"Let’s keep the main thing the main thing: the scholars & families in our communities."
Reimagining Support
Prioritizing every scholar means supporting the people who surround them: their families, teachers, and communities.
Putting Scholars & Families Back at the Center
For over twenty years, I have walked alongside youth and families in the Grand Rapids area in various capacities. During that time, it has become abundantly clear that when a scholar walks into school, they don't leave their life at the door.
Scholars bring their whole identity with them — unique experiences, family dynamics, challenges, hopes, and aspirations.
Supporting the whole scholar means recognizing that academic success doesn't happen in isolation. It happens when schools partner with families, listen to parents, and provide scholars with the resources they need to thrive inside and outside the classroom.
Expanding Access to Mental Health Care & Safety Resources
Today's scholars are growing up in a world that is changing at an exponential pace. Amidst increasing academic pressures, exposure to social media, uncertainty about their futures, and challenges at home and in their communities, our youth are facing barriers to access resources that would help them navigate these challenges.
As a result, anxiety, behavioral health concerns, trauma, and substance use has become too common among our youth, often impeding their capacity for learning or to develop healthy mental and emotional coping strategies.
The answer, for us, lies in taking a holistic approach: expanding access to mental health services and providing culturally relatable, competent, & trauma-informed community resources for social-emotional learning. Our scholars will not only be empowered academically, but we will be able to see the tangible results of fostering them in a space that is physically, mentally, and emotionally safe & supported.
Valuing & Retaining Our Teachers
Teachers are the heartbeat of our school communities. If we want our scholars to excel, our teachers must be valued, respected, and given the support they deserve.
This starts by first making sure there is reliable funding to provide competitive pay, allowing our teachers to not have to worry about their own financial stability. It may require some creative out-of-the-box thinking to accomplish, but I know it can be done.
However, just as important as proper finances are, there should be an environment where teachers feel heard, valued, and equipped with the tools they need to support our scholars who are in an increasingly complex world.
Reliable funding, opportunities for professional development, strong morale, & administrative support all play their part in the process of creating a school district where great teachers want to stay and where scholars prosper.
Bringing Community Voices Back Into Our Schools
While all the forementioned initiatives sound very promising, they cannot be achieved in a vacuum. They need a community of voices coming along to help turn the dream into a reality. Our schools don't have to do this work alone and shouldn’t because we’re connected as a community.
There are so many organizations, businesses, faith communities, and local leaders who are already working to make a difference in the lives of our scholars and their families. Whether it's mentorship, financial education, job readiness, family support, or after-school programming, community partnerships can increase opportunities for our scholars while building the connection between the schools and the local communities they serve.