There’s a crisis in our schools, are we paying attention?
There’s a crisis in our schools, are we paying attention?
This is a guest post by Rob Williams, Executive director of The Sheridan Story. Rob also happens to be my brother and father to my soon to be born nephew.
I sat in a meeting a few weeks ago surrounded by 20 or so leaders of the Minneapolis, MN faith community. I sat, staring in disbelief, as the presenter shared academic statistics for the Minneapolis Public School System.
- Only 50% of kids will graduate from high school.
- Only 42% of 3rd graders read at a 3rd grade level.
- Only 39% of 7th graders read at a 7th grade level.
- Only 35% of students are not at risk of going hungry in the evenings or weekends.
- 9.8% of kids are homeless or highly mobile, of which 81.6% are in elementary school.
(As an aside – this isn’t an issue unique to Minneapolis. Google “high school graduation rates ______” and fill in the blank with Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, etc.)
This data represents actual kids, our children in our community. This is a crisis, and we’re failing our kids.
I think God is trying to get our attention.
There’s a billboard in town that says “Only 50% of Minneapolis students graduate. #system_failure”. While I agree with whoever raised the sign that there’s a problem, I disagree with throwing the blame onto the “system”. There are many complex issues that contribute to this reality, but it is clear to me that this is a community failure.
To fix it, the community needs to get involved – and God’s making that happen.
One important step in our community getting involved began when we at Mill City Church responded to a need raised by the principal at Sheridan Elementary School: kids were hoarding food at lunch on Fridays to take home to eat on the weekend. Our response was straightforward: we decided to give these kids a bag of food to take home every Friday.
Providing a supply of food for the weekend is important. Studies show it results in improved behavior at school, better academic performance, significant improvement in standardized test scores, increased interest in school, and better relationships with school personnel.
However, weekend food is just one thing needed to help the kids and families in our schools.
As the weekend food program grew from 27 kids in 2010 to 300 kids in 2013, Mill City Church’s relationship with Sheridan School also grew and strengthened in remarkable ways. Since beginning the food program, Mill City Church has also helped build a new playground for the kids, hosted a Saturday of rejuvenation for single mothers at Sheridan School, implemented an ongoing mentorship program, and more.
A true partnership now exists between Mill City Church and Sheridan Elementary School, and out of that partnership was born The Sheridan Story.
Last summer, we began making plans to replicate The Sheridan Story’s partnership model with other community groups and schools in the Twin Cities. Three churches responded and launched a weekend food program in three schools in Minneapolis.
God wasn’t done moving the community to respond.
An additional two churches responded in January 2014, launching programs in two more Minneapolis schools. February 2014 saw the formation of an incredible partnership between a church and synagogue who teamed up to launch the program in a large high school in Minneapolis. By Mid-March of this year, community partners will launch programs in another two schools. For those counting, that’s 8 new community-school partnerships in the 2013-2014 school year.
(You can read more about each new program here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
When God moves, He can really move. He’s bringing the community together, with His people leading the way, to change the story of child hunger and create relational opportunities that did not previously exist. Connecting congregations with schools allows for a deepening relationship, leading to a true partnership that can expand and impact the schools and students in powerful ways.
God’s doing incredible things in Minneapolis, and we’re excited to be along for the ride.
Would your church or community group consider partnering with a local school? Contact The Sheridan Story today!
Sources:
https://mpsscorecard.mpls.k12.mn.us/Default.aspx
http://studentaccounting.mpls.k12.mn.us/free_reduced_lunch
http://sss.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/cy_yr-end_summary_2009-10_8-25-10.pdf
http://feedingamerica.org/our-network/the-studies/~/media/Files/research/child-insecurity-economic-impact.ashx?.pdf
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10796120601171385?journalCode=cjcp20#preview
There’s a crisis in our schools, are we paying attention?
This is a guest post by Rob Williams, Executive director of The Sheridan Story. Rob also happens to be my brother and father to my soon to be born nephew.
I sat in a meeting a few weeks ago surrounded by 20 or so leaders of the Minneapolis, MN faith community. I sat, staring in disbelief, as the presenter shared academic statistics for the Minneapolis Public School System.
- Only 50% of kids will graduate from high school.
- Only 42% of 3rd graders read at a 3rd grade level.
- Only 39% of 7th graders read at a 7th grade level.
- Only 35% of students are not at risk of going hungry in the evenings or weekends.
- 9.8% of kids are homeless or highly mobile, of which 81.6% are in elementary school.
(As an aside – this isn’t an issue unique to Minneapolis. Google “high school graduation rates ______” and fill in the blank with Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, etc.)
This data represents actual kids, our children in our community. This is a crisis, and we’re failing our kids.
I think God is trying to get our attention.
There’s a billboard in town that says “Only 50% of Minneapolis students graduate. #system_failure”. While I agree with whoever raised the sign that there’s a problem, I disagree with throwing the blame onto the “system”. There are many complex issues that contribute to this reality, but it is clear to me that this is a community failure.
To fix it, the community needs to get involved – and God’s making that happen.
One important step in our community getting involved began when we at Mill City Church responded to a need raised by the principal at Sheridan Elementary School: kids were hoarding food at lunch on Fridays to take home to eat on the weekend. Our response was straightforward: we decided to give these kids a bag of food to take home every Friday.
Providing a supply of food for the weekend is important. Studies show it results in improved behavior at school, better academic performance, significant improvement in standardized test scores, increased interest in school, and better relationships with school personnel.
However, weekend food is just one thing needed to help the kids and families in our schools.
As the weekend food program grew from 27 kids in 2010 to 300 kids in 2013, Mill City Church’s relationship with Sheridan School also grew and strengthened in remarkable ways. Since beginning the food program, Mill City Church has also helped build a new playground for the kids, hosted a Saturday of rejuvenation for single mothers at Sheridan School, implemented an ongoing mentorship program, and more.
A true partnership now exists between Mill City Church and Sheridan Elementary School, and out of that partnership was born The Sheridan Story.
Last summer, we began making plans to replicate The Sheridan Story’s partnership model with other community groups and schools in the Twin Cities. Three churches responded and launched a weekend food program in three schools in Minneapolis.
God wasn’t done moving the community to respond.
An additional two churches responded in January 2014, launching programs in two more Minneapolis schools. February 2014 saw the formation of an incredible partnership between a church and synagogue who teamed up to launch the program in a large high school in Minneapolis. By Mid-March of this year, community partners will launch programs in another two schools. For those counting, that’s 8 new community-school partnerships in the 2013-2014 school year.
(You can read more about each new program here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
When God moves, He can really move. He’s bringing the community together, with His people leading the way, to change the story of child hunger and create relational opportunities that did not previously exist. Connecting congregations with schools allows for a deepening relationship, leading to a true partnership that can expand and impact the schools and students in powerful ways.
God’s doing incredible things in Minneapolis, and we’re excited to be along for the ride.
Would your church or community group consider partnering with a local school? Contact The Sheridan Story today!
Sources:
https://mpsscorecard.mpls.k12.mn.us/Default.aspx
http://studentaccounting.mpls.k12.mn.us/free_reduced_lunch
http://sss.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/cy_yr-end_summary_2009-10_8-25-10.pdf
http://feedingamerica.org/our-network/the-studies/~/media/Files/research/child-insecurity-economic-impact.ashx?.pdf
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10796120601171385?journalCode=cjcp20#preview
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