Career visits like these can be exciting for students curious to learn where their interests and talents can take them. And so an afternoon in February, they posed their questions about life, education, and the employment challenges of living in rural Northern Michigan to their own member of Congress, U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar. Moolenaar is one of only 14 Members of Congress from Michigan, and a select member of the powerful appropriations committee. As such, he is among only a few in Washington, D.C. chiefly involved in recommending whether programs like theirs are funded or not.
"We had a fantastic Q-and-A session," said Rebecca Idzikowski, the SPARKS Project Director. "The questions students asked were about their future, the kinds of things job-makers are looking for in job candidates, and what recommendations Congressman Moolenaar has for our SPARKS program."
Students also inquired into how to make a successful job search, the value of CTE (Career, Technical Education) training, and the relative lack of job opportunities in their largely rural and low-income communities.
"For our first visit, it was great to see Congressman Moolenar really get engaged with the students and learn a lot about SPARKS," she added. "He also mentioned a couple of times how impressed he was that we had so many (attending) students."
According to Idzikowski, Moolenaar told the students that employers value most workers who are conscience about showing up on time, doing a good job, making good decisions, and are responsible and reliable. "I appreciated that because those are qualities we hold students to in this program," she added.
21st Century Community Learning Centers Program Rises and Falls with Congressional Funding
The Clare-Gladwin RESD SPARKS program serves 540 elementary and secondary students in 12 locations across Clare, Gladwin and Midland counties and is federally funded by three grants (totaling $1.6 million) from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. The federal grants program specifically focuses on providing academic enrichment in non-school hours for children attending high-poverty and low-performing schools. Over the years, funding levels for the SPARKS program have varied, though. Some years the district has been able to run afterschool programs in as many as 16 locations, while this year service is offered at 12 sites.
On the positive side, the district is excited for a new grant that has been implemented this year and broadens the scope of services to include a comprehensive package with enrichment education, STEM learning, math and reading assistance, credit recovery, social-emotional learning, plus new additions including job and career readiness, college exploration, and career and technical education for secondary level students.
The grants also pay for needed transportation to the program and home, a free meal and snack, field trips and family engagement activities. Many staff members are certified teachers or paraprofessionals who work during the school day, and there is strong coordination for "seamless learning," meaning the afterschool staff coordinates with school-day educators about their individual student's needs and challenges. The Michigan Department of Education distributes the funds, which come from the federal government, and offers quality assurance.
Consistency in services has always been important, but services to middle and high schools were interrupted when funds were cut for that age group, Idzikowski noted. For two years the programs were closed for lack of funding but re-opened last year. The middle and high school programs that Moolenaar toured were just re-started in the fall.
In a recent development, the 21st Century program, the only dedicated source of support for local afterschool and summer programs nationally and in Michigan, faces a renewed threat in Washington, D.C. The President's budget has zeroed out funding for the federal program for the third consecutive year. Unless Congress restores the funds as it's done in the past two years, Michigan will see service eliminated to 35,776 Michigan youth and teens. (See related story.)
"We hope that this doesn't happen, of course, because it would put states like Michigan at a disadvantage in terms of developing its talent and workforce," said Executive Director Mary Sutton, of the Michigan After-School Partnership. "Programs like SPARKS open a new world of opportunities to help young people prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. The hands-on experiences they have, and the learning they gain in communication, collaboration and leading are invaluable for Michigan's future prosperity."
Students Demonstrate Engineering Skills and Challenge Congressman to Marble Race
Moolenaar's visit had its lighter moments, too.
"Our students were so excited and in awe a little bit," Idzikowski said. "One student commented that he never met someone who met the president before. Another high school student called his mom and asked if she could bring him a nicer shirt to wear."
First, Moolenaar visited high school students and observed a STEM project as they engineered and built trusses (using Popsicle sticks) that would withstand extreme weather. Then he walked over to Harrison Middle School and took part in a marble race simulated to demonstrate run designs versus speed of motion. He also observed middle school students as they worked on their volcano eruption projects.
"For us it was a great way to demonstrate that we use our money well, investing in our students and trying to reach as many students as possible," Idzikowski said. "Throughout our sites, we have many students on waiting lists."
