Grand Rapids Community Foundation

#grcollegebound

June 17^th, 2011

For those who follow Twitter you know that the hash tag connected to a phrase or word is an identifier for collecting like "tweets" for a particular topic. For those who haven't experienced Twitter, well now you have information you didn't have before! :- ) We used this identifier this past Wednesday on Twitter reporting on details from the press conference we hosted and then throughout the day! The impact of what is behind the #grcollegebound will definitely be game changing! That is how I view an effort that our staff, Cris Kooyer and Ruth Bishop, have been planning hand-in-hand with key staff at the Grand Rapids Public Schools for more than two years. This past Wednesday Mike Nassar, principal at Harrison Park School, Bernard Taylor, superintendent of the Grand Rapids Public Schools, and I outlined an effort that we all plan will make a significant difference in the lives of children and their families. We are calling it the "Partnership Pipeline" which aptly describes the partnership between the district and the Grand Rapids Community Foundation with some aspects that also involve many other funders, the county, and a large number of nonprofit organizations. In future blogs I'll describe these relationships more clearly. BUT essentially, the partnership is meant to ensure that a pre-K through 12th grade school culture is supported that promotes post-secondary learning for all students. Some detail: On Monday June 13th the Foundation board of trustees approved the first $250,000 to launch the partnership building on a college-going culture for students at Grand Rapids Public Schools' Harrison Park School. Ultimately we plan to expand this programming into Westwood Middle School and then increase our funding to include Union High School. This "feeder system" will help foster an academic and social climate at the grade school that will fully support education beyond graduation for every child. The Foundation is investing an estimated $4.5M that will go to the schools within the Union High School feeder system over the next 10 years. Plans include the hiring of a College Pathway Coordinator, a math coach and a literacy coach. In addition, grant funds, to the tune of $1.5M, will provide summer and after school learning opportunities for students spread out over the next 10 years. But that's not all! This partnership also includes a very special college scholarship component. Beginning with the 4th grade class this September the Foundation plans to provide about $3M per year on college scholarships or support for a higher education program to students who move through the program from start to finish graduating from Union High School. With the assistance of our program and various supports these students will receive last dollar scholarships! These students will become this community's Challenge Scholars! In part, Harrison Park School was selected by our staff and the key staff from the school district because it offers on-site health and human services to students and families through the Kent School Services Network (KSSN) which operates in many schools in various districts. Through the Kent Intermediate School District, the Kent County Family and Children's Coordinating Council and many nonprofit organizations and funders, the KSSN is a great support to relieve families of many stressors in their lives giving students the opportunity to come to school ready to learn! We have worked alongside many to create and fund this tremendous resource and have granted more than $2M to the KSSN program since 2006! Further, Harrison Park School is a Meijer Good School a program generously funded by the Meijer Foundation and operated by the Community Foundation. In case you haven't gotten the message yet, education of our youth is a very big deal to the Community Foundation ultimately leading to an educated work force and keeping these young professionals compelling reasons to return to Grand Rapids to live and work! This is the best economic development strategy around! Over the past 10 years the Community Foundation has invested nearly $10M in funding for community-wide education strategies. We aren't new to the business of education. In fact, we have been giving scholarships to area students since the 1940's! I'll write more about this exciting effort in future blogs! The press release announces the Partnership and the Challenge Scholars!

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Have I told you lately. . .

April 5^th, 2008

that the Grand Rapids Community Foundation staff is nothing short of phenomenal? No probably not and now I will rectify this! I have been known to say to staff, "we are here for but a moment in time so let's make hay while we can!" In other words, don't waste time because sharing your talent and wisdom while on staff gives us the opportunity to give back to our community in so many ways. It is much more than a job! We are fortunate to be here and we can follow our dreams to continue to strengthen and grow this grand community.

Periodically I write about the work that we do and try to point out why this work is so important and why I am so passionate about the value of this community foundation not just in a financial sense. This can be overlooked which is understandable and I need to make this much more clear. This isn't just charity - it isn't just philanthropy - it is bold community leadership.

This entry was inspired by the actions and tenacity of Ruth Bishop who is our Education Program Officer and who has been with the Foundation for more than 15 years. I'm convinced that Ruth never runs out of great ideas and "stuck in a rut" is NOT something that anyone would say about her! She is completely devoted to her work that encompasses our ever expanding array of Scholarship offerings and programs, the Youth Enrichment Scholarship Program that brings experiences to elementary students who would not have otherwise have the opportunities offered them, the Excellence in Education program honoring great ideas from students and teachers in the public and private schools in the city of Grand Rapids and much more. Her work does not begin and end with these programs. However, at the time of students applying for scholarships, our website is at its most popular!

Ruth was recently telling me that she has a particularly difficult problem to resolve involving a bright and engaging student at one of our area high schools. This student wants to become a physician and has the dream of attending a renowned state university. She has the academic standing, the moxie - that indefinable "thing" that is a good predictor of success and much more. And she also has Ruth's attention.

All good ingredients you might say to make this story have a happy ending. Well not quite. It seems that this student is lacking a foreign language and that is the stated barrier to gaining admission. This student grew up in a home where the Spanish language is the primary language. According to Ruth, she has overcome barriers before and certainly speaks English probably better than many. My bet is that both languages are like her primary languages.

Ruth is not resting on her laurels on this one and while we do not get this involved with every student applying for scholarships - don't have the time nor the person power to do so - it does point out that there is something not quite right here. Whether this will turn out the way it should remains to be seen.

What it does demonstrate though is how our staff team is trying to bring together the power of our education programs to aid in achieving some key goals in our community and in our state:

* Student achievement in the city schools will match or exceed those of the suburban schools including raising the graduation rates.
* Preparing students for admission to college/university/higher education and to graduate successfully.
* Attracting and retaining college graduates to the West Michigan community.

No more study is needed. No more strategy development is needed. No more "let's take another few years and see how we are doing".

Ruth wants action and results now. She wants to ensure that all students have access to the right guidance to point them in the direction of college and what is required prior to applying and receiving the disappointing news that they don't meet the requirements.

Her passion - her smarts - her knowledge along with being supported by the Foundation will make remarkable strides for all students. We just need to make sure that all the tools, resources, and will are there to make it all happen. Thank you Ruth!

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Spending $10million - how would you measure impact?

February 18^th, 2008

How would you spend more than $10M? Would you try to make a dent in difficult problems like poverty, hunger, child abuse? What impact could you really have? How would you know if the programs created to address these issues really work?

Many foundations are under scrutiny not only to assure that their finances are in order but also to prove that what they fund is relevant and that there is a positive impact in their communities or throughout the country. But what can $10M really do?

For community foundations it isn't just about the money, it is also the leadership that they can exercise to have greater influence and leverage. Partnering with other funders, public sector officials, and other community leaders increases the ability to have impact. However, this isn't always the case as I have experienced over my time at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. Depends a great deal of the willingness of all partners to stay on target and not be distracted by other seemingly attractive efforts.

In the past few years, this foundation has spent close to $10M on public education and most of it directed at the Grand Rapids Public Schools. Have we received a good return on that investment? We have isolated success stories to tell through our 21 year old "Excellence in Education" program which honors teachers and students who have great ideas and plans at the classroom level to implement. We have isolated success stories to tell through our Youth Enrichment Scholarship Program that focuses attention on students who may not also have a chance to spread their wings exploring the worlds of music, computers and the like.

When I read Dr. Bernard Taylor's state of the schools address given on Saturday, February 9th, I was heartened by his account of trends in the district that suggest that some schools are increasing their achievement levels. I was disheartened to read that he was noting that assaults are down in schools - not disheartened by the fact that they are decreasing but by the fact that there are assaults.

How can we measure the performance of this school district without the leaders getting defensive? How can we measure the performance of this school district when there isn't consensus on the vision? Is doing okay acceptable? More on this in future posts. . . .

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Public Education in Grand Rapids

February 11^th, 2008

In January 2006 I wrote about our support to the Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) and the link is here. I appeared before the GRPS Board of Education back in January 2007 and essentially laid out what I posted. The reaction from the Board was well . . . plain boredom!

A great deal has occurred since last year and Dr. Taylor has attracted community support which he outlined in his speech yesterday. In my future posts I will outline what this foundation has tried to do with GRPS . . . quite a handsome sum has been spent on the district!

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