Inspiration, One Student at a Time

By Liz Barrett, Manager, Marketing and Communications

Of the 300 students at Ashley Park Elementary School one in every six students does not have a permanent home; only a handful live in homes with both a mom and a dad; nearly all are on free and reduced lunch and with budget cuts and new assignments for this school year, over 50% of the teachers and all of the administration are new. This school, around the corner from our office in Charlotte, NC, isn’t the only one facing such daunting challenges, but it’s where our company has been involved over the past three years and it’s the one we know most about.

When we heard last week that the new Vice Principal, with whom we had been cultivating a relationship all summer, was transferred on the first day of the new school year, we shook our heads in dismay wondering how many changes and challenges this school could handle. I started to feel like I was becoming the only constant in the eyes of the returning faculty and staff, more so than the people who are hired to lead the school.

AP is in a neighborhood where some kids don’t show up to school until after labor day because the parents don’t know when school starts or simply just don't care. AP is a school that relies on corporate partners because of a severe lack of parental involvement. Facts like these would suggest to me the importance of constant and consistent leadership, which is to needed to cultivate trust and engagement from their students’ parents. No one asked me. But they didn’t deter me either.

Recently, we met with some friends who are implementing a new approach at a different, nearby elementary school with needs similar needs to AP’s. They are creating relationships with the parents and empowering them to view the schoolhouse differently, in a way that encourages communication and trust. For, they have found, it is the parents and families who can really impact change in the lives of the students at home and in the school. Our friends shared stories with us about creating small ripples that they continue to nurture, determined to turn them into something bigger for that school.

As we listened to them, I thought, how and where would our office ever find the time to be able to really give Ashley Park the attention it needs — that it deserves. We mentor some select students once a week, take lunches for the teachers sometimes, and fulfill other needs here and there. They are so appreciative of what we do, but you begin to wonder how much change are we really making?

But then, we get help from people like Erik at Action Plus Ideas who is thrilled to design a logo and print up shirts free of charge for the students. And then we meet people like Christy who are working tirelessly to mend a broken system and implement effective change. Their inspirational work inspires me — inspires all of us. And then, I re-watch Dave Eggers in a TED talk dream of a day where all adults reach out to one student in our nation to help them with dramatic results, and I’m compelled to try and rally more folks, one more mentor for one more student. Maybe we can make an impact. One school … No. One student at a time.