Since the beginning of December I have been working with the Principal of
Eutaw Marshburn Elementary School, offering her our services to help
create a better learning environment within her school. After three
and a half months of persistence (though some may call it badgering or
stalking), we were able to line up a meeting with the Executive
Director of the Baltimore City Public School System to discuss our
offer. After being visibly impressed
that an outside organization was asking to direct manpower and funding
towards the school I was given a tour of the facility, and shown the
needs. I saw security doors that do not work, a potentially beautiful
courtyard area that is infested with rats and unsafe for students to
use, lockers that need to be repaired, and walls that desperately need
painting.
As the meeting ended, I was promised that I would hear
back by Tuesday about official approval for our offer, and Wednesday
afternoon I will again be meeting with the Principal of the school to
start looking at the work that needs to be done, and putting together a
plan of attack.
After the Executive Director left, I spent
about an hour with Ms. Jackson, the Principal. Ms. Jackson shared with
me some of the struggles that she faces as a Principal of an inner city
title one school. Her story was somewhat depressing as she shared with me the demographics of her school:
- 99% of her students are on federal meal
assistance
- Most of her students live in section 8 housing
- The overwhelming majority of her students are being
raised by aunts, grandparents, or a single parent
- Over 40% of the school's
parents did
not graduate or earn a G.E.D... imagine motivating students to learn who come from families that do not recognize the value of an education
She told me many of her
students are deeply angry and hurting, forcing teachers to do triage before they can teach.
Our conversation turned to matters of faith,
and Ms. Jackson told me a few times that the only reason that she is
able to carry on at this school is because of the hope that Christ gives her, both for herself and her students.
Leaving the school, I was encouraged by Ms. Jackson's heart for serving the students and families of the community, and her heart for working through her struggles in a relational way. She realizes that little will change without creating a sense of community within the families served by the schools, and is looking forward to leveraging our partnership to develop that sense of community. As our proposal goes before school administrators tomorrow I am excited to see the possibilities that lie before us, and seeing how, by a little freshening up, we can begin the process of changing the lives of a community.
