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YDI-Elev8 New Mexico eBlast October 2016
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Looking Back at Elev8's 10 Years in NM
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Wilson Middle School family
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Elev8 will celebrate 10 years in New Mexico in 2017! The community school initiative has remained true to its original design to reduce poverty's impact on students,
said Dr. Ranjana Damle, with the UNM Center for Educational Policy Research, in a final report to Elev8's sponsor, The Atlantic Philanthropies
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"When students' basic needs are met, they are better able to concentrate on learning, and teachers can focus on teaching," she said.
The "initiative has touched countless students and families across New Mexico by providing them with physical and behavioral health care through school-based health clinics, extended-day learning opportunities, including tutoring, and a variety of services designed to meet families' critical needs."
Dr. Damle reported on Elev8's three phased-implementation by looking at successes, challenges and lessons learned. Phase I (2007-2011) saw robust implementation of Elev8 in five schools--Albuquerque's Grant and Wilson Middle Schools and Native American Community Academy (NACA), Anthony's Gadsden Middle School and Laguna Pueblo's Laguna Middle School. P
articipation rates in extended learning and Elev8's school-based health centers were high; family engagement deepened.
Phase II (2011-2014) was marked by transitions. Albuquerque's West Mesa High School came on board and the Gadsden, Laguna Pueblo and NACA initiatives ended.
Phase III (2015 on) has targeted students most in need of supports.
Among Elev8's lessons learned: extensive preparation and planning are needed to build community school partnerships, firm commitments and agreements are essential from partnering school districts and greater planning to sustain community school initiatives and services is critical.
"A well-resourced community school has held great promise for economically disadvantaged, low-income communities," said Dr. Damle.
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YDI-Elev8 Welcomes Wilson Principal Dr. Vickie Bannerman
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Wilson Principal
Dr. Vickie Bannerman
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YDI-Elev8 is excited to welcome Wilson Middle School's new principal, Dr. Vickie Bannerman, better known as Dr. B. The former dean of students at Albuquerque's Cibola High School, Dr. B. has 17 years of experience in middle/high school teaching and administration, nonprofit administration, including as a YMCA director, and university instructor and program administrator. Her new motto and mindset:
We are WILDCAT WARRIORS--Together We Fight; Together We Win! Wilson will figure out what kids need and provide it, implement what works and change what doesn't, guarantee authentic opportunities for teachers to teach and students to learn, have a positive attitude and talk it out: communication is key to relationship building.
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Grant Principal Paul Roney Sees Elev8's Rewards
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Grant Principal Paul Roney
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As Principal Paul Roney thinks back on eight years at Albuquerque's Grant Middle School, what stands out is how many more students are living in poverty.
Today, 75% of students at Grant receive free and reduced-price lunch (FRL). But it wasn't always that way; it once was a largely middle-class community.
As demographics changed, the school needed more support for students whose parents might not be at home after school or who struggle to get a hot meal. Elev8's community school initiative was essential.
In July 2009, Elev8 recruited an AmeriCorps VISTA to staff Grant's Family Resource Center (FRC), which links families to support services and helps with critical needs like school supplies, clothing, food, utilities, housing and transportation. In 2012
, YDI landed a $50,000 legislative appropriation for APS to outfit Grant's FRC to help it become a hub for parents looking for jobs or needing to further their skills. Today, f
unding from The Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) staffs the FRC with YDI-Elev8's community engagement coordinator, Melissa McDonald, and two VISTAs.
"We've come to rely on the FRC being part of our school and I'd hate to see that go. They're a safe haven for our kids," said Principal Roney. "Sometimes they just provide a person that students and parents can talk to."
Critically imp
ortant, in October 2009, Elev8 focused efforts on increasing the number of students enrolled in FRL, increasing the school's FRL participation from 47% to 58% and qualifying Grant for Title I resources and support.
Principal Roney has recruited staff who are sensitive to the school community's needs.
Today, "Everybody knows their mission and their purpose" and there's increased poverty awareness and understanding of brain development, he said.
Recognizing that YDI-Elev8's AP funding ends in June 2017, Principal Roney wants to designate Title I school improvement dollars to keep a community school coordinator on board. "You must have a coordinator who is committed to the work" and the community, he said. But the cost ($50,000 with benefits at YDI) would have to be shared.
He'd also like to see the VISTAs continue. "I really appreciate their wherewithal with the families. They're tearing down those barriers."
Continuing to grow the early warning indicators (EWI) project that YDI-Elev8 launched at Grant in 2015 also is a priority. "It's getting kids and families into the school and keeping them here," he said.
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Raising hands for Elev8 at Grant's FRC
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The same goes for Grant's school-based health center. Elev8 obtained the license for Grant's school-based health center in 2008. In 2015, after AP funding for school-based health ended, YDI-Elev8 wrote a successful grant to the NM Department of Health for funding. YDI selected First Nations Community HealthSource to provide services; today, First Nations is the center's sponsor.
New issues continue to arise that need the FRC's help. This year, Principal Roney is targeting students whose math proficiency has lagged. "I think part of it is the new math; parents don't understand it. Having more college-age or high school-age tutors or retired people to help" would be ideal, he said.
Principal Roney likened the $5 million invested in Grant by AP to "having a spaceship land on the school." It's important, he said, for principals to fully understand a community school's key funding elements, and launch strategic plans to meet school community needs.
"Do we need more healthcare? What about poverty? Are we shifting to meet the school community's needs?" he said. And the coordinator must "know the vibe of the school," he said.
Community schools should plan for groups to come and go. "When we lost the YMCA for two years, we had a community that had come to rely on it." After-school is important; it provides a "safe haven, a place for support," he said. With YDI-Elev8's help, Grant has received after-school funding from the ABC Community School Partnership. And the YMCA is back at Grant this year.
"I really think we've done a good job of integrating services through the FRC. Elev8 has become part of Grant. The people who really need it get that hand up," said Principal Roney.
"I see the rewards when the effort is moving."
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West Mesa High School Staff Delve into Poverty
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YDI-Elev8's Delma Madrigal (at blackboard) reviews feedback at
West Mesa's poverty awareness workshop
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After forming a Poverty Awareness Team in June, through the efforts of YDI-Elev8's community engagement coordinator, Delma Madrigal, West Mesa High School staff gathered on October 6 to delve deeper into how to best teach students living in poverty. They left the workshop with strong takeaways and a desire to learn more.
Among the takeaways: As children in poverty are in an oral culture, present information orally first, like in open discussions, followed by printed/written information, use technology that students can embrace to bridge oral and printed communications and deepen relationships with students.
According to Dr. Linda M. Beegle, author of See Poverty...Be the Difference!, a book presented during APS Title I Poverty Awareness trainings, "
Oral culture...is a natural state in which people get information for living their lives by talking to other people. They are highly attuned to senses (touch, smell, sight, sound and taste) and devote a great deal of attention to sensory information and relationships with people. Print culture (literacy) is a learned way of relating to the world."
"Understanding the two styles of communication has strong implications for helping people in poverty move forward... Oral culture does not mean a person is illiterate; it means they prefer to get information for living their lives through verbal communication, not reading."
In oral culture, "People are a priority and at the heart of everything."
Dr. Beegle advocates for a balanced style of communicating, by practicing the strengths of the less dominant communication style, honoring oral culture communication and teaching print skills.
Participants reviewed poverty data researched by UNM's Center for Educational Policy Research for YDI-Elev8, took a quiz on oral versus printed cultures and engaged in self-reflections, including the learning styles that dominate in their classrooms.
Through DOT Thoughts, provided by APS Title I Poverty Awareness to facilitate dialogue around poverty, participants focused on passages like: "A person may work two or three jobs and still not make a living wage sufficient to pay the monthly housing, utilities, and food costs." Participants shared passages that created aha moments for them, reflections about their teaching practice or left them wanting more information.
One potential outcome is a book study group to keep discussions going around Dr. Beegle's work.
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Extended Learning Fun and Programs at Wilson Middle School
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Wilson students enjoy extended learning
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Wilson Middle School's community is focused on ensuring fun and engaging extended-day learning opportunities for students.
"Teachers, students, parents and staff are motivating students to join a club, have new experiences and expand the strengths they already have and show," said Katie Hellebust, YDI-Elev8's community engagement coordinator at Wilson. Hellebust is coordinating Wilson's extended learning program.
Options include ABC Community School Initiative (CSI) programs, Extended Day Academic Programs (EDAP) and the YMCA of Central New Mexico. To date, 120 students have participated in CSI programs.
Students are offered 18 hours weekly of one- or two-hour opportunities.
Mornings start with basketball, biking club, Minecraft club, comic book club, Science Olympiad and Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC).
For after-school activities, APS Food and Nutrition provides a booster meal in addition to an after-school snack at 5:05 p.m.
"Before and after-school programs give students the opportunity to be creative, active and themselves. They are able to show their talents and expand their horizons while forming relationships with their leaders, peers and community. These programs provide students the safe, fun and supportive environment that they deserve and need," Hellebust said.
YDI-Elev8's AmeriCorps VISTA at Wilson, Elena Fletcher, said, "Good after-school programs can have an impact on kids' academic performance and social skills. Certain after-school programs can help kids develop better eating habits and generate more physical activity."
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