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Story posted May 20, 2011

Editor's Note: Shortly following the posting of this story, the deadliest tornado since record keeping began in 1950 hit the Joplin community. Learn more about its impact on district schools and how district schools are helping mobilize the community response from The Leading Source (the American School Board Journal's blog).

Every year the American School Board Journal (with the National School Boards Association and Sodexo) features Magna Awards to recognize excellent school district leadership. The following district is a 2011 winner.

Results:

• More than 500 volunteers have contributed 3,000+ hours of service as mentors, tutors, and volunteers.
• 54% reduction in the number of dropouts.
• Establishment of 233 community partnerships.
• More than $300,000 in cash and in-kind donations.
• Creation of a rapid response system to meet basic needs of students within a 24-hour period.  

Joplin, in southwest Missouri, has a rich history as an old mining town. As the jobs created by the mining industry went away, high poverty and low expectations replaced what was once a thriving community. With 56.2 percent of Joplin’s 7,802 students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, kids have many basic needs to be met for them to be successful. One out of four freshman entering Joplin High School would not graduate. Almost 200 high school students dropped out in the 2008-09 school year. Realizing the culture of the school community had to change, in 2008 the Joplin school board started the process of strategic planning to get support from the community to tackle this challenge. As a result, the Bright Futures initiative was born.

SOLUTION

Following the Bright Futures kick-off breakfast, more than 40 community leaders stepped up to be involved in identifying needs and creating solutions. Following intensive research by this leadership group, six NOW needs were identified. These included,

1) Establishment of an Eagle Angel fund to address immediate individual student needs in the absence of community resources,

2) Partnering three businesses and one faith-based group with each school,

3) Significantly increasing adult mentors and tutors who work one-on-one with kids,

4) Creating opportunities to recognize high academic achievement of individual students,

 5) Coordinating a massive community school supply drive, and

 6) Creating a central supply distribution center to serve children in the 19 different schools in the district.

As a result of this grassroots community effort, the district has been successful in creating a rapid response system to meet students’ basic needs and provide academic support to ensure they have the tools necessary to be successful in school.

THE BOARD’S INVOLVEMENT

In the fall of 2008, the school board provided leadership in the initiation of a strategic planning effort to engage the school community in the improvement process. As a result, more than 200 individuals in the community were involved in the development of recommended objectives, strategies, and action plans to achieve the district’s mission of “investing in the future today by inspiring our students to pursue excellence.” One of the four objectives included increasing community support by engaging 100 percent of the community in students’ education. The school board wholeheartedly supported these recommendations and has been actively engaged in the implementation process. This includes an accountability structure requiring monthly updates regarding implementation of the strategic plan. In addition to providing financial resources to support this effort, board members have modeled the way for other community members by participating as mentors and tutors to needy students.

RESULTS

Since the Bright Futures initiative began, the most notable accomplishments include a 54 percent reduction in the number of dropouts, establishment of 233 community partnerships, and more than $300,000 in cash and in-kind donations. More than 550 volunteers have contributed over 3,000 hours of service as mentors, tutors, and volunteers. One purpose of the Bright Futures initiative was to create a rapid response system to meet basic needs of students within a 24-hour period. To date, the system has been successful in addressing every identified need. Using a Facebook database, individual community members have the opportunity to support students as needs arise. Consequently, even the most challenging needs are met within minutes rather than hours. Bright Futures inspires hope for the kids who need it the most.

 The mission of Bright Futures is “partnerships inspiring educational achievement and developing community success.” The program is a one-of-a-kind grassroots effort that was born of the district’s strategic planning process. Deliberate and strategic actions were employed by the Board of Education and administrative team to engage the community in a dynamic process to bring about lasting change, not only in the schools, but in the community as well. Since the program’s inception, there have been numerous examples of selflessness on the part of others to help those less fortunate. Whether it is providing comfort to homeless students, eating lunch with children of incarcerated parents, tutoring struggling students, or buying a pair of shoes for a child whose family cannot afford it, every single need is being filled as it is identified. Competing businesses, a diverse faith-based community, and multifaceted human services organizations have come to the same table to share ideas and resources as they seek innovative solutions to a complex community problem. The Bright Futures initiative has opened the door for the creation of lasting partnerships, which already has made an impact on the lives of children and the culture of the community. The momentum continues to build, and there seems to be no end in sight in terms of community support for this effort.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact Superintendent C.J. Huff at chuff@joplin.k12.mo.us. The district’s website is at www.joplinschools.org.

This story was originally featured as a NSBA 2011 Magna Awards publication—a supplement to the American School Journal. For more information and to see other winners, visit www.asbj.com/magna.

Story reposted with permission.