So, fast forward two years, and Russell and I are discussing our school system.  Our school system had just spend 1 billion dollars on renovating and rebuilding our entire school infrastructure from the ground up.  We had new schools, renovated schools, new equipment, high quality technology and new opportunities for our teachers to reach our students.  But, was this enough?  What else was needed?  How could we expose our community to the great things being done in our schools, while showing them that we still face challenges on a daily basis?  More importantly, how could we expose our decision makers to our schools.

According to our “Culture of Learning” Study from 2010, only 32% of Greenvillians believe that our politicians understand the value of education, while only 14% say that they are held accountable for their actions.  Many said that unless one of our legislators had a child in Greenville County Schools they may not have stepped into any of our buildings.  But, the same could be said for many of our business and civic leaders.

So, in partnership with Greenville County Schools, specifically Patty Fox and Pam Mills, Greenville Forward created Eye on Education, a program to help community leaders become more familiar with our local schools.  It’s a chance to experience what is happening in Greenville County’s classrooms and see the activity in our schools. The program creates opportunities to develop dialogue on ways to improve the learning opportunities for our students and teachers.

All participant is broken up into two groups and set out to visit two schools each. Before the groups are broken up, they hear comments from Dr. Fisher on the state of Greenville County Schools.  When they return, they participate in a dialogue that discusses potential opportunities and next steps.

It’s a day of vigorous community building around public education in Greenville.  And, it’s this Friday, February 24th from 7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  Registration is almost closed, but if you would like to be added to the list, please visit, eyeoneducation2012.eventbrite.com or call us at 864-233-8443.

We are all about the 2025.

As an organization moving Vision 2025 further, any number including a combination of 2025 reminds us of our goal and how we are doing in achieving the dreams and goals for Greenville County. 

So, on this 20th of February, we celebrate reaching 250 members with this one-day membership offer.

As long as the date reads 2/20, all new memberships to Greenville Forward will include a buy one, get one free option. You can join at any level and give the free membership to someone else for the exact same value.

Visit www.greenvilleforward/join now, fill out your information, and we’ll email you to see who you want to receive the free membership.

This one-day offer is an opportunity to grow our membership and our Vision 2025 community even more. Thank you for believing in Greenville. 

Despite the early morning meeting, the participants came away with some wonderful ideas for making learning an integral part of the fabric of our community. I was delighted to hear some new ideas I had not considered before and was challenged to think about learning beyond how I define it in my own mind.

And per my usual style, here are some notes that captured the response of the participants:

What communities beyond Seattle are we aware of that are thinking about this question and how are they addressing it? What programs are they using and what is their plan of action to move forward?

What is the motivation for learning and why should we communicate its importance to adults and children?

How do we recruit and attain talent in Greenville? We need to create an atmosphere where people want to be part of what is happening in Greenville.

What are the emerging fields that will really recruit and attain people in Greenville? We need to have a population that fosters learning.

How can you get every part of the community involved with learning? Everyone learns in different ways so there should be different modes of learning.

You need to get into the neighborhoods because people learn best in their own environments, like community centers.

There are many wonderful programs and experiences out there that people just don’t know about. For example, the Warehouse Theatre presents plays with important themes, etc. There is also Learning in Retirement at Furman. Do people know about that program? There are barriers of cost to many of these programs.We need to find enough things that are “free” for people. But there are still challenges of transportation.

How do we bring dialogue to other communities who are not coming here. How many learning opportunities are there downtown? Could we expand them to other communities?  We could engage not just people but also businesses.

If you were raised educated than you naturally encourage learning with your children. But some people do not have that background. At the grocery store, some parents might use it as a learning tool – perhaps the grocery store could be involved with that and provide “learning sheets” for children.

The difference between learning and education – even in the school we can create a learning environment versus an educated environment. The idea of community must start in the home. Education was never meant to be something that stopped at 3:00.

If more establishments like Spill the Beans opened up for events like this, that would be huge.

There is a community here that is glad to not be in school because “I won’t have to learn anymore.” This is not a result of teachers failing but what the community does to “blame” the schools.

How can you make being smart in school equally as cool as being captain of the football team? – “Pay people million dollar contracts to put an idea into the hoop instead of a ball.”

Sometimes learning means “extra work” – but if people love where they work, they are interested in continuing to learn. Top companies create a business culture that values learning and where people want to be engaged.

Many of the most interesting points were about the differences in non profits in India and non profits in The United States.  One comment indicated that all businesses in India were required to give 3% to charity.  Interesting, eh?  The group was very interested in conflict resolution between organizations, as well as program focus and community support.

Our panel was terrific and displayed a vast array of expertise in the non profit sector in Greenville, SC.  The panelists were:

• Kate Hofler, Greenville Forward
• Rebecca Ellefson, United Way Hands on Greenville
• Adela Mendoza, ACCH/LiveWell
• Russell Stall, Greenville Forward

The participants in the program were part of a national program called NCIV (National Council of International Visitors.)…

We have recently had a chapter started in Greenville, under the leadership of International Task Force member, Bianca Walker and The Riley Institute at Furman University.  This was the first opportunity for the program to happen in Greenville, and we feel it was a total success.  So, if you hear more about the program, get involved.  Or call us and ask how you can get involved.

More information on the visitors:

To put this goal in layman’s terms, the Vision basically hopes for two kinds of inclusion, racial and international. So last Thursday, a group of educators, statisticians, community volunteers, nonprofit leaders, concerned businessmen and women, and experts on the topic gathered around a table to assess how Greenville is doing on these two major fronts.

Overall, the general consensus was that inclusion is difficult to define. For many, it is hard to even broach the subject when the biggest problem with many of the minorities in classroom is the extreme poverty and insufficient nutrition facing many of these students. How can you worry about students’ opportunities to interact with international cultures when you are more concerned with where they will sleep tonight and whether or not they will receive dinner?

There were many other important comments that I jotted down while listening to the conversation. I am providing them below to offer a sense of the conversation and the important points made by many of our participants.

“Berea High School is composed of 40% Hispanic students. It is hard to find native speakers to become faculty members.”

“The lack of Hispanic faculty is a cycle that must start in high school to inspire Hispanic students to go on to college.”

“Are we truly connecting potential Hispanic teachers with the need in the field of education for them to fill positions?”

“What kinds of field trips could we create to show students Hispanic culture in our community?”

“Is the school district communicating enough with parents and communities? Perhaps school principals could share with the communities around them the vast needs they have for some of their students for food, shelter, and safety.”

“There is often a disconnect between at-risk children and performance. Is Johnny reading at a lower level because Johnny is homeless?”

“Those that are on the ground need to continue to do the work they do and build relationships with one another to partner in overall goals.”

“Contact principals in your area to see how you can become involved with supporting their schools.”

### One of the main things I noticed as an observer is the recurring theme of the importance of communities supporting schools. It seems that if the communities surrounding schools offered support in the form of food donations, supporting nonprofits that work with the homeless, etc. only then can they begin to fully address inclusion in the classroom.

Greenville Forward Expands Board of Directors and Names New Chair

Four New Members Added to Nonprofit Leadership Board

Greenville, SC – February 10, 2012 – Greenville Forward is pleased to announce the addition of four members to the nonprofit organization’s Board of Directors led by the newly elected Chair, Rita Barker of Wyche. The new board members include Sean Dogan, Ansel Sanders, Catherine Schumacher, and Gaye Sprague.

Rita Barker is an environmental attorney at Wyche, P.A. and is a graduate both of Harvard Law School and Clemson University. Rita has participated in Leadership Greenville, is a member of the City of Greenville’s Green Ribbon Advisory Committee, and is an active supporter of Upstate Forever and Friends of the Reedy River. She was recently selected as one of Greenville Business Magazine’s “Best and Brightest 35 and Under” honorees.

About our New Board Members:

Sean Dogan: Rev. Sean Dogan has served as the Senior Pastor of Long Branch Baptist Church since 1997. He recently launched an environmental improvement project around the church campus and is an active advocate for healthy living and local food access among his congregation through a program called Radical Faith Ministries.  Dogan attended the Shaw School if Divinity and Clemson University. He is actively involved with the United Way, S.H.A.R.E., and UNCF, to name a few. He was also honored by Greenville Business Magazine as “Best and Brightest 35 and Under.”

Ansel Sanders: Ansel Sanders is the Program Director at A. J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering.  He also serves on the leadership team for a new public middle school, slated to open in August 2014 adjacent to the ICAR campus.  Prior to coming to A. J. Whittenberg, Ansel served as an administrator at Mauldin Middle School.  In 2004, Ansel began his career in education by teaching 8^th grade language arts in inner city Baltimore, Maryland, through Teach For America, a program that places high performing college graduates in struggling urban and rural school districts throughout the country.  He taught for three years before moving to Greenville.  He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

Catherine Schumacher: Catherine Schumacher, a native of Spartanburg, is a freelance development consultant and grant writer who moved to Greenville in 2005 after spending a number of years working in Boston and New York. She also is a graduate of Harvard University. Catherine has 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including not only grant writing and related services but also strategic consulting on fundraising, Board development and stewardship, and long-term organizational planning.

Gaye Sprague: Gaye Sprague is a civil engineer with 33 years of experience and is the owner and principal of Sprague & Sprague Consulting Engineers. She has Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in civil engineering from Clemson University and served on the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors from 2002 to 2008. She has served as chair of the Board of the Greenville Transit Authority and the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee.  She has been an elder at Westminister Presbyterian Church, and her other volunteer experience reflects a lifelong commitment to nonprofit groups that focus on education and community welfare.  She was elected in November 2009 to one of two at-large positions on Greenville City Council.

###

As we were watching the film, I feverishly took notes about key elements that are worth sharing or quotes that had an impact, followed by a quick recap of our discussion. I am going to share them here but I do hope that you take the time to watch the film on your own at some point if you have the chance. I am fairly certain that you can get it on Netflix or we can loan you our copy. Overall, the key theme I noticed was that no matter how desperate, how devoid of funds, or how seemingly impossible the outlook is when trying to impart change, people are capable of making a difference when they work together toward a common goal.

Oakland: 

In Oakland, we saw the role of community organizers filtering the angry, desperate, and passionate parents’ through a system of building relationships with one another so that their concerns became actual action steps.

They determined that failure had been the norm. And then decided that failure was unacceptable.

The community organizers worked to push the local school board to create more small, new schools to eliminate overcrowding and offer enriched educational experiences.

In the fall of 2001, five new schools opened.

The Bronx:

Several entities came together to create a better outlook for the youth in their community. “Ain’t no power like the power of youth cause the power of youth don’t stop” was a constant motto.

New York City has the nation’s largest school system.

Local volunteers and students were trained in community organizing and literally lobbied the Department of Education for a building for their new school, The Leadership Institute.

“Every child was born with the potential for greatness.”

The whole goal was to create relationships between the people in power and the people in need.

The School District Superintendent literally told the students that the Leadership Institute’s Building was “not a priority.”

The Leadership Institute does not get its own building but the school does go on.

Boston:

The Boston Parent Organizing Network was founded to improve education for low income students.

The Boston community realized that the connection with the parents was absolutely crucial for success in a child’s education.

The school district event created a Vice Superintendent for Family Engagement position.

“Your child must know that you are supporting them.”

The district even offered an education fair where all schools were represented to show parents the options.

After-film Discussion: 

“In the amount of time that people could have done nothing, these people created schools.”

“Work together; do not begin by being argumentative and accusatory.”

“Someone was able to create a peaceful table where there was mutual respect.”

“Many parents are disenfranchised in our community and we must figure out ways to bring them back into the fold of the school.”

“Success is an approximation of justice. We are not going to get there all at once.”

“Why don’t we have a Superintendent of Family Services in Greenville?”

“We should focus on supporting communities where the schools are located.”

“Perhaps we could identify schools in our community that are struggling and adopt these communities like Leadership Greenville projects.”

“If the schools fail, then we fail as a community.”

Overall, the attendees at the Challenge Series felt that if Greenville were to pursue a similar track to improve our educational systems, we would need to better support the communities where our schools are located. In turn, the communities should support the schools. It is not just about the teachers and parents — anyone around a community can be part of the village raising our children.

(Stay tuned for the next Challenge Series event happening in March of 2012.)

Here in Greenville, there are existing community gardens at First Christ Church, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, John Calvin Presbyterian Church and St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, to name a few.  In fall 2011, Triune Mercy Center joined the community garden network when volunteers and parishioners alike joined to build 4 raised beds.  The food grown in Triune’s small plots supply weekly grocery distribution to families and individuals that would otherwise lack fresh produce.  There are plans this spring to expand the garden with blueberry bushes and fig trees!  If you are a member of a faith-based community and want to start a community garden, contact Gardening for Good today!

I share this element of our culture at Greenville Forward because we are delighted and honored to have one of our own, a former high school intern who worked with the HeadStrong project, representing our community on a national stage.

Join us in cheering on Carrie Tian tomorrow as she competes on Jeopardy as the youngest contestant at 17 and a representative of Harvard University. More here: http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-television-distribution/releases/view?id=30509&shared

For most people, the traditional community garden is located in a neighborhood setting to help build community ties while experimenting in the garden.  In neighborhoods both large and small, gardens are supported by the surrounding residents. Most garden volunteers live in the neighborhood surrounding the garden, creating a heightened sense of community and place. Although neighborhood gardens may receive volunteers from outside residences, they are primarily organized and run by local residents dedicated to the garden effort.

Here in Greenville, community gardens are in neighborhoods all across town, possibly right near you!  For example, Greenville Organic Foods Organization (GOFO) sponsors a community garden in the North Main neighborhood.  Greengate Community Initiative started a community garden on reclaimed land in their neighborhood on the eastside.  The Hampton Street Children’s Garden works with neighborhood children to grow produce to distribute to residents in the Hampton-Pickney Historic District.  City of Greenville also supports gardens in the Greenline-Spartanburg and Nichotown neighborhoods.  To the north, innovative residents in Sans Souci planted a community garden to support friends and neighbors last year.  Overall, neighborhood gardens are robust and flourishing in Greenville.  If your neighborhood or community association does not yet have a garden, contact Gardening for Good to discuss the possibility today!