Except for the fact that it was outside of the Jim Parsley Community Center and not the nearest multiplex, you might have confused the line that stretched all the way back into Bagley Community Park for a throng of eager moviegoers waiting for the latest superhero blockbuster.
But it wasn’t a movie that drew hundreds of people on that sweltering day last August. It was Vancouver Public Schools’ inaugural Go Ready! Back-to-School-Readiness Festival—a district-wide event that provided families with school supplies, clothing, haircuts, shoes and information about resources, courtesy of our award-winning Family-Community Resource Center team and community partners. So, in a way, the more than 2,100 participants were indeed there to see heroes.
But Go Ready! was more than just a giveaway event. Here’s how Community and Family Engagement Coordinator Diana Avalos-Leos described it:
“Just put yourself in a situation where you don’t have a backpack; you don’t have pens and pencils, glue sticks, etcetera, and you’re the only child in that classroom that doesn’t have your supplies. Feeling shy, feeling embarrassed. You don’t want to be there because you’re not fitting in. So this event just helps kids get over that—it helps them be like everyone else.”
It’s this issue of equity that is at the heart of both Go Ready! and our FCRC network. You’ve probably heard that 53 percent of our students qualify for subsidized meals, up from 39 percent less than a decade ago. You know that free and reduced lunches can indicate poverty, which over time can lead to or worsen inadequate medical and dental care, mental health issues and drug and alcohol abuse. Bottom line: learning readiness and student achievement often suffer.
When we think about students and families who need assistance with basic needs, it’s easy to assume that they’re concentrated in schools that serve the higher-poverty areas of our community. In fact, the students and families at Go Ready! represented every single school in our district. Even with the economy in recovery, no building is untouched by need.
We’re not the only ones who have recognized the value of providing wraparound support. Earlier this month, the National School Boards Association’s American School Board Journal awarded VPS and our board of directors a first-place Magna Award for best practices. It’s a testament of the great outcomes from schools and communities working together for families.
My hope is that the news of this award will reach more people and partners in our community, who will become involved. And it may even give other school districts ideas of how to provide similar support to their families. The more barriers to learning we can remove, the better.
Stay tuned for details about the 2015 Go Ready! And please, tell everyone who may want to attend. Go Ready! benefits our students, our families, our schools and ultimately our community.
Take care,
