State of the Re:Union understands how necessary it is to have community involvement in the formula for success. When people come together for a common purpose, there are so many possibilities that become less intimidating and more achievable. Theatre@First, a community theater in Boston, is living proof that the coming together of community can make great things happen. (To read the original article in its entirety, click here.)

Two sisters, Beckie and Elizabeth Hunter, first formed the Theatre@First performing arts organization in 2003. They were inspired after they found themselves attending many community plays that Elizabeth’s husband was in. At first, the group started out as a cluster of friends and family, but the success of Theatre@First spread far and grew quickly. Today, it is a non-profit organization that has sustainable support by more than 700 people, 300 of whom are directly involved with putting on productions.

The sisters will tell you that the community is what has made their venture work. The group went from involving just friends and family to friends of friends, and before they knew it, they had people showing up off of the street to audition for their first production of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” Thanks to the support of community members, their first show was a hit, and people were soon asking when the next production was going to be.

The article “Theatre@First Puts the ‘Community’ in Community Theater” in Boston.com says that “… for all its success, Theatre@First remains focused on community over everything else.” According to the article, “Part of what makes Theatre@First different from other theater groups is its commitment to inclusivity. The mission statement says participants are welcome ‘at all levels of experience, without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, ancestry, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, body type, age or disability.’”

For anyone who has wanted to try a hand at theater but is not really sure what they might have to offer, this is the ideal place to find out. People of all skill levels are welcome to participate, and often do. About half of the staff for each production put on are new. One member whose been working there for five years agrees. She says, “You meet so many people from different backgrounds and with different skill sets, especially, and you learn from everybody. And not just the theatre people – even the newbies have experiences to bring in.”

The dedication and longevity of the staff presence speaks volumes. Of the 38 people who helped with the first show, 12 are still working for Theatre@First. Hundreds more have joined since then. They have become a family. Literally. There are many people who have met, married and grown their families, all thanks to Theatre@First. Here, community and family are one in the same.

Theatre@First knows that it takes all kinds to make the “stage” go round, and have used that sentiment as stepping stones to great achievement. “We’re a community theater,” she added. “This is what we look like. These are the people in our neighborhood.”

Theatre@First is a shining example of how a community coming together can make a positive difference in the lives of many. Friendships are formed, bonds are forged, and neighbors begin to help turn the dreams of a few into the ambitions of many. Theater involvement is a wonderful way to create true camaraderie. Perhaps you know of a different approach involving community that has produced great results like Theatre@First. What are some other effective ways to get people of all levels, creeds and backgrounds involved in bringing community together? Let us know, fill in the box below with your favorite story of community.

Humboldt Elementary in Dewey, Arizona

Immense amounts of pressure continue to build for schools throughout America. Achieving higher levels of performance from students and teachers alike is a sentiment that relentlessly rings in the ears of educators. Tests are added, funds and teachers are taken away, but the expectations for the answer to the equation remains unchanging … better performance, better students, better schools. Under the most ideal situation, educating students can be a daunting task. Mix in everything else our educational system is facing and the task seems downright undo-able. That is why State of the Re:Union’s School Spotlight takes delight in featuring a Bright Spot school, Humboldt Elementary in Dewey, Arizona. In great American fashion, the school, staff and educators have found a way to help their students achieve greatness. (To read the full article, click here.)

Within the past six years, Humboldt Elementary found itself at the threshold of being named one of Arizona’s “underperforming” schools, a title many schools have a hard time losing. However, determination helped those at Humboldt Elementary pull itself up by the bootstraps and begin its journey to become the highest performing school in Arizona, despite poverty levels and large class sizes.

According to Bright Spot, it was after a major initiative launched in 2005 that students’ reading scores shot up, assisting them to their current ranking. Humboldt’s Principal Cole Young attributes the school’s success “to highly trained teachers and support staff, as well as better use of student data and guided reading.”

Through the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) teachers were trained to learn how to identify each students’ level of reading and learning. Each student is assessed within the first week of school where teachers and staff can pinpoint students in need of intervention and at what level. A system of reading programs is set in place and followed, allowing teachers to monitor individual progress.

Ask teachers and they will most likely say that this level of attention per student is very hard to manage, especially with an average class size of 30. But the highly-trained teachers and staff at Humboldt do not make allowances for this as an excuse. They are dedicated to helping each child succeed, regardless of circumstances. And so far, it has worked, and worked well.

In addition to their teachers, the students at Humboldt Elementary stay motivated with a number of tools and strategies: guided reading strategies, Reading Counts (a competitive reading leveled program), and a zealous principal who’ll stop at nothing to help keep students’ momentum going. “Principal Young offers abundant rewards such as shaving his head and subjecting himself to a dunking booth if students meet reading goals. This year, if Humboldt students reach [their goal], Principal Young promises to eat insects.”

With caring staff showing this level of dedication, it is no wonder that a school with every excuse to fail – poverty and all of the hardships accompanying it, and large class sizes to boot – is not only surviving, but thriving. Humboldt serves as a beacon of hope for all schools, but especially those that are underfunded and overworked; and, unfortunately, many schools seem to fall into that category. It is always a pleasure to find schools, administrators and staff who go the extra mile, and grin as they do so.

Is there a school in your community taking similar measures to ensure quality education for all students? Perhaps you’ve heard of a great program or organization working to assist schools and students overcome learning gaps and/or funding needs? Or ever more, maybe there is a special way your community school rallies to keep their students motivated. Whatever the case, of course we want to know. You can give us the scoop in the box below.

A high school teacher named Henry Littlefield once wrote an essay in the American Quarterly called “The Wizard of Oz: A Parable on Populism.” According Littlefield’s interpretation, L. Frank Baum’s immortal children’s book was full of thinly disguised allusions to the reform politics of the late nineteenth century. The Tin Man (whose joints needed constant oiling to function) represented the industrial worker. The intellectually insecure Scarecrow embodied the American farmer. The Cowardly Lion represented, the Populist-Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, an avowed pacifist. The yellow brick road symbolized the gold standard, and Dorothy’s magic shoes, which silver in the book, not ruby red as in the Hollywood film version, stood for the free coinage of silver, the main demand of the Populists. Others have added new interpretations over time. “Oz,” after all, was the abbreviation for ounces, the measure of silver and gold. Dorothy’s dog, Toto, represented the temperance movement, and so on.

Sadly, Littlefield’s theory has been thoroughly debunked by a succession of academic killjoys, professional historians who note that, among other things, author Baum was not in fact a Bryan Democrat, as Littlefield suggested, but rather a supporter of boring old William McKinley. One historian of consumer culture interpreted the Wizard of Oz, not as a critique of the Gilded Age but a celebration of consumer capitalism. Noting that Baum was a Theosophist who had once worked as window-dresser, this historian found the book to be an “optimistic, therapeutic text.” The Emerald City, in this interpretation did not represent Washington, but the 1894 Chicago World Exposition with its dazzling and Oz-like array of new products and inventions.

With its flying monkeys, witches and munchkins, the book and even more famous movie are clearly rich subjects for a variety of interpretations. Last summer, I witnessed an entirely new re-imagining of the Wizard of Oz, Dublin, California’s presentation at the All-America City Awards competition in Kansas City. (To be clear, it was KC, Missouri, not Kansas, but close enough). In this 10 minute tour of the city, Dorothy—who sang a mean version of Over the Rainbow, was taken on a tour of the Emerald City of Dublin. In this version, the Scarecrow represented the wisdom of city officials in implementing one of the most progressive and inclusionary housing policies in the state of California. Dublin being a mostly affluent Bay Area community, housing prices are intimidating to say the least.

Concerned that local teachers, firefighters, police and others wouldn’t be able to afford housing in the city where they worked, city council members enacted a comprehensive affordable housing policy. Over the last 10 years, the city’s programs have created nearly 1000 “below market” rental and owner occupied housing units, about seven percent of the city’s overall housing stock. Programs include Dublin’s Below Market Rate Home Program, which provides a supply of deed-restricted below market rate units, and a First Time Homebuyer Loan Program with down payment assistance and financial advice. Developers who cannot build the number of below market rate units required by ordinance can contribute to the Inclusionary In-Lieu Fee Fund, which the city uses to support non-profit developers in the construction of below market rate senior and multi-family rental developments.

Heart: The Tin Man represented the city’s heart in providing a home for the School of Imagination, an innovative and inclusive school readiness/early intervention program that partners typically developing kids with those afflicted with developmental disabilities. More than 300 children weekly participate in the programs they offer and they have served more than 3,000 children with speech delays, developmental delays and autism from throughout the region.

Courage:  The Cowardly Lion represented the city’s courage in making efforts to preserve its past and secure its future with environmental programs. The city formed a partnership to develop a historic park to be a living monument to the community’s agricultural past. To increase sustainability education, the city hosts a community volunteer event called Dublin Pride Week. As part of Dublin Pride Week, the city sponsors a Volunteer Day where residents engage the community in a variety of projects, including school beautification projects, clean water projects, and environmental program outreach.

In his essay, Henry Littlefield said he’d developed his Oz theory to make the forgotten world of the 1890s comprehensible to his students. “Consider the fun,” he wrote, “in picturing turn-of-the-century American, a difficult time at best, using ready-made symbols provided by Baum.” It furnished a teaching mechanism, he suggested, “guaranteed to reach any level of student.”

The same could be said of the Dublin presentation, which was corny, but also effective. Heart, head and courage—contemporary communities need of all those qualities they can get. It’s worth taking a look at thee archived video of Dublin’s Presentation. (link here.)

Granted, this unique approach might not work for all communities in addressing critical needs for its members, but it certainly accomplished its goal. There are a multitude of city, towns and parishes in need of bringing attention to an issue greatly affecting the community. Do you know of additional ways in which a community has brought awareness to a critical problem resulting in change? What was that change and how did it impact the community? We would love to know, so, please, fill the box below with your community’s story of success.

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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.

We all know that change from within the community can be a powerful thing. But it can be just as difficult to keep so many voices on track to achieve a particular goal.

Gloria Francesca Mengual of Everyday Democracy: Ideas &Tools for Community Change offers some great advice for how to achieve “Community Planning for Success.” (Click to read original article.)

According to Mengual, “The most successful community-planning efforts involve residents as partners, from the early planning stage through to implementation.” She says that using professional planners to avoid conflict between residents might not be advantageous. The planning process will provide an opportunity for residents to express their passions about their community and offer ideas suited for their community. These should be planned community conversations.

“Residents identifying community issues and considering potential solutions together also creates a sense of accountability among participants.” Mengual offers guidelines for organizing community-planning dialogues that are based on experiences from successful planning efforts. (The following are abbreviated guidelines, but you can click here to read them in full.)

• Build Trust Up Front – help people understand their role in successful planning.

• Involve Everyone - Invite everyone in the community to participate – diversity creates strength.

• Hold Facilitated Dialogues – Create a dialogue guide reflecting community concerns and hopes.

• Follow-up - Give updates on the developing community plan and welcome feedback.

• Get the Word Out – Inform the overall community and let it work for your.

• Help Build Social Capital – Community planning dialogue participation yields favorable results and actions.

Maintaining community is a difficult achievement, but well worth the invested time. These are not lofty points set in place, they are tried-and-true rungs used to elevate to a community’s success. They are great morsels of information to keep close, even if community planning might be in the more distant future. Although these are some pretty great points of advice, these are just a few guidelines yielding rewarding results. What other outstanding considerations have helped your community achieve successful planning? Please use the box below to submit additional components that are working for your community.

[Recently] I was in Las Vegas where I discovered a community – once on top of the world – fighting to come back in the wake of the Great Recession. What people in Las Vegas are doing offers a vision of what it will take for communities across the country to rebound from this tough economic and social time. It’s not a mere roll of the dice that’s bringing Vegas back, but intentional actions to create real change and community.

The Harwood Institute worked in Las Vegas earlier this decade with the support of the Omidyar Network. In 2004 we produced a report entitled, On the American Frontier. It captured the incredible “can-do spirit, confidence, proven track record of growth, and innate sense of vibrancy” of Southern Nevada. For many people, Vegas was the best, last chance to pursue a customized version of the American Dream. But even then people were starting to wonder if they had too much of a good thing.

Today things are different in Vegas. For starters, the area ranks near the top in the nation in home foreclosures, school dropouts, unemployment and lost jobs, while philanthropic dollars have dried up. And yet, something genuinely hopeful is happening there, something worth paying attention to.

Political and civic leaders, including heads of major organizations, funders, the state senate majority leader, and public broadcasters gathered to hear my speech. In 2004, it might have been hard to gather such leaders for a similar event, and especially one where they so openly engaged one another. But now, despite the Great Recession – or maybe because of it – folks are creating new groups and relationships to get things done.

Many people came up to me during my time there to say that our work some five to 10 years ago had helped to seed the growth of new groups and strengthen existing ones. They told me we had helped them to see why it is so critical to turn outward and to think about change differently. One person even asked how I felt being back in town given that so much current activity can be traced back to our work. What I told her is that the real credit goes to people in Vegas – those individuals and groups that chose to step forward and use our work to innovate, experiment, and are now connecting their efforts to others. And it is an amazing collection of groups, which includes:

• Three Square
• Community We Will
• Southern Regional Nevada Planning Coalition
• KNPR and Vegas PBS
• Nevada Gives

What’s so promising in Vegas is that public innovators are creating a new civic foundation. Each group has its own promising story, and together they represent a major shift in the community. Now, all this movement is still just emerging, but the trajectory is clear.

These groups are boundary spanners, network builders, engagers of the community, and most importantly action oriented. It is this very foundation that is essential for a community to move forward. We all know the Vegas line, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.” Well, I want to add a new line today: “What Happens in Vegas, Spreads beyond Vegas.”

More towns across the nation are heeding a similar community call as that of Las Vegas. Bettering the public through our actions now will carve out a path of change that helps guide representatives down the right path for your community. Isn’t it beyond time that a chance is taken on changing community through our own actions?

Does this sound like something already happening your in community? If so, we would love to hear some key concepts you think makes it work. Change only happens when action is taken, so write your thoughts in the box below and keep the momentum going.

Interested in learning more about what happens in Las Vegas? Click here to check out the SOTRU Las Vegas episode to find out about what’s going on.

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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.

In this video interview, Capacity Building Beyond Community Services, the topic is the meaning of “community” and “neighborhood.”

You can watch the video here, or read the transcript below. Then use the comment section below to let us know what your definition of community and neighborhood is.