Community’s role in education needs to continue to expand

Requirements for success in life are changing at a rapid pace. If we want Manatee County to keep moving forward, we need more community involvement in our education systems.

Locally, there is a strong focus on the critical importance of early learning and grade-level reading. Volunteers, donors and businesses are enhancing what schools alone can do.

A newly emerging College Access Network is boosting the number of students going on to complete college or vocational school. Community members will be vital in building and executing the strategies needed to accomplish this. Lifelong learning programs keep adult brains active and engaged with classes led by community experts.

It’s often nonprofit organizations that lead this kind of work, but not always.

Anna Maria Oyster Bar’s John and Amanda Horne have developed a unique summer reading program at their restaurant and have recruited volunteers and funding on their own. This is an unusual undertaking for a business to say the least, and their creative thinking and action-based passion for education no doubt will change the lives of students, families and their staff.

I believe it will inspire other for-profit operations to ask what they can do, either on their own or in partnership with existing programs.

Sea Breeze Elementary School’s innovative reading program has been facilitated by donors Steve and Carolyn Roskamp. Together, they not only offer financial resources but also recruit volunteers from nearby Kirkwood Presbyterian Church and other neighborhood groups.

They found a willing, creative and committed leader in school principal Greg Sander, who sees the necessity of engaging community in the education system. Working with assistant principal Deborah Cook and others, Sander has developed systems to train and schedule volunteers, minimize distraction in the classroom, track the gains made by students and determine the highest impact areas where others can help. This work has required different thinking and extra hours, but they welcome it for the benefit of their students.

I hold Sander and School District of Manatee Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene in high esteem for being so open to community coming into schools. While accepting resources of time or money from the outside can create additional short-term work, they know that the long-term returns are significant.

In my job leading a community foundation, learning is essential. Staying on top of so many issues in our community is required to guide people who are hungry to make the biggest impact through their giving. It requires a lot of listening.

In our current efforts to help end the foster care crisis caused by the opioid epidemic, we have convened citizens, foster parents, nonprofit organizations and government employees. We are learning from each other’s experiences and from national models and case studies that participants bring to the table. We need these opportunities to solve problems in the same space together. This is the essence of today’s education.

Continuous learning along the full spectrum of our lives is necessary if we want our families and the local economy to experience and sustain the kind of prosperity we deserve. Education requires both community support and supporting our community.

Each of us has two roles: learner and teacher. Service through volunteerism is an instructor that helps us get close to community – experiencing need through the eyes of the person or issue we are helping, while allowing us to use our own skills to share something special we have.

Consider how each exchange can lead to better information, better thinking, better understanding. Let’s keep letting community into classrooms, conversations and the workplace.

This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Community’s role in education needs to continue to expand."