CIS Washington News

March sees a lot of activity for many of us. The plants start to get a little greener, daylight savings time helps kick away the long winter night blues, and the drama of March Madness storms into living rooms nation-wide.

But for students all across the Puyallup School District, March is also synonymous with charity. The third month signifies a whole string of activities around the area as local students take part in their annual March Gladness event.

March Gladness is a month-long event coordinated by Communities In Schools of Puyallup. The event instills both the need and the joy of giving in students, and it allows them to take an active part in activities held by many of the 32 schools located in the school district. This year was the fifth installment of March Gladness. And with thousands of students, from kindergarten to grade 12, participating in over 50 separate programs from 29 schools, this was the best one yet.

The benevolence of the Puyallup youth touched upon many issues, both local and global. Many schools went international by sending money and goods to foreign countries in need. Fruitland Elementary, for example, provided aid to victims of the Haiti earthquake by collecting 750 new or gently-used shoes in a shoe drive. Others, however, sought to better the local community around them, through food drives, toiletry collections, and teddy bear drives for local homeless children. Some even felt compelled to better their own surroundings by painting murals or cleaning up school campuses.

Fear not, sports fans; this year’s March Gladness wasn’t without a basketball matchup. In a popular event run by Ferrucci Junior High School, local police officers took on the school’s faculty in the Cops vs. Teachers Memorial Charity Basketball Game. The money raised benefited the Lakewood Police Independent Guild and the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff’s Independent Guild, in honor of fallen officers.

From penny collections to fitness classes, Communities In Schools of Puyallup’s March Gladness gives students in the district a chance to give back to their community and their world. “It has been a while since we brought a lot of schools together,” says Chelsea Jacobs, the affiliate’s AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. “It was truly great to see.”

See a full list of the 2011 March Gladness events here…

A survey of teachers across the country confirms what Communities In Schools has long suspected. By supporting at-risk kids with non-academic needs we help teachers do what they do best: teach.

“Not every kid comes to school prepared to learn,” says Kari Hollandsworth, Lindberg High (Renton) teacher. “When their issues play out in the classroom I have to take more class time to deal with them, which deprives other students of valuable teaching time.”

Communities In Schools typically works in schools that have higher poverty and numbers of unprepared students. To remedy circumstances we employ on-site service coordinators who broker community resources into schools – connecting identified students with services such as healthcare, nutrition, counseling, hard goods like clothing or eyeglasses, as well as academic tutoring. Our mission is to surround students with the support necessary for them to graduate prepared for life.

“With Communities In Schools help these kids get the things they need so they can come to class focused and ready to learn. Now more of my time goes into actual teaching,” said Hollandsworth.

The teacher survey is a component of a larger five-year, third-party, study of Communities In Schools begun in 2005. The study’s final installment, due out this summer, compares student populations who receive CIS support to similar populations who do not. Earlier installments show, at the school level, that Communities In Schools support increases school graduation rates along with reading and math proficiencies.

Communities In Schools often complements service brokering with one-to-one mentoring. Volunteers meet weekly with students and are afforded a more intimate understanding of the young person and their needs which makes for more effective service delivery.

Wrote one Federal Way principal, “Our 2007-08 school year saw a spike in the number of students living in crisis. Assessment scores took a nose dive and for the first time we did not make AYP standards….Communities In Schools was instrumental in helping us confront this crisis – creating a “school family” of dedicated volunteers. Thanks to your partnership our 2008-09 school year was one of the greatest turn-around years we’ve ever experienced.”

Nearly three-quarters of the teachers surveyed agree that by helping more at-risk students engage in class and understand the value of education, CIS help results in higher overall classroom achievement.

In short, Communities In Schools, by thoughtfully addressing the needs of individual kids, raises the bar for all kids.

Link to more information on the teacher survey and five-year evaluation study here.

Excerpted from the Bellingham Herald
Kira M. Cox

Options High School junior Michelle Ewing looks forward to Wednesday afternoons when she gets to pretend. One minute she might be an acorn, then the next minute a passenger on a cruise ship, and the next a patient at a doctor’s office.

Ewing is one of more than a dozen students in this year’s Improv for Education program, a drop-out prevention effort by Communities In Schools of Whatcom County.

“I’ve always been kind of interested in drama and improv,” the 17-year-old said. “But I also joined because I’m going through kind of a hard time in my life.

If it wasn’t for coming here, I don’t think I’d be really motivated to do anything else.”

Improv for Education was created last school year as a way to offer a new extracurricular activity for teenagers. Communities In Schools of Whatcom County, which has been working with Bellingham and Nooksack Valley school districts for about two years, is the local branch of a national nonprofit organization that connects schools and students with community services, all in the name of helping kids and teenagers overcome obstacles and be successful in school and life.

During the four-month program, students get a chance to work with Upfront Theatre performers and learn improvisational skills. The program culminates with live performance at the annual Communities in Schools fundraiser.

But students are learning more than just improv, said Options teacher and Improv for Education instructor Leslie Umberger, who has also performed at the Upfront. They’re also building confidence, understanding teamwork and learning to go with the flow.

During the weekly gatherings at the Upfront Theatre, students play games that require quick thinking. While students may need the gentle reminder about being loud or “removing the editor in your head,” as Umberger said during a recent meeting, getting them to jump on stage isn’t a problem. Even though students are from four high schools, they have formed a close-knit team that can easily laugh together.

“When you always focus on school, it gets really hard,” Ewing said. “Sometimes you just got to let go and learn how to play again.”

Excerpted from the The Spokesman-Review
Jody Lawrence-Turner
March 8, 2010

Dropout prevention, bringing local resources into schools for students, and helping young people stay healthy are among Communities in Schools’ goals. The national nonprofit was drawn to Spokane because of its dropout rate – one in three students. The local branch was established here in December 2007. Since then, executive director Ben Stuckart has helped bring dental services into several schools, provide food to more hungry children on weekends, and joined the steering committee for an effort to establish a fund that could improve the graduation rate.

Q: How does Communities in Schools connect local resources with schools?

A: We do that by putting a site coordinator in specific schools. So, in Spokane, we have coordinators at Cheney, Glover and Chase middle schools. There’s a volunteer coordinator at Sheridan Elementary School. Their job is to bring outside resources into the schools. For example, the dental-sealant service, Tooth Savers, is one we brought in.

Q: What are a few of the activities Communities in Schools is involved in?

A: We have a pretty robust afterschool program … where we have more than 50 students participating each night at each of the three locations. They bring in outside resources like Red Cross, which teaches baby-sitting courses. And Girl Scouts teaches “uniquely Me” – a program that addresses the critical nationwide problem of low self-esteem among adolescent and pre-adolescent girls.

It’s all community partners offering those programs. And we’re brokering them in and connecting them with children.

Another need that we came up with was nutrition. Schools offer free and reduced lunch programs, but then kids at night and over the weekend are hungry. We have a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank to do food backpacks that we send home over the weekend. I think we’re up to over 60 children.

There’s a growing low-income area in Airway Heights, so we talked to Second Harvest Food Bank and the organization opened a Kids Café at Cheney Middle School. It serves free and abundant food every day that’s nutritious: granola bars, sunbutter (a spread made from sunflower seeds) and jelly sandwiches, fruit and vegetables. We probably feed 75 to 100 kids at Cheney Middle School.

Q: Why did the nonprofit get involved in the Children’s Investment Fund initiative?

A: I’ve seen the need directly. Our job is to connect community resources to schools, and I’ve seen the number of services available to our kids in schools through nonprofits has shrunk.

I understand the dropout rate, and I think it’s a huge social and economic issue that we need to address. Our organization can’t address it alone. I think there’s a need for something larger here in our community.

Excerpted from the Tacoma Weekly
By John Larson

A group of students at Sheridan Elementary School have been exploring their artistic abilities on Monday afternoons.

Catherine Swanson heard that Communities In Schools of Tacoma was looking for volunteers for an after-school art project. She spoke to John Levi III, coordinator of programs for Communities in School at Sheridan, and offered her services.

Levi had contacted the city of Tacoma, which sent the notice out on its art listserv e-mail list. When Swanson responded, Levi checked out her website and learned about her background.
“She is an established artist. I thought that would be important,” Levi said. “She seemed like a good fit.”

Sheridan does not offer a class specifically on art; teachers incorporate art into other subjects when appropriate.

“That is where we come in,” Levi said. “We provide things schools are not able to have anymore, due to lack of funding or other reasons.”
In January, Levi put together a list of after-school programs and students were able to sign up. The art class has a fee of $20 and a maximum of 25 children can participate.

They have met each Monday afternoon for the past nine weeks; the class ends on March 15.

Several students from the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Mt. Tahoma High School are assistant teachers. One is Aaron Scafe, a junior.

“They are learning shapes, how to compare and contrast colors,” Scafe said of the children.

He said the class reminded him of after-school programs when he was that age. “We love the kids and try to make them have fun.”

Levi will not have an art class in spring, but hopes to offer it through the entire 2010-11 school year. “Youth need art,” he said. “This gives them a chance to explore the artist within them. It is like a breath of fresh air.”

Read the full story here…

Reprinted from Northwest Military

By Tyler Hemstreet

Prior to December, Senior Airman Katherine Lamb just wasn’t up to speed on the latest happenings in the world of professional wrestling.

But since volunteering as a mentor at Lochburn Middle School in Lakewood and getting paired with eighth-grader Selena Verduzco, her eyes have been opened to World Wrestling Entertainment star John Cena and his many ring theatrics.

“Before, I wasn’t cool,” Lamb, 31, said with a laugh.

During the pair’s one hour a week meetings, Lamb works with Verduzco on a variety of school assignments, assisting the 13-year-old on whatever subjects she needs help with. The two also share stories and talk about their interests.

“She tells me about her concerns, and I give her my point of view,” said Lamb, who works on the command staff of the 62nd Mission Support Group at JBLM-McChord Field.

It’s all part of the Communities in Schools of Lakewood program, which features 66 mentors – 10 of which are airmen or soldiers from the base. Students who have been paired with a mentor get better grades, have fewer behavior infractions and even tend to have higher self- esteem, said Doug Baxter, mentor coordinator.

“The kids also know better in what direction they want to go in the future, and know better how to get there,” Baxter said.

The program also allows for students to stay working with their mentors as they move from elementary to high school within the Clover Park School District, better preparing them for college, he said.

Lamb, who speaks fluent Spanish, has given Verduzco a finer grasp of some of her math and history assignments. That has translated into higher grades.

“I have no more “F’s,” Verduzco said.

Once the school work is finished, the two have a chance to talk about their life experiences. The subjects range from Lamb talking about growing up in Puerto Rico, joining the Air Force and moving all around the country to Verduzco talking about her love of WWE wrestling and playing soccer.

“Mentoring helps you in a variety of different aspects – mainly learning to become a better listener,” Lamb said. “It’s a great bond and friendship.”

Verduzco enjoys hearing about Lamb’s travels and has formed a strong bond due partially to the fact her deceased father was a soldier in Mexico.

“She’s a best friend … it’s not like a teacher in the classroom telling you what to do,” the 13-year-old said.

The relationship has been mutually beneficial for both.

“You feel better that (the students) are changing their study habits for good,” Lamb said.

And Verduzco’s commitment to finishing her schoolwork has enabled her to raise her grade point average and play on the school’s soccer team.

“If you want to be on the soccer team, you need to do the (schoolwork),” Verduzco said.

Excerpted from the Federal Way Mirror Reporter
By KYRA LOW

It was a grand success at this year’s Communities in Schools Annual Breakfast. The event brought in $47,000, more than was collected last year and $12,000 above the group’s goal. The 11th annual breakfast brought in more than 400 community members and educators.

The event was emceed by Superintendent Tom Murphy, who is nearing the end of his long career at Federal Way Public Schools. Murphy received a long standing ovation during the breakfast.

The speaker for the event was Washington State University President Elson Floyd, who spoke of the changes in education over the years. Teaching was once only about the education, he said. However, that is no longer the case, as schools have expanded to many social services.

“Teaching has almost become secondary to everything else,” Floyd said. “Teachers have to deal with so many of the other social issues.”

However, through programs like Communities In Schools, schools are able to fill the voids and help all children.

“They represent our future,” Floyd said. “And our future will be incredibly bright thanks to your philanthropy. It’s all of our responsibilities. Thank you for what you do to produce the leaders of tomorrow.”

Murphy confirmed what Floyd said: That schools face many needs nowadays that aren’t related to education, but social services — and only with CIS are they able to reach those needs.

“Schools are not social service agencies. We cannot be social service agencies,” Murphy said. “Communities in Schools does that, and it’s only a click away,” he added, referring to CIS’s new online system that created a district wide resource contact list.

Read the full story here….

Dear Colleagues,

It was my great pleasure to represent you at a gathering of national education leaders with President Barack Obama at a White House event yesterday. While I was quite pleased to hear the President’s commitment to reducing the dropout rate and to helping young people graduate from high school prepared for success I was especially gratified to hear him recognize the work of Communities In Schools by name.

(Video coverage of the full White House event is available at http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/292311-1, with the President’s recognition of Communities In Schools programs shortly after the 27:00 mark. )

That recognition, with some of the lead-in from President Obama’s speech to give it context, went as follows:

“As my Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, says, our kids get only one chance at an education, and we need to get it right. Of course, getting it right requires more than just transforming our lowest performing schools. It requires giving students who are behind in school a chance to catch up and a path to a diploma. It requires focusing on students, from middle school through high school, who face factors at home, in the neighborhood, or in school that put them at risk of dropping out. And it requires replicating innovative ideas that make class feel engaging and relevant — because most high school dropouts in a recent study said the reason they dropped out was that they weren’t interested in class and they weren’t motivated to do their work.

So that’s why we’ll build on the efforts of [groups] like Communities in Schools that make sure kids who are at risk of dropping out have one-on-one support.”

As this type of acknowledgment comes as a direct result of the hard work we have been doing on behalf of students, families and schools for more than 30 years, you should be proud of your work and the respect it has garnered among our President and national leaders; it is truly the dedication, enthusiasm and tireless commitment to quality of the Communities In Schools network that makes this all possible.

Now, inspired by this boost into the national spotlight, we should all look forward to continuing our hard work in order to meet the President’s challenge of achieving excellence in our nation’s schools.

Again, thank you for the great work you do and congratulations for having it recognized by President Obama.

Warmly,
Daniel J. Cardinali

Excerpted from the The Spokesman-Review
Jody Lawrence-Turner
February 24, 2010

Third-grader Tyrese Patrick opened wide and showed no fear as his teeth were inspected, scraped and a few were covered with a sealant by the dental hygienist visiting his school.

The 8-year-old had been put at ease by Gail Heacox, who explained the tools of her mobile dental office as Tyrese lay on her portable chair in the temporarily converted nurse’s office at Sheridan Elementary School.

Heacox is the first hygienist in Spokane County to offer the school-based dental sealant program, a preventive effort overseen by the Washington Department of Health. The veteran hygienist was brought into the schools through Communities in Schools, a nonprofit that seeks to connect students with community resources.

“If kids’ teeth hurt, they can’t learn,” said Ben Stuckart, director of Communities in Schools.

According to the Washington Department of Health, an estimated 51 million school hours are lost per year in the United States because of dental-related illnesses.

The need for dental care was discovered during conversations in the schools where “dental and medical kept coming up,” Stuckart said.
“One of the problems is that if a single parent works all day, they do not have time to get kids to an appointment,” Stuckart said. “Access at the school is key.”

Before the visit, each school is informed when the dental hygienist will be coming. Forms are sent home with students to get parents’ permission and insurance information. If a student doesn’t have insurance, the dental care is done free of charge.

Heacox assesses the students’ teeth, cleans them, then uses sealant to close cracks where a cavity could easily grow. Other services include oral hygiene instructions and painting the teeth with a highly concentrated fluoride that makes them stronger.

An informational sheet is sent home to the parents indicating whether the child has cavities or other problems that need to be addressed by a dentist.

“She does such a great service,” said Heacox’s assistant, Toni Carey. “Some of these students would never be seen by a dentist.”

When Heacox started dental work, she never planned to focus on children, she said. “It’s been the most fun, rewarding … and challenging job I’ve ever done.”

Read the full story here….

Around a hundred supporters turned out on a beautiful spring day in Olympia to urge legislators to fund Communities In Schools organizations in Washington. The day marked the culmination of a year of legislative meetings by staff and board members across our network, as well as hundreds of letters written on our behalf, as we sought to lay the groundwork for eventual state funding.

As the Washington network of thirteen CIS organizations comes into our own as the leader in school-based coordinated services we seek to complement our funding (traditionally business, foundation and individually supported) with consistent funding from the State of Washington. Such funding will sustain our momentum of reaching thousands more youth in need and at risk of dropping out.

This is our first year at a concerted network-wide request, and with a state budget deficit of $2.8 billion we knew our chances were a long shot at best. But we decided to use the opportunity to more assertively educate policy makers about the work we are doing – work that ultimately decreases unemployment, reduces social service costs and drives our tax base. And in the words of Senate supporter, Tracey Eide, “If you don’t come down and ask you’re never going to get anything.”

As we all feared, proposed House and Senate budgets released yesterday were marked more by cutting programs than adding new ones, no matter how effective. And while the budgets did not include Communities In Schools funding our efforts have still enjoyed considerable success. When it comes to dropout prevention and school-based coordination, we are now front-and-center in the minds of leading legislators and policy makers. When our economy eventually rebounds we are, more than ever, poised to gain state funding.

We knew going in this was going to be a multi-year process. Count our first year a success that we will build on over the course of 2010, let culminate on Olympia Day 2011, and result in state funding for our Washington State network.

Thanks to everyone for your support and hard work as we work to make state funding a reality in Washington!