Lately I’ve been browsing the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading website, which has a feature called “Bright Spots,” a collection of local success stories about reading programs.

One of those bright spots is Morningside Elementary School in Brownsville, Texas. About 99 percent of the kids are Hispanic. About 99 percent are on the free or reduced-price lunch program (FARM). About 80 percent are Spanish speakers.

Students reading in Morningside Elementary's library

This is a demographic that typically haunts the less- than-excellent categories of statewide standardized performance tests. Not at Morningside. Quoting from the website:

“During exam time at Morningside Elementary, big posters appear with a simple message: 90%. ‘I expect everyone to get at least 90 percent on the test,’ says Principal Dolores Cisneros Emerson. Ambitious? Yes, but consider that 100 percent of Morningside third graders — virtually all from low-income families —were reading at grade level on the state assessment test last year, and 55 percent were commended for having no more than three questions wrong. Emerson expects excellence from Morningside students, no matter where they come from. Benchmarking, regrouping, individualized instruction, tutorials, and relentless optimism get results.”

“It’s true,” said Morningside Principal Delores Cisneros Emerson, when I asked her about the bright spot description. “We’re awesome. Let me tell you. We’re the best.”

The school uses the aforementioned benchmarking to determine individual strengths and weaknesses. Kids who are performing poorly are placed in smaller sized classes and meet with an “interventionist” to work on skills.

The school has regular tutorials, three days a week in the fall and spring, to help kids who are not doing well and kids who could be doing better with a little push. Ten times a year the school has tutorials on Saturdays to make sure the kids get enough time with the teachers.

“There are a lot of facets that contribute to students’ success on the campus,” said the principal. “One of them is the teachers really caring about the kids and doing everything possible to make sure they get what they need and treating each child as an individual. Second, the interventions with the kids who aren’t doing well and benchmarking the kids really often and seeing what skill they are lacking and working on that skill for those kids.”

Morningside Elementary student reading in the school's library in Brownville, TX

The third key to success, says the principal, is parents. “I have a very strong parental base,” she says. “They may not be here every day sewing or cutting or making copies, but they support the school. They send their kids to school. Last year I had an ADA (average daily attendance) of 97 percent. They are trying to survive themselves, but the best way they can support me is to make sure they get their kids to school.”

Research tends to bear this out. One of the critical barriers to performance by low income kids is poor attendance.  Attendance is one of the three critical areas the campaign is asking schools and communities to focus on as a way of upping reading performance. The others are school readiness and the summer reading gap, the fact that low income kids lose ground during the summer months if they are not reading regularly.

Another key to success: “I know where the kids come from,” she said. “I know what their future is if they don’t become educated.”

She grew up in Brownsville, a city of about 175,000, across the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico and attended local public schools, a local university and a local graduate school. She learned her management skills from another dedicated educator, Ernestina Treviño, who recently retired as principal of A.S. Putegnat Elementary, another school with mostly Hipsanic low income kids that has shown excellent results in the performance tests.

The National Civic League's All-American City Awards

“She would always try to think what she could do more for those kids to succeed,” she said. When she got her own school, she was determined to duplicate her mentor’s performance. When she came to the school, it had not made the AYP (average yearly progress) benchmark under the “No School Left Behind” law. Her first year, it made the AYP but just missed being classified as exemplary. “The second year, we became exemplary and we have been exemplary ever since.”

We used to run an awards program for outstanding educators, and I interviewed a number of the honorees. How to describe? “Dedicated,” doesn’t quite get it, “energetic,” yes, “confident,” that would be an understatement. I’m talking teachers and principals who work in low income, high crime parts of our cities and seem to have no problem mobilizing kids, parents, teachers, community and business people—any and everybody—to buck the expectations and statistics. It’s like what the NASA guy says in the movie, Apollo 13. For these people, failure really isn’t an option.

Does this remind you of a school you know? Tell us about it. We love to learn about communities and schools coming together to help their children achieve success.

Mike McGrath is senior editor and chief information officer for the National Civic League. A former newspaper reporter and magazine writer, he is editor of the quarterly National Civic Review, which will be beginning its centennial year of publishing this spring.

Mike’s posts will appear every Thursday on the State of the Re:Union website.

State of the Re:Union contributor Rich Harwood of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation offers pertinent views of community issues every Tuesday.  In addition to Rich’s post yesterday, we came across information about his paper, Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide, coming out later this week which reflects what we find in communities every day. (To view the original blog, click here.)

Source: Ross - Attendees of a full town hall meeting on the subject of health care reform in West Hartford, Connecticut

Solutions to the challenges we face don’t yet exist and planning alone won’t get us there. In communities, states and the nation we need a different mindset – one of innovation. The Aspen Institute’s newest white paper, implementing the Knight Commission’s recommendations, calls on America’s community members and leaders to adopt a set of useful strategies to assess the health of civic resources and infrastructure, to build up local news and information environments, and create engaged communities with the capacity and resilience to meet today’s—and tomorrow’s–most pressing challenges.

In the paper, Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide, Richard C. Harwood urges citizens and community leaders to go beyond “simply doing good planning” to develop a mindset and practice of innovation and “Turning Outward” toward the community in order to take effective action to solve common challenges. Harwood is the founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, an organization recognized for their approach to breaking down barriers and empowering people to make real progress in improving their communities.

People gathered outside the West Source: Ross - Hartford, Connecticut town hall before a health care reform town hall meeting

“In reality, most change in communities occurs through pockets of activity that emerge and take root over time,” notes Harwood.  “These pockets result from individuals, small groups, and various organizations seeing an opportunity for change and seizing it, often through trial and error. Seldom are the collection of such pockets orchestrated through a top-down, linear plan; instead, they happen when people and groups start to engage and interact.”

The Turn Outward approach allows community members to focus on relevance, re-building and re-engaging with each other as well as the schools, businesses and other organizations that contribute to the health and stability of a community. Harwood’s paper gives people actionable steps and support around what it takes to act on what matters most.

Assessing Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide will be featured Monday, October 17th from 12:30 to 3pm ET in a roundtable discussion among a select group of leaders, innovators, advocates and critics from the national, state and local levels at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.

We invite you to watch it live with us here and use hashtag #Harwood to discuss themes and findings.

Every so often something comes across your desk that reminds you about the basics of life. I don’t mean about how much money you make, or your most recent promotion, or even how you’re going to make next month’s budget given these hard economic times. I’m talking about your sense of humanity — what it means to be alive and the choices we make. Watch this video, and you’ll see what I mean.

Source: YouTube - A shot of Sara Tucholsky, the Western Oregon softball player who was injured

The video was sent to me by my wife’s friend because she knows I have coached boys and girls soccer for years. You may have seen it already. The video tells the story of a group of girls playing competitive softball, and what happens when they realize there’s more to the game than simply winning. Or, to put another way:  You should always do all you can to win, but still make good choices.

When a player from Western Oregon hit a home run during the conference championship, she tore a ligament while rounding first base, and couldn’t get up to finish running the bases. Her opponents, from Central Washington, who desperately wanted to win, faced a fundamental choice. The rules said that the girl’s team could substitute a runner for her, but her hit would count only as a single. And the team would give up the extra run. Her teammates asked the umpire if they could help her run around the bases; the answer was no. So, two members of the opposing team stepped forward and did the unthinkable: could they help her?  This time the answer was yes, and so the two opposing players picked her up and carried her around the bases, at each stop helping her tag the base so she could make it home.

Over the years, my own soccer teams won numerous annual sportsmanship awards. Sometimes my players would say that they won the awards as a consolation for not winning a championship. But I always told them that wasn’t the case. You can be a great player, a great team, and still have character. In fact, they go hand in hand. One of the times I was happiest coaching was when other teams had to play us short, and we always decided to pull our own players off the field so the teams would play even. Never once did one of my players complain. Indeed, over the years, my players would be the ones to alert me that our opponents didn’t have enough players, or if a player went off the field injured or was ill or simply out of gas. It was my players who ultimately kept the promise of the kind of team we wanted to become — and the type of people they should be.

Source: YouTube - Two members of the opposing Central Washington team carry the injured Tucholsky around the bases to complete her first-ever home run.

Myself, I watched this video when I was exhausted from work, and when I’d had more than my fill of stuff. I was wondering why certain people wouldn’t return phone calls, why certain people can make life so difficult, and why making progress can seem so hard at times. I was wondering whether all the effort is worth it. And then I watched this video, and I was reminded in an instant: Keep focused on the essence of what we’re doing — and why.

It reminded me of the many people who made some of the biggest contributions in my own life: coaches from my childhood. Just last week I got a call from my high school tennis coach who remembered my birthday, who himself just won a national award for his character-building coaching style. His teams consistently win championships. And in a call this week I found myself telling folks from another organization how some of my coaches had led me to start the Institute: my involvement in politics and some other nonprofits didn’t fit with what they taught me about making a REAL difference — about what it means to step forward and make choices.

This video and the memories it prompted in me aren’t about being nostalgic, hoping for some nicer world, or wanting to return to simpler times. The world is what it is — what’s at issue is how we engage with it.

This story shares the true nature of community, coming together for the common good. In the world of competitive sports, it can get fierce, but keeping the spirit of sportsmanship, that’s what shines above winning. How far does good sportsmanship go in helping our children, even us for that matter, make the right decisions? Is it becoming less of a focus for communities with the rise of global competition? Do you have a story about good sportsmanship, or lack thereof? Share it with us, we’d love to hear.

A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people\’92s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We\’92re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

October is SOTRU’s official fundraising month, and our goal is to raise $80,000 to help continue producing our show. There are a few ways you can help, no matter what part of the country you live in.

October 22nd – State of the Re:Union Live

If you’re in Jacksonville, one such way is to attend “State of the Re:Union Live” an incredible event that is happening on Saturday, October 22, 2011, at the MOCA in Downtown Jacksonville. This is an awesome opportunity to treat yourself to a live multimedia performance by SOTRU’s very own host, Al Letson, to see how the episodes you hear on your public radio station come to life. The ticketed event will feature delectable hors’ doeuvres, a cocktail hour and two shows, each a multimedia experience featuring a performance by host Al Letson, compiled with audio and video from the second season of State of the Re:Union.This event will inspire all the senses and leave you wanting more. The two chances to catch Al’s performance: one at 7:00 p.m. and the other at 8:30 p.m.

There is limited seating, so getting your tickets in advance would secure you a seat for this SOTRU experience. We want you to further enjoy the event, so not only will you save $5 when you purchase early, but all tickets and donations are completely tax deductible! Click here to purchase your tickets.

Host a Listening Party

For those who cannot attend this event, have no fear. You can enjoy the fun while showing off your mad-hosting skills through throwing a State of the Re:Union Listening Party.

We’re asking our loyal listeners to become SOTRU Superheroes by gathering their friends to come together to listen to a State of the Re:Union episode while helping raise much-needed funds to continue producing this program. Click here to find out more on hosting your own event.

Make a Donation

If you’re thinking, “Gosh, those sound great, but I don’t have the time.” Have no fear, we have ways that you can participate, too. You can always give your support through a simple donation. If you enjoy the episodes and want to hear more of what communities across America are doing to keep it going, your donations – big or small – will help with just that. Click here to help keep SOTRU rockin’. And if you have a business, you can become an underwriter of the show or take advantage of advertising opportunities on the website. Please email Brie at brie(at)stateofthereunion(dot)com for more information.

For those who are already offering their support, we are truly grateful for your endeavors. We are a thankful bunch, and have so much more appreciation to give, so thank you in advance for helping us continue journeying into America’s communities, hearts and stories.

“ONE by ONE” in Jacksonville, FL – an Education Initiative

This week’s School Spotlight is featuring Jacksonville’s ‘ONE by ONE’ education campaign that is working to combat the alarming statistics on students (one in three) not graduating high school in four years. This campaign has taken an unusual approach in getting the word out to the community, and it is making people take notice.

Courtesy of Brunet-Garcia Advertising: This is the 'Statement Wall' - part of Ingrid Damiani's "ONE in THREE" exhibit on display at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, FL

Throughout the United States, communities are continuing to feel the strangling effects of the tightening of purse strings. It seems schools are often  first in line in the plan of attack when cutting away the “fat” of budgetary matters, leaving an emaciated educational system that barely has the resources to survive, much less thrive. This jeopardizes the future of our children, families and cities. One campaign in Jacksonville, Florida, has decided there has been enough inaction and is creating a movement to implement change, ONE by ONE.

According to ONE by ONE’s Website, “high school students from low-income families are six times more likely to drop out than students from higher income families.” And the Alliance for Excellent Education gives some sobering statistics related to the dropout rate. Reducing the dropout rate in Jacksonville by just half is estimated to produce an additional $36 million in spending, and “result in an estimated $13 million in additional earnings each year for those students.” ONE by ONE adds that “this would amount to about 400 new jobs in the community, with an increase in the gross regional product of $65 million.” That’s some trade off. And it would certainly be a great deficit-cutting tool for creating economic improvement and growth.

However, cuts to education continue during a time when our children are in desperate need of an education system that prepares them for serious competition in a ever-widening global economy. Enter the “Jacksonville Public Education Fund.” JPEF’s education initiative, ONE by ONE - specifically funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of the American Graduate Initiative – is looking to educate not just students, but the community, on the impact that will be felt if students continue to struggle in finishing school. They are working toward a goal of starting a meaningful conversation leading to motivate change in schools and the community. They want to increase civic investment in education. (Click here to find out more about the program.)

Courtesy of Damiani: This is "Brooke"- part of Ingrid Damiani's "ONE in THREE" exhibit at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, FL

On its site, ONE by ONE states: “The vision produced through the process will serve as a road map for the [Jacksonville] community to begin turning their aspirations into reality.” For them, this reality includes becoming a coordinator between the public and public officials, holding all of them to account because, as they say, “We are all responsible for our children’s future.”

In creating an open dialogue for the community, ONE by ONE has made the above statement perfectly clear. They are making it known that everyone has a stake in the education of children, not just those with children in the school system. Even area business leaders are becoming active in voicing a concern. They understand the symbiotic nature of education and economy. According to ONE by ONE, Jacksonville needs to improve its education system in order to thrive economically. When the economy begins to recover, its city must be poised to capture that growth. They understand that it is not only the education system - but the community’s perception of it – that can hold them back if it does not improve.

One way the program is making the community’s dropout epidemic known is through partnering with two of its local resources: Jacksonville’s public radio station, WJCT, and with the help of a local photographer, Ingrid Damiani. Together, they have produced a multimedia experience  explaining just what the campaign is doing. Damiani’s ONE in THREE: Let’s Solve Our Dropout Crisis is photography exhibition designed to work with and spark an interest in the community engagement campaign: ONE by ONE: Transforming Our Future Together.

Courtesy of Damiani: "Mary and Aurora" - Part of Ingrid Damiani's "ONE in THREE" series on exhibit at The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, FL

Damiani tells the stories of 20 current and former Jacksonville students through her captivating ONE in THREE series that is on display at The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. Regarding Diamani’s exhibit, “The students’ stories demonstrate the power of an engaged community that works hand-in-hand with the school district to improve student success. Many of the students overcame great obstacles to succeed—and they will inspire the community to do the same.” The local public station, WJCT, enhances Damiani’s work with the addition of audio and video. This multimedia platform promotes a better understanding of the stories being explored. To see more of Damiani’s work from her ONE in THREE photography series, click here. Because the exhibits aim is to get viewers involved with the campaign, it will travel around 16 Jacksonville neighborhoods, providing an opportunity for many to learn about these stories, why they are important, and how they relate to the community.

The best way to arm yourself against ignorance and fear is knowledge, and the ONE by ONE Program in Jacksonville, Florida, is doing just that. The community is working together to take control of its future, literally. This campaign is making  it known that educational wellness in Jacksonville impacts everyone, not just families. This is certainly a great step in turning the attitude of education from “Not my job” to “It takes a village.” Having this understanding throughout the community makes the problem three-dimensional, and it becomes easier for all to see and focus on finding a solution.

While the diminished graduation rate might not be as severe in all cities, educational wellness is something that affects us all. This town is working to create a change through what works for its people and children. They are getting to the heart of the problem through educating the public that, first, there is a big problem; and second, gathering community concerns to put together a clearly defined path of attack. This is what is working for them, we want to hear what your community is doing to combat educational concerns. Or, if you have become inspired by their story, we would love to hear that, too.

Tapping the Potential of Non-Traditional Leaders

I haven’t always been a big fan of conventional youth leadership programs. They seem to be places where young go-getters go to network with important people and learn new ideas about becoming better go-getters. What’s the point?

How about a program for kids who aren’t actively seeking leadership positions or looking for ways to maximize the potential they have already exhibited and been recognized for time and time again?

Do I sound bitter? Was I passed over for leadership accolades when I was a youth? Looking back on it, I can’t recall any inspirational mentors who recognized my innate potential, lurking somewhere beneath an off-putting veneer of smart-alecky cluelessness. On the other hand, I can’t say that I was much interested in being recognized either.

So naturally, I’m drawn to the idea of communities trying to develop the less obvious potential leaders who may have been passed over by the usual leadership development entities, and that’s what Salisbury, Maryland, had in mind when it developed its Youth Leadership Academy to focus on engaging non-traditional youthful leaders, those with untapped leadership potential and limited opportunities.

A little background: Salisbury was named one of the “100 Best Communities for Young People” by the group America’s Promise in 2006 and awarded $20,000. The local chapter of the organization met to figure out how to use the money and the planning group unanimously agreed to create an academy focused on developing the community’s “non-traditional leaders,” that is, the kids with untapped leadership potential and limited opportunities.

The Salisbury program is available to any young person between 8th grade and junior year in high school at no cost. It reaches out to local secondary schools and youth organizations. But word of mouth is the most effective recruitment method, the organizers of the academy have found.

The academy works like this: students come together for three days in the summer at Salisbury University to learn new skills and ideas about leadership. From those participants, a Youth Action Team (YAT) is created to plan the next summer’s academy. Any interested graduate of the Academy is accepted for YAT.

YLA graduates have made an impression. Two students won positions in the Student Government Association their freshmen year. Another became senior class president. Other students have served on boards of organizations and attended a Search Institute Conference. One graduate was the Student Representative to the Maryland State Board of Education.

That graduate was also a 2010 Olympic torchbearer for Coca-Cola. Another graduate was accepted into the CIVICUS program at University of Maryland-College Park. Several graduates received scholarships to attend colleges such as Davidson, Morgan State University, Princeton, and Shaw University. Others received the President’s Service Award.

Hundreds of young people have participated since YLA was founded in 2006 and the program has never turned anyone away. One graduate explained that YLA “has brought the youth voice to the table—youth are included in planning groups as an expectation not an exception now.”

Salisbury was an All-America City in 2010 and YLA was one of the programs they touted when they appeared before the civic jury. Salisbury’s was one of several innovative youth-led programs described at the 2010 All-America City Awards. In Chandler, Arizona, a group of young people developed a comprehensive community program to discourage underage drinking and substance abuse. High school students in Middleton, Wisconsin, a finalist in 2009, participated in a planning “charrette” to design a new splash park.

Communities all over the country, in fact, have recognized the importance of engaging young people in leadership development and local problem-solving/decision-making efforts, and it’s beginning to show in terms of the larger numbers of young people who are included in the community delegations at the annual All-America City competition/celebration.

It’s an old cliché to say that young people represent the future of the country. These days the new cliché is that “young people aren’t the future, they’re the present.”

What new youth movements are on the horizon in your community? Are there any youth programs in your town that you think are deserving of accolades? We are always looking to assist in touting amazing stories such as these, so please drop us a line and let us know.

Mike McGrath is senior editor and chief information officer for the National Civic League. A former newspaper reporter and magazine writer, he is editor of the quarterly National Civic Review, which will be beginning its centennial year of publishing this spring.

Mike’s posts will appear every Thursday on the State of the Re:Union website.