sisters.    For one of the children in particular,  the extra tutoring meant the difference in him passing or failing kindergarten.  I was able to work on skills prescriptively, knowing exactly what each child needed. The children seem more at ease at the MARC.  They laugh easily - they kid with each other - and they share deep personal things.  That intimacy carries over into the classroom.  They know me as more than a teacher but as someone who cares deeply (and someone who will tell their Mama if they get out of hand!)

Teachers from Chets who were able to attend tonight's Awards ceremony

Tonight the Wilsons invited all the volunteers from their many programs to the Schultz Center as a thank you for giving time and talent to children.  They reconnected us with the mission and with the memories of a beautiful young girl who left well before her own mission was complete.  As I sat there, and wondered how the Wilsons get through such a ceremony that honors the one that they loved so dearly, I wanted to say to them - We should be giving you the award.  It is an honor and privilege to be at the MARC and to carry on the work that McKenzie herself was never able to finish.  I hope they know what it means to be able to have a clean, cool place to spend a few hours each week with children that you care about.  And...  I hope McKenzie is smiling.  I know she must be so proud!

ESOL Endorsement

"I took the BEST ESOL course!"  said no Florida teacher ever! For years, I heard teachers complain about the ESOL courses they were required to take (after a 1990 legal decision). Boring, worthless, waste of time - were the words most often used to describe the courses. I can't think of a single time in all these years that I have heard a Florida teacher say they learned something or even enjoyed one of the courses.   Don't get me wrong.  We need strategies for understanding, engaging our ELL students.  It wasn't the need for the professional development that was the problem but the design of lackluster professional development course that was the culprit.  As a Special Education teacher, I was never tagged to take the five required courses and from reports from my colleagues, I was always glad. 

I actually am one of those people that usually love professional development.  I love learning something new and I am what they call an "early adopter."  However, what I HATE, more than anything, is to totally waste my time.  There is a lot I need to know and children I need to figure out.  I only have 180 days with this group, so I don't have a minute to mess around.  As I have gotten older I have been able to choose PD more carefully and find ways to make the requirements fit my needs.  Often I could talk an instructor into letting me redesign an assignment to do a case study of a student in my class instead of some type of generic project - and usually they appreciated someone that wanted to work at the application level. It was probably always harder on me, but I've never minded if there was something to learn.  I chose great conferences to attend or wiggled my way into trips to study with some of the best educators in the country.  In fact, that's how I came to Chets Creek.  In 2000, I wanted the professional development that they had available, so I struck a deal.  I became a part-time Literacy Coach (never really wanted to leave the classroom) and in return, I jumped into their amazing professional development - and never looked back.  County professional development was a little trickier because it seems that they most often wanted to reteach me the same things that I already knew at a beginner level instead of differentiating.  However, I could often find a way to opt out, if I knew ahead of time.  And then for the past 14 years, I have been at Chets Creek, where they understand professional development.  I could write volumes about that - and I have!  Here, the PD is job embedded, on the clock, on-going, differentiated.  It's relevant.  It continues to push me to be better.

So... when I was tagged three years ago for ESOL, in my DROP (last five years before retirement), I was not excited (That's an understatement!)  It's not that I don't want to know more about my ELL kiddos, but I didn't look forward to going through mindless courses that required me to check boxes and jump through hoops instead of participating in real learning that would make a difference.  So, with the help of some key people at Chets, we asked to be able to design our own learning, which included actual site work at the MARC.  The MARC is a resource center, now funded by the Mckenzie Wilson Foundation.  It is a multi-organizational support for families in a 1000 mobile home community that is in Chets' attendance area. Most of our ELL students live in this area. It is quite a story all by itself.  I couldn't be prouder of my colleagues who continue to change the world, one child at a time, at the MARC. 

What we designed was individualized and "up close and personal."  The County's ESOL Department, at the time, recognized the benefits of that kind of hands-on work and allowed us to combine professional reading with face-to-face time with children and families.  During that professional development, I spent several Saturdays helping families get food from Second Harvest.  I understood for the first time that I actually had children in my class that were not getting a meal at night... sobering.  I helped parents choose gently used clothes for their children during a Christmas clothes giveaway.  I tutored each week - making the difference between failing and passing for several of my students. I visited homes and my eyes were opened to the survival circumstances that my children were living with every day. When the days got shorter and I walked out of the MARC at night, I understood, for the first time,  the fear that families faced for their child's safety.  I had so many parent conferences at the MARC that I have lost count, but I could always find an interpreter in an aunt or older sister - something not as readily available at school.  These are parents that I could NEVER get to come to school anyway.  Parents began to see me in a different way.  They saw me in their neighborhood.  They reached out.  They became less afraid and began to realize that we could work together to help their child.  How many times did a parent come in early to sit and watch as I tutored?  They wanted to know how to teach their child.  Have these three years of PD made a difference?  You have no idea!

However, now I still have two more courses to take.  New administration.  New ideas.  Work at the MARC will no longer be accepted in lieu of the ESOL course. It seems that my only option is an on-line course offered free through the district (unless I want to pay for a college course - which I would be willing to do if it were meaningful).  I've inquired about an independent study. No.  I'm open to suggestions.

MARC Opens for 2013

In the name of McKenzie Wilson the MARC is open in the Portside community for another amazing year.  Volunteers from Chets Creek and other teens and adults from the community and from local churches come to tutor at the MARC in the afternoons. The MARC offers an array of other services to the community.  Our Kindergartners are welcome to come on Monday afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00!  What we try to do is simply to level the playing field for our youngsters by giving them those extra few minutes of instruction that we are not able to give them in a class 36-38. Many are second language learners.  I am really privileged to work with a couple of super dedicated Chets Creek Kindergarten teachers who have come faithfully every single week.  This is truly a labor of love.

 

Blend Project

After doing the Words Their Way assessment, we discovered that most of our students needed additional work on blends so we wrote a two week home project to assure that our students got some extra home practice working with blends.  Families were to look for four pictures for each of 16 blends.  They could use magazines or could google clip art.  To my surprise, all but one student completed the project (we did complete three of the projects at the MARC - our off-campus tutoring center - with second language students) and they were quite well done.  Some of the parents did complain about the work but when we gave the blends assessment, every single student scored 80% correct or above!  Rarely do we do a home project that is such an academic success.  We would certainly do this again!

Kindergarten Round-up

Welcome to Kindergarten Round up.  You probably have that at your school too - a time when new kindergarten parents can come to the school, get a tour of the building and begin the registration process.  About two weeks ago we had such a night at Chets Creek.  Many parents came with their kindergartners, met the Principal and toured the building with one of our kindergarten teachers before they took the registration information home.

However, we have noticed over the years that our families from our neediest community do not come to Kindergarten Round-up.  Instead they wait until school starts and come with their students on the first day or first week of school.  We generally have 25-35 new kindergartners from this community each year and instead of having time to prepare for the new year they just walk in totally unprepared.  This year we decided to address the problem by having a second Kindergarten Round-up in their community.  Instead of them coming to the school, we went to the community, to the MARC.  Since many of the families are second language, the Principal made sure to have  an interpreter on hand to translate.  The Principal started by introducing herself, just like she does at the traditional Round-up.  She even brought her 8-month old daughter with her so the parents could see that she was a mom too.  She explained the registration information and then gave the families a visual tour of the school through a PowerPoint of slides.

The night was quite successful with about 16 new kindergartners represented.  The Principal gave the families other dates, one each for the next three months, that she would be at the Community Center to accept registration packets and answer questions.  This is just one of the many attempts that the school has made to build a bridge that will make it easier for all of our children to be successful.  Now we will be prepared for each of these new kindergartners.  They will walk into school on the first day with their names on the class list outside the door, with their names on their cubbies and school supplies on their desk ready to go.  They will know that they are expected and that they belong.  What a great way to start!

Making our MARC

I know I have posted about the MARC (McKenzie's Academic Resource Center) before- our little seed of an idea for an on-site tutoring center in a community of 1000 mobile homes that lies on the border of our school boundary.  But I was reminded once again tonight about how a little idea and a small group of committed people can change the world.

Two years ago our Leadership Team had this small idea for improving the outcomes for some of our at-risk students.  We met with the owners of the mobile home site and asked for a small space and soon a few very dedicated teachers began tutoring some of our neediest students after school.   As I sat in the Recognition and Appreciation Dinner tonight, I was surrounded by Girls, Inc who  furnishes counseling to families; Beaches Resource who matches families with resources; Second Harvest that now comes through the mobile home park once a month dropping free food; Beach United Methodist Church volunteers that put on a faith based program every Saturday for the children that includes games, praise and worship, and lunch: Angie, who facilitates a preschool program and lunch that has just mushroomed; a second language teacher who volunteers her time at night to teach adults English as a second language; and a slew of teachers from Chets Creek who volunteer their time every single week to tutor along with some retired teachers - all of this now hosted and funded by the McKenzie Wilson Foundation.  All of this from just a little seed of an idea!

How fortunate we are to the McKenzie Wilson Foundation that funds the activities at the MARC.  The Wilson's lost their beautiful teenage daughter to a sudden illness.  Instead of having her death ruin their lives, they decided instead to dedicate funds to doing something special in her honor.  Funds for the MARC is just one of the many projects that they selected.  It makes a profound impact on me that they would allow their beautifully-spirited daughter's name to adorn our little Center.

I am just so proud of the school and teachers that I work with.  One of our teacher assistants now runs the Tutoring Center and our Behavior Interventionist's salary is being paid by the McKenzie Wilson Foundation to the school system as she works as a liaison between the programs.  My little group of four faithful Kindergarten teachers, who make sure the Center is manned on Mondays for our Kindergarten tutoring day, average about 12 kindergartners each week.   They are some of our neediest students and we can see each week how the extra tutoring is making a difference.  I just feel blessed to work at a school with a Principal that allows her teachers to dream and then steps outside- of-the-box to make those dreams a reality.  We believe that dreams really can come true!  Blessed indeed!

ELL

In Florida, because of a lawsuit many years ago, all teachers are required to take courses in teaching second language students once they have their first student.  I have been teaching for over 40 years and I have never been flagged for ESOL which means I've never been told I had to take the hours.  That's because I am a Special Education teacher and it used to be highly unlikely that a second language student would be identified with special needs in the early grades.  However, two years ago three little Hispanic children from the same family all showed up in my classroom on the same day (two were twins and the other had been retained).  They had already been identified as students of a second language and students with developmental delays, so...  I was flagged that year - the same year that I officially retired and entered DROP (our state's retirement program).  I was NOT happy.  I just couldn't believe that after all those years, that now, at the end of my career, I would have to take  college courses on strategies to teach second language students to continue teaching.

Most of my friends have had to take the courses and most described the time of sitting three hours a night as similar to that of any other poorly designed professional development.  The strategies they described were so similar to the ones that we are already using for our students with language deficits and other academic challenges.  They learned about diversity, but I come from the years when home visits were a regular part of a school year. How was sitting in those courses now going to help?  Then, as often happens (Divine intervention?),  I had the idea of doing an independent study and actually doing action research to meet the requirement. I was already spending time at the MARC (our tutoring center in our large Hispanic area).  Why couldn't I use those hours for ESOL certification instead of sitting in a classroom and simply reading about the problems. The time with the kids at the MARC actually requires me to apply the strategies and it forces me into the community where our tutoring center is housed.  It took several phone calls through the Ivory Tower to find the "right" person, Karen Patterson - someone to share my dream and my enthusiasm. 

As time passed, that simple idea began to germinate.  If it would be better for ME to meet the ESOL requirement through service, then why wouldn't it be better for the many other teachers at my school who were already involved in this volunteering effort?  It wasn't long before I shared that idea with KK Cherney, our dynamo Media Specialist.  She immediately realized the potential of this small idea.  She had already been thinking about spreading the idea of our volunteer tutoring center all over the county and this was one of the answers on how to help staff those centers.  Teachers from all over the county who needed ESOL hours could choose to spend their time applying the strategies instead of just sitting in a sterile classroom and reading about them.  It would put teachers directly into the community working with children and their families.

That "big picture" hasn't happened yet.  The dream has not been fulfilled but the dream has spread.  Karen and Sharon Patterson are helping us realize the dream.   Today, our first little wave of putting teachers into the community through ESOL hours, came to fruition.  A handful of teachers met with Karen and Sharon, our ESOL supervisors, and shared their written reflections and artifacts - pictures, blog posts, student progress.  Teachers not only participated in weekly tutoring.  They were in the community for Second Harvest food giveaways and hosted children while their moms worked through classes in English.  They participated as 50 families were helped through our Angel Tree project this week.  They helped host a huge Christmas party that included crafts and stories and even the big red man himself. 

Has this experience changed any these teachers?  There is no question that each of these teachers have logged hours in this community.  They have formed strong relationships with children and families.  They have been inside homes.  Some have shared meals.  They have had conversations, often through interpreters, with parents who would never have come to school for a conference.  They have been touched by the dreams that they have shared with the children.  This grassroot effort has the potential to mushroom into something beyond what we can now imagine.  Stay with us for the ride.  The best is yet to come...

Relationships

Last week I sat on the floor with C's mom and dad at our local tutoring space in the neighborhood and taught them how to use flash cards with him to work on his letters and sounds and then showed them how they could use the same cards to put the letters of the alphabet in order. His dad listened so attentively, just like he had when we talked about how he could help C practice writing his name. And C has learned to write his name! This dad adores his little boy and he is willing to do whatever it takes. He just needs a little help on knowing what to do. It won't be long before C knows his letters because I know his dad will practice with him every night.

K showed up a the MARC for the first time this week. She hid behind her mother's skirt as her mother half dragged her in. As soon as her mom left K worked on letters and sounds, eagerly writing and taking parts in the games. She had the opportunity to work with a retired Speech Therapist to help with her language needs. I sat with her mom for a few minutes while we waited for K to finish a language game and I asked her about K's diagnosis of ADHD, something I had been told by a previous teacher. Her mom surprised me by saying that the doctor could not actually decide if it was ADHD or language that were causing her inattention. Sure enough, the next day when I hunted down the paperwork her mother was right and I had been told incorrectly. I am so appreciative of that brief conversation with her mom. I also realized that the paperwork was a year old so her mom has now agreed to go back to the doctor to see if we can get a more definitive diagnosis. I don't think this mom would have ever come to school for a conference, but she was so easy and willing to talk with when I sat with her in her own neighborhood.

And then there is D. She is new to our school and so quiet. I have run into her at the MARC several times as I am leaving.  I see her on the playground with her baby sister. Today I was at the MARC with Second Harvest. Second Harvest gathers food from local sources and then makes it available for distribution free of charge to needy families. D came through with her mom and baby sister. She was so helpful to her mom, like a mini-adult. I couldn't help but think of all this little girl is carrying on her shoulders. I think she was surprised... and happy to see me, and... I think it will make a difference in our relationship in class. There just seemed to be such a special connection as she ran up and hugged me and introduced me to her mom.

One of the things that Ron Clark says in his newest book, The End of Molasses Classes, is that you have to get to know your students if you want to connect with them and that you need to form strong bonds with parents. That is the same principle that is a cornerstone of Chets Creek - relationships.  I guess it has just been reinforced to me again this week - just how important those relationships really are!

Grand Reopening

There are times when I am just so proud of the colleagues that I work with.  Today was one of those days.  A year ago we had a vision for a tutoring center in one of our underserved neighborhoods.  We had been talking about it for years and then one day, we just said, "Let's quit talking and do something."  That's all it took for Liz Duncan and KK Cherney to start.  Over the last year they have partnered with Beach United Methodist Church, The McKenzie Wilson Foundation, the middle and high schools in the area and the managing organization of the 1000 mobile home community.

Teachers from Chets Creek volunteer at the Center Monday through Wednesday from 4:00-6:00.  Thursday and Friday are reserved for middle and high school students.  McKenzie Wilson Foundation has bought a SmartBoard and Nooks and offers a place of service for their volunteers.  Second Harvest has gotten involved so the teachers come on Saturdays to deliver food.  The church offered a full Bible School to the students this summer and offer Saturday Sunday School.  There was a huge baby shower last Spring for all the new moms in the community, Christmas parties with give aways and crafts, construction projects that have included such things as pressure washing, stapling plastic over holes, weeding and landscaping.  We are trying to make this a place where teachers who need to meet the ESOL requirement for the state can do the work at the Center.  With our heavy Hispanic population, it is the perfect place to see and serve.

I guess the point is that I work with some incredible teachers.  They saw a need and were willing to do the work to make it happen.  I guess what I've learned is that dreams really can come true!

Where's the money?

Chets Creek is an "A" school with about 20% minority and about 20% free and reduced lunch. Sounds like a perfect little suburban yuppie school, doesn't it? And I guess it is... until you drill down to the student level. Who are those 20% of children who live in poverty, many of whom are also minority? Many of them are the same students who show up on our at-risk list of about 300 kids. Sure we have about 1200 kids so to have 300 at-risk isn't so bad, until you drill down to see who they are. In so many cases they are those same children living in poverty and in our case most come from the same little community. Each one of those children has a face - and a story.

Chets Creek is the type of school that has real heart - teachers who are willing to do whatever it takes. They often tutor before and after school or during their planning and lunch times. The go the extra mile but that still isn't enough. We know that we need to get inside this community and offer tutoring. More than that we need to form relationships that give hope to our at-risk children. They need to know that there is someone who cares. Their parents need to know that there is someone they can trust. These families don't usually come to us. We will have to go to them.

So let's offer tutoring and a way to check out books right there in their community center. The community center would be willing to offer a space, computers, clean up and other minimal services. We would just have to man the space. We have plenty of teachers who would be willing to offer their time - most of them would do it because they think it is the right thing to do - but we do need at least one paid person that we could depend on to be there and to oversee the program. Such a little bit of money for such a big pay off!

Let's do it! Oh, wait... You would think that with 300 kids effected, enough to be a small school, that the funding would be available easily... but it's not. Chets Creek, because it has less than 20% free and reduced lunch doesn't qualify for school-community type funds. That is saved for communities with 100% free and reduced lunch - although the total number of kids effected might be similar. I guess just being poor isn't enough - it depends in which part of town you live... Extended Day monies can't be used for this type of project because it's off the school grounds. It just shouldn't be this hard to do the right thing... Frustrating... Anybody know of any money sources for a good project?

It Takes a Village!

Chets Creek is made up of about 1200 students in grades K-5. Like many schools, our population is very diverse. Over 21 languages are spoken in our homes and our second language population continues to grow every year. Our free and reduced breakfast and lunch percentage also continues to creep up each year and currently is around 22%. That means that we have almost as many students on free and reduced breakfast and lunch (250+) as some of our urban schools! While our school is very close to a gated country club, our attendance area also includes a mobile home community of almost a 1000 homes.

Over the years, like most schools, as we have combed through our data, we have looked at many factors such as our Special Education and safety net services, Level 1-2 FCAT students, discipline referrals, free and reduced lunch, second language learners, and many of the other indicators that might be factored into our academic achievement. Because a third of our children as nestled together in that one mobile home community, that area often pops out as an area that includes many of our at-risk kids. Don't get me wrong. There are also many wonderful, hard-working families in that community - many retirees also live there. We have hard working PTA moms from that community and some of our school employees come from that same area, but when you have so many homes in a single area and the economy takes a plunge and times become so tight, it is not surprising that that area would continue to be singled out as a place where some of our neediest students reside.

As a Leadership Team we have often dreamed about on-site tutoring or summer camps or other services that we might give to this under served community in a meaningful way but because we do not qualify for some of the extra monies that are available to schools with majority poverty, we have never done more than dream and talk about it. This year, however, the Leadership Team decided to go over to the Community Center and talk to the resident manager about what he felt the needs in the community might be and how we, as educators, could have the families see us as active members of their community. We want our families to know that we really do care about them and we are willing to be there as neighbors. That's what this is really all about- turning to our neighbors next door and being there when there is a need in a meaningful way - showing our love in real, substantial ways.

At the same time that the Leadership Team was planning on loading up in a van to visit the community, Beach United Methodist Church, one of churches attended by many of our faculty, did a series of sermons about service. They declared Saturday, December 12 as an official day of service for its members. The idea was that each member would seek out a way to be of service to their neighbors on that specific day. Liz Duncan, both a member of BUMC and a Special Education teacher at Chets Creek who handles much of the discipline at school, stepped up to organize an event at our mobile home community on the specified day. The idea snowballed and even as it drizzled rain today, crews were all over the area offering a helping hand.

Bags of groceries were at the
Community Center for the taking and
some were even delivered

Volunteers circled in prayer
on this rainy Saturday of service

Bundles of baby blankets and clothes

Delivering groceries

Food offerings

Crews went out to decorate common areas with tinsel and ribbon and others pressured washed homes that were in violation of the community's ordinances. Teachers and teens along with small church groups went into homes stapling plastic to cover windows as the colder weather begins to fall upon us, leaving groceries and blankets at each stop. All of our faculty that are second language speakers themselves went to translate for second language families. Our Principal sat on the phone calling families from our school and reminding them to stop by the Community Center for the party activities and snacks but also to pick up anything they wanted. Teachers made holiday ornaments with the children and helped them decorate holiday cookies at the Center. Santa was there for pictures or just to chat. Bags and bags of groceries were given away along with blankets, clothes and toys. Families were encouraged to take anything they wanted.

It is our hope that this day will be just the beginning of a real relationship with this community. Wouldn't it be nice if this relationship made a difference in the academic achievement of the children that we serve? Sure, it would... but today was about getting to know each other better - letting our families know that helping means more than offering a few hours of tutoring at school - it was about showing our families, and ourselves, that we are really ready to walk the talk.

People often ask me what makes Chets Creek different than other schools. Today is what makes it different. I work with people who say they care and then turn that into action. I work with people who believe they can make a difference and then do something about it. I work with people who see teaching as their life's work and then make that real in their daily life. May every day this holiday season be a living testimony to our beliefs...

Update: We could never have known it at the time, but this day was the beginning of the school's commitment that led to opening the ARC (which was a tutoring center in the community) which led to the MARC when the Mckenzie Wilson Foundation decided to lend the name of their beautiful daughter and their resources to this community.  This was the beginning of a dream that became a reality.

Persuasive Writing

First grade is being required to add persuasive writing this year for the first time. The county provided five lessons that we could use... Not exactly the resources needed to teach a three week unit! So... as a collaborative community our first grade teachers decided to work together to write lessons that we could really use - lessons that we could love. We started with adding persuasive writing to our first grade wiki. Our wiki has become our place to house all of our resources in a single place that are available on-line! Then we began looking for resources and teachers added them to the wiki as they found them - books, chapters, blog posts about persuasive writing, PowerPoints from the Internet - resources that we could order, grab or steal!

We soon came upon the small, quick read, A Quick Guide to Teaching Persuasive Writing by Lucy Calkin's Reading and Writing Project. Our principal ordered the inexpensive books which we all read and quickly decided that persuasive letters would be a great first grade start into this new writing genre. Before long a couple of the first grade teachers agreed to write some lessons in the four-part Lucy Calkins' format that we have adopted. I admit our first lessons were hand-written notes that were typed into a Word document and then sent through e-mail for another to edit. Soon someone suggested that writing the lessons into Google Documents would allow real collaboration (wasn't me, but what a GREAT idea was that!) The lessons could appear as they were first conceived, then edited by all of the teachers as the lessons were taught! And that is exactly what is going on.

Today we met at the halfway point in the unit to share charts, books, ideas and student work. The charts that were shared have already been added to the wiki. The books that were passed around have already been added to the top of the lessons in Google Docs. The ideas will be added as the lessons are revised and examples of some of the student letters that were shared appears below! How cool is this!
3/23/09

Dear. Mrs. Phillips,
I think we need a water park playground. Dry playgrounds are boring. Dry slides are making you go slow. It is too dry. It is not wet. We cannot play in water. There is no diving. There is too much sun. We cannot swim.
from Carter
P.S. - This playground is boring.
3/19/09
Dear Mom and Dad,
I really want a puppy. I'll walk it. I'll bathe it once I finish taking a bath. I'll clean my room for a month. I'll feed it too. I really want a puppy, because remember when I went to Ariann's house? I spent half of all my day with Second. I loved it when I got to hold Second and we got to play together too even though he bit me a few times. I still want a puppy. Having a puppy will give me more responsibility. Thank you.
Love your baby girl, Jasmine

3-23-09
Dear Mom and Dad,
Can you get me and Miles a puppy because we love puppies and we don't have one anymore and that makes us sad. I will help you take him or her for a walk, and I will help you when he or she is hungry. I will love him or her. I will help take care of him or her and I will help you with everything.
Love, Your daughter, Mia