In October I got a phone call from a newspaper columnist. Not unusual in my role with the school district, but this reporter was calling from Pennsylvania.
He introduced himself as David Knepper, a columnist with the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. He had two questions for me: 1) What is this thing called Community Education, and 2) Why doesn't every school district in the country have it?
Whew! I hoped he had an unlimited long distance phone budget, because I could have talked for hours about the benefits of community education. Knepper is a retired superintendent who now writes on community and education issues. His premise for the column was that schools should open up their facilities for use by the local citizens for learning, recreation, and community involvement. He was singing my tune. But I'll let you read what he wrote for yourself:
"For the past decade, from the corner coffee shop to the kitchen table, Americans have not given high grades to public education nationwide. Perhaps the answer might lie outside the walls of education.
More than ever, successful schools have come to recognize the interdependency on strong community support to meet mandated state and national performance standards, develop innovative programs, and secure financial resources.
The process of building such partnerships is an ongoing, two-way communication process between a school and the community it serves. Education is viewed as a birth-to-death process, and everyone in the community – individuals, businesses and public and private agencies – shares in the responsibility of educating all members of the community and providing lifelong learning opportunities for learners of all ages, backgrounds and needs.
One of the most successful ways to achieve such a relationship is to develop a community education program.
The educational philosophy that underlies community schools advocates the creation of opportunities for community participants, namely individuals, businesses and both public and private organizations, to become partners in addressing community needs.
A community education program is established outside the traditional school day for the purpose of providing academic, recreation, health, social service and work-preparation programs for people of all ages.
Investing in our communities through educational outreach and intergenerational learning should be our priorities. Community education can be that gateway to improve student achievement when the “whole village comes together to help children learn.”
Let’s keep the lights on in our schools to facilitate the learning and participation of adults and children so they can improve their lives and their communities."
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc. by David Knepper, Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, October 31, 2008
To read the entire article, you can follow this link:
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/archivesearch/local_story_305110748.html
Be thankful that Kerrville ISD does something no school in Pennsylvania has yet done: offer community education.
See you in class.
XXX
To learn more about our lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.
Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.
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