A Solvable Problem

Written by: Danielle Guerin

Throughout my academic career, I was always told “you can’t learn it if you aren’t here”. I took that saying to heart, only slightly ignoring it when I wanted to be a little rebellious.  Yes, I’m admitting that I faked sick a couple times during my high school career, but never enough to affect my school work or to be noticed. According to a new study that was released on Wednesday by The Indiana Partnerships Center, at least 55,000 students in Indiana are “chronically absent”. The study defines chronic absence as missing 10% of the school year, whether excused or unexcused. In other words, it’s missing 18 days of school per year or 2 days of school per month.

2 days. It doesn’t seem like much, but it is. During those 2 days, a student can miss a pop quiz, the explanation of a new concept, or even a test. In school, every day matters. Missing school matters. According to the study, for ninth graders, missing school is a better predictor of dropping out than eighth grade test scores. 

Most of you reading this would agree with me that being present at school is the first step to academic success. So, why is it that we can’t get the students there? Are they disengaged or bored? Well, we should re-engage them and make them like school. Learning isn’t boring; it’s actually pretty fun to discover all these new things. Maybe the students don’t feel safe at school; again it’s our job to change that. Or they have any other number of barriers; if they do, we need to find out and do our best to break those barriers down. I’m not saying it will be easy. Chronic absenteeism isn’t a simple problem, but it is a solvable one. 

To learn more about this, go to www.MissingSchoolMattersIN.org

A Hoosier Education

I grew up in a community with one public high school. 

That’s not to say that decision making about education initiatives in rural areas come without their share of challenges and politics. If anything, I’ve learned that democratic processes in any community are incredibly complicated and intensely local. 

But something about my recent move to Indiana seems like a new animal. I drove 10 hours south, from rural Upper Michigan, to a state that is debating major legislative issues around education ranging from bully prevention, to policies on gang activities, to early childhood education. I moved to a city that holds 11 public school districts serving over 37,000 students, in addition to a number of private, charter, and alternative schools. I’ve moved to a city that is grappling with the implications  of a proposal  for a mayoral takeover of the public schools and a redesigned school system.

 

And I’ve jumped into a position with an organization that navigates through the thick of it all. With initiatives  in early intervention and prevention, drop-out prevention, summer learning, policy work and youth advocacy, and youth program quality—this has been a lot to take in.

The most encouraging thing about all of this is that I’m working for an organization that is really insistent on the importance and presence of youth voices in these matters. 

So as I enter into my VISTA year as one of two Student Success Initiative Coordinators for MCCOY, I am excited to continue to engage in this learning process alongside high school youth on the Youth Advocacy Council. Because, let’s face it, they know a lot more about what it means to be a Hoosier (what IS the origin of that word?) than I. And the perspectives I’ve heard from them so far have been invigorated and local and complicated and visionary.  

To learn more about how the YAC advocates for youth issues in central Indiana or to get involved, click here.

Summer Learning with 100 Black Men & St. Vincent Unity Development

As an employee of MCCOY, a social worker and most importantly, a parent, I know the importance of summer learning. Kids who don’t use their brains during the summer, lose most of what they’ve learned during the school year and fall behind their peers that do use their brains during the summer. As a parent who pays for a private school education, having my child “forget” what she learned is just unacceptable! For the second year Nya has attended summer camp hosted by 100 Black Men and St. Vincent’s Unity Development Corporation. She loves camp and wakes up every morning at 6:00am looking forward to another day. When I ask her about her day she talks about writing in her journal, reading books, math class with Project SEED, art class with Art With a Heart, and using the computer for the Ticket to Read program. She goes outside twice a day and enjoys the friendships she makes during camp. Classroom work is an important part of the camp, but so is enrichment via field trips. Nya has gone to the zoo, the Children’s Museum, the Universoul Circus, but also to the Ruth Lilly Health Center and the Survive Alive Firehouse where she learned all about fire safety and burn prevention. And would you believe that she has done all of this in seven weeks for $150!!

The motto for the camp is “Building a Better Me” and in all that they do there is the underlying presence of helping young people to be the best they can be through learning, exposure and being good people. The finale program featured songs and performances that focused on the Golden Rule, The ABC’s of Philanthropy, Give Your Treasure, I Have a Dream, and Man in the Mirror.

I am here to tell you that kids can enjoy their summer, make friends and have lots of fun while being in a safe, healthy environment that stimulates their minds and provides them with opportunities to grow and thrive. This is the second year that Nya has attended the 100 Black Men summer camp and I look forward to her being able to attend for the next seven years.

National Summer Learning Day follow-up

Written by: Monette Viduya

So it has been exactly one week since National Summer Learning Day, and I am glad to say that it was a success! Many children and adults wore the green Summer Youth Program Fund shirt that we distributed. Everyone had fun, and Devin from Camp Delafield did a great job throwing the ceremonial first pitch. Here are a few pictures highlighting the night. You can see more on MCCOY’s website. Personally, I had a great time spending the evening with MCCOY :) Thank you for everyone's help and for everyone who attended the celebration!