We Have Met Education and It Is Us

By Janis Hashe

Recognizing how important communities’ contributions are to great schools isn’t new: The national nonprofit Communities in Schools has been around since the ’70s, fulfilling its mission of improving graduation rates. (www.communitiesinschools.org)

But at the national level, bills supporting community involvement have been unable to get through Congress. The federal Keeping Parents and Communities Engaged (Keeping PACE) Act of 2009-10 would have supported the work of Communities in Schools—but died in committee.

Carla Guerra and her students at Battle Academy are all smiles when they talk about their school and the art they create.

It’s become apparent that the involvement of local communities, on their own initiative, is key to improving public schools.  Increasingly, communities in Hamilton County are stepping up to partner with schools to give students the education and opportunities they deserve.

Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy

At Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy, community partners included a diverse range of organizations, corporations and private individuals. Part of the Benwood Initiative since 2003, the school partners with Crabtree Farms in the innovative Farms-to-Schools program and has its own, flourishing garden. In May, the school dedicated its Wetlands Living Classroom, made possible through partnerships with TVA’s Partners in Education, the Hamilton County Water Quality Program, Chattanooga State, Earthscapes and Engineered Verdant Solutions. Principal Becky Coleman described the project as a “working lab” where both science and art projects will take place. Nearly 110 community volunteers planted more than 500 native species to make the wetlands project happen.

CDESA students also launched their own literary magazine, Black & Bright, with the encouragement and help of community volunteers. Art was also a part of the project, supported by partnerships with the Art with Dad program and nonprofit Art Part, which offers art classes to urban schools.

Battle Academy

Battle Academy has a long history of partnerships between the school and artists in the community, notes Battle art teacher Carla Guerra.

“We partner with artists from the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts, and Ballet Tennessee, to run residencies with various grade levels during the school year, making connections to classroom curriculum. Kofi Mawuko, from Mawre & Company and the band Ogya, is also one of our longtime teaching artists. These residencies are made possible with our Allied Arts and Tennessee Arts Commission grants.

“Musician parents and artists from the Folk School of Music have also performed and made presentations for our students in music class.”

These connections have been so successful, she says, that Battle is always looking for more ways to further them.

“This year, we collaborated with artists Steve Terlizzese and Isaac Duncan in the creation of permanent works for our school,” she says.

“Our new mosaics at the corner of Market and Main have made our school a prominent part of the Southside community. Students created hundreds of clay works to incorporate into this mosaic and parents worked with Mr. Terlizzese to help get our panels grouted and ready for installation.

“Our first outdoor sculpture, located in our rooftop garden, was designed in collaboration with Mr. Duncan and our Garden Club third-grade students. They worked through the design process with discussions, sketches and the creation of small paper models.

“These connections add an additional layer of arts instruction and exposure of various art forms for our students in the visual arts, drama, music, dance and puppetry.”

“Funding for these came from the community and local businesses. The artists themselves are our invaluable patrons in collaborating with us to make this possible for our students.”

She adds, “At our school’s fall festival, we host a number of local artist vendors who also donate a work of art or service to our silent auction to support our arts education program.”

The students benefit in multiple ways. “These connections add an additional layer of arts instruction and exposure to various art forms for our students in the visual arts, drama, music, dance and puppetry. They provide a varied venue through which students can experience classroom curriculum, connections to other disciplines and showcase their learning,” Guerra says.

Guerra also teaches children’s art classes locally through Townsend Atelier, located down the street from Battle Academy, and founder Peggy Townsend hopes to create a partnership between her studio and the school. “We’d love to explore that, and help augment what they do,” she says. And beyond Battle, she would like to look into helping other schools. “There are so many schools that have no arts education at all,” she says. Townsend Atelier also allows high-school students with parental permission to attend life-drawing classes. “These are very important in building a portfolio for students seriously interested in pursuing art,” she says.

Normal Park Museum Magnet

Normal Park student Corbin Beck focused his attention on the camera as he and other middle school students produced a documentary about Chattanooga and LEED certification.

Both the lower and upper schools at Normal Park Museum Magnet have achieved nationwide recognition for innovative community partnerships. The upper school recently broke ground for its outdoor classroom, the Sunlab, made possible through the involvement of multiple parents and community partners.

In December of 2010, 13 students from the upper school’s Digital Media in Motion Lab premiered their original documentary film LEED, Follow or Get Out of the Way. The students, ranging in age from 6th to 8th graders, were led by teacher Matthew Craig, who explains that the project began as a suggestion from local actor, filmmaker and substitute teacher Dylan Kussman, along with support from green|spaces’ Jeff Cannon.

“Dylan, Jeff and I were all having dinner when the idea originated,” Craig says. “Jeff said green|spaces needed a visual piece explaining what LEED certification is, and I saw a connection with the media lab students.”

Kussman acted as “associate producer” of the project, facilitating the pre-production, shooting and post-production of the film, while Cannon appears in it, and provided green|spaces for the doc’s premiere.

The film was shot in 10 days and was very much the students’ own project, Craig says. “We were driving the project for a couple of days, and then it was very much, ‘Get out of our way,’” he laughs. “What I took away from it is that they aren’t old enough to vote, but they’re old enough for their voices to be heard.”

Community partnerships of this kind can’t help but play a bigger role in helping schools and students achieve, he says. “As budgets get slimmer, it’s crucial to come up with more creative ways to generate opportunities. And many people and companies are eager to be supportive of education.”

“We want the Dalewood students to see that the community is committed to helping their school. Our intention is to go on and help other schools.”

Dalewood Middle School

Yet another partnership is helping to spruce up Dalewood Middle School. On April 8, a 24-hour “CreateAThon” was held at the school, a joint project of CreateHere, the Community Foundation and the UTC design department. Kate Creason, a CreateHere Arts Fellow, has been hands-on with the idea from the beginning.

“More than 100 people from the community participated in one way or another in the CreateAThon,” she says. “The UTC design team was very proactive in reaching out to the community.”

For 24 hours, the volunteers brainstormed on projects, selected them, and began the design process, she explains. “Brainstorming went on from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.—then selection began.”

Four projects were ultimately selected: Redesigning the school’s art room to create more space and make it more student-friendly; redesigning the lobby area, creating seating, a visual timeline of the school and a banner system promoting school spirit; redesigning the school’s virtual presence through a new web site and an online gallery for students’ art; and documenting the design process so that the school has a record, and also so that it potentially can be replicated in other schools. “We want the Dalewood students to see that the community is committed to helping their school,” Creason says. “Our intention is to go on and help other schools.”

The projects are currently being implemented in the school and more volunteers are needed. Contact Creason at kate@createhere.org or (423) 648-2195 if you would like to help.

What one takes away from all these projects is that community engagement is the future of great schools. But the schools mentioned represent only a tiny fraction of all Hamilton County schools.

Is there a way you or your company can get involved and help? There is truly no time like the present—and no more important contribution you can make.