Community schools benefit students, neighbours
Published Saturday December 27th, 2008
Designation brings school and outside community closer together, enriches lives of students
David Wheaton says it's the best job he's had in his 22-year education career.
Wheaton, a former teacher, vice-principal and principal throughout School District 2, is now a site-based co-ordinator for three community schools in the district.
As co-ordinator, he works to bring each of his schools closer to the outside community, through partnerships with local businesses, groups and individuals, for the purpose of enriching the lives of students and to make the community feel closer to its schools.
To date, 51 schools from both the English and French sectors have been designated as community schools. The community school initiative was unveiled by Education Minister Kelly Lamrock in 2007.
As part of the designation, the schools share a full-time staff position in charge of developing partnerships with public, private and volunteer groups in their respective communities.
Wheaton is the co-ordinator for Magnetic Hill, Forest Glen and Beaverbrook schools in Moncton, three of the six community schools in District 2, which operates English-language schools in southeastern New Brunswick.
Carole Murphy, community schools co-ordinator for District 2, says community schools are all about maximizing resources.
"It's maximizing resources that exist around the school, so those kinds of resources would be social agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, churches, you name it," she explains. "And helping the community help the school, always with the end result or the outcome of supporting student learning.
"At the same time, the school supports the community. So the school's resources, both physical and intellectual . . . can help the community that the school serves."
One example, she says, might be bringing parents in to provide extra help for students struggling with a certain subject. At the same time, the school could host a homework club to provide parents with the necessary knowledge and tools to better help their own children.
These partnerships benefit everyone involved, and Wheaton, as on-site co-ordinator, seeks out these opportunities.
One such partnership sees Atlantic Baptist University students work with some of the young students at Beaverbrook.
There are a variety of different activities the older students do with the younger ones, including hula-hoop and art classes, but in the end, Wheaton says it provides positive reinforcement and examples to the youngsters.
"This student is modeling what kids should be doing, and at the same time modeling 'I went to university, and you can too,'" he says.
Another post-secondary school, CompuCollege, sends students to teach youngsters outdoor survival skills, yoga and even how to succeed at homework.
Wheaton himself takes time out of his day regularly to play a game of backgammon with a student in one of his schools who has behaviour issues and struggles with math.
The backgammon not only reinforces math skills, but it gives Wheaton a chance to connect with the youngster and help him learn to behave better. They keep a list of all the positive things the student does to reinforce good behaviour.
Another partnership involving a game has been developed at Forest Glen as well.
Marilyn MacDiarmid, a Canadian Federation of University Women volunteer, comes in regularly to teach and play bridge with a group of Grade 4 students during their math class.
While one might question the value of playing a card game in math class, David Cogswell, Grades 3 and 4 teacher at Forest Glen, says it reinforces their skills in addition to teaching students other critical life skills.
"Some of these kids needed a little bit of work on their social skills," Cogswell says. "This is an outlet for that."
Bridge requires a certain knowledge of math and critical thinking, so only the strongest students are able to play. It also teaches them about categorizing, strategy and planning ahead. In the meantime, the rest of the class play other math-related games to get their minds working in different ways.
In watching four of the young students play a game of bridge, one could see how excited they were before the game began and how rapt with attention they were during it.
Cogswell says the students are excited to go play it each time, and they're learning without even realizing it.
Forest Glen was one of the first schools designated as a community school.
Another, Port Elgin Regional School, was only recently given the designation.
Brian Dean, principal at Port Elgin, was happy his school was named as one. To qualify, each school must provide examples of things they are already doing to engage the community and an action plan of things they need or want to do.
"I view it as an acknowledgement of what we already have in place to begin with," Dean says. "Because most schools are already community-based schools, they have great partnerships with their Home & School (Associations), with their (Parent School Support Committees), with their businesses and service groups and things like that."
Lorraine Kennedy is the on-site co-ordinator for Port Elgin, Marshview Middle and Shediac Cape schools.
Dean says having that extra body to work with a school is a huge help.
"You have ideas you'd like to do but you don't have the time to dedicate just to that. That's a big part of it right there, is having that human people power to help co-ordinate that," he says.
Even before being named a community school, Port Elgin was working with the community. Right now, it is working with the provincial Department of Education and Department of Health to help relocate the Port Elgin Health Centre.
The health centre is currently housed in a nursing home, but it has been asked to vacate the space because the home is growing.
Soon it will be housed in Port Elgin Regional School. Dean says they have room for the centre, and it will bring an active element of the community right into the school.
Another interesting program that is currently in place at a few schools in the district, including Port Elgin, is the Roots of Empathy program. A family with a newborn baby brings the child into school on a regular basis. A Grade 3 class gets to see the youngster as it experiences its first days.
"The whole idea of the program is kids get to see and experience what it's like to see a newborn and watch their first year of development and to learn and ask questions," Dean says. "It's basically to gain human empathy through this experience. It's a really neat program."
Dean says he hopes all of these initiatives in community schools help students grow through education and experience.
"I'm hoping it's going to strengthen them as citizens, as humans," he says. "The things we've started so far are to teach them those really important skills in life, of empathy, of caring for others, of caring for your peers and working together to accomplish something."
Carole Murphy says each community school has different needs and different programs in place to meet them.
Rural schools, for example, have unique challenges because many of their students live in areas far from the schools, so extracurricular activities have to take place between classes or at lunch instead of after school when students must catch a bus.
The four targets of the community school initiative, Murphy says, are supporting academic, family and community aspects and creating a positive school environment.
All of this begs a question though. If community schools and their various programs are so beneficial to students, shouldn't all schools aim to be designed community schools?
"Most schools do have partnerships to a certain level," Murphy says. "But the management of volunteers and co-ordination of volunteers and developing these partnerships takes a whole lot of time."
The province eventually plans on naming a total of 75 community schools over the next few years. While many of the current community schools benefit from corporate sponsors, Murphy says it's really the people involved that make the difference.
"The emphasis is more on people than donors or sponsors," she says. "Although we love receiving gifts from corporations and companies, and we've been very fortunate to have the support of many companies like Spielo Gtech.
Spielo Gtech donated an entire computer lab to Forest Glen School last year. Not only do students benefit, but David Wheaton hosts regular computer classes for adults in the community as well.
While the Spielo Gtech gift of computers and a revamped computer room in the school is appreciated, it's the care that went into putting the room together for the students that makes it all special.
"It's the people time that can really make a difference with our students," Murphy says.
Community schools are always looking for more volunteers and businesses or groups interested in partnering on projects.
Disabled
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
