The dozen people seated around three tables at the Haven Center in Kansas City, Kansas are meeting for the first time. They range in age from 16 to 60, both black and white, men and women. They have only one reason for coming together on this Thursday evening in April–concern about the schools in their community. A young woman making notes on a large pad of paper asks them why they have come.
“ When I went to school they were preparing you for success," one woman says. "Now they seem to be preparing you for failure.” Others nod, and agree.
Some of them have come because they have children in the Kansas City, Kansas School District. Others have nieces and nephews there. Some have no close ties to the schools, but have come because they were invited to help get involved in a solution.
" My heart grieves. I want to make a difference. I know we can do better," says one mother.
They talk about what school was like when they were young. They say things were better. Teachers were strict but committed; tighter morals prevailed, and schools called parents whose children were getting into trouble.
One man says Wyandotte County, where Kansas City, Kansas lies, is a cultural zone like no other. "I have a son in the Olathe district," he says, referring to a suburban school in a wealthier area. "It's totally different there. The kids there like what they are doing in school."
In Kansas City, Kansas, he says, "it's a struggle for these kids. They can't go to school and enjoy themselves."
A New Approach: More than cookies and cupcakes
Kansas City, Kansas Superintendent Ray Daniels is given credit for getting the Study Circles started. Two years ago, he was concerned that the schools and the community were not connecting. He also had an interest in turning schools into community centers. He went to the United Way of Wyandotte County to discuss the problem he saw. He said he was hearing from parents that teachers didn’t care, and hearing from teachers that parents didn’t care. But both groups agreed they needed the help of the other to make a difference. Superintendent Daniels was convinced the starting point had to be outside the schools, and it had to be a grassroots effort.
“ I was looking for a way to get more community involvement,” he says. “Not in the same way as parents traditionally get involved, with cookies and cupcakes. I was looking for ways to get the business and faith communities involved as well.”
The United Way thought about some different methods for tackling the problem, and chose the Study Circle model for increasing dialogue. Study Circles have been used across the country to let citizens use their firsthand knowledge to impact problems like education and race relations.
KCK Study Circles Director Brandi Fisher says the process begins twice a year with several small groups of a dozen people. These groups meet four times and then come together for a fifth "action forum," at which all the Study Circles make suggestions to the superintendent and other school administrators.
Making Ideas Turn into Action: Study Circle Meets Hawthorne Elementary
When the first KCK Study Circles began, Pastor Stephen Robbs of the Jesus is the Answer Street Outreach joined.
“ Our biggest question at the beginning was, would there be action at the end of our meetings? Would they lead to something? The United Way convinced us that this would be a partnership with the school board. “ Robbs says it did become a partnership, with the principal and other staff from nearby Hawthorne Elementary School joining the Study Circle.
At the end of the group’s first four meetings, Robbs' Study Circle came together with other groups in an “action forum.” Members were surprised the district did seem genuinely interested in their ideas.
Robbs and many of the others in the first Hawthorne Study Circle do not have children in Hawthorne. But a year later, they are going into Hawthorne on a regular basis, and being welcomed by the staff.
“ When we come into the building, the teachers light up. They know us by name. They say ‘we’re glad you’re here’ and thank us for our support.” To Robbs, this is a change from before the Study Circles, when some parents did not feel welcome in the school.
Robbs and his circle have-a year later- taken plenty of action. Among their accomplishments:
—starting a "Friendship Club" on Fridays after school, to provide lessons, help students develop friendships with schoolmates;
—creating "Safe Houses" near Hawthorne where senior citizens will protect children who are in trouble with strangers or bullies;
—setting up a plan for men to accompany teachers when they go to parents' homes to discuss problems, to provide support and protection for the teacher;
—providing school supplies for children who run out of notebooks and crayons during the year, and
—putting together an emergency kit so if a children soil their clothes, they can get cleaned up and changed before they become embarrassed.
Robbs says before the Study Circles, parental involvement was low. Only one or two parents attended PTA meetings. Parents were disillusioned and did not think they could do anything to make a difference. Now he sees more parents and Study Circle members going into Hawthorne and feeling like they are having an impact.
The school district thinks the program is successful as well. Superintendent Daniels likes the fact that the United Way has trained participants of past groups, often residents of the area, to facilitate this year's groups. He also thinks being willing to meet outside the schools has shown the community school officials are receptive to communication, and a broader range of the community is now involved with the schools.
But he would like to see the Study Circles go farther. Daniels says he thinks some of the groups have come out with suggestions that are too general to be useful. He thinks Study Circles that are tied to a specific school are more effective than those which make recommendations to the school district in general.
He thinks it is time to evaluate what is working, and what could be done better. Daniels envisions a time when "more parents would be involved in site councils, you would see more parents making decisions, in buildings helping, volunteering in classrooms and hallways, being involved."
A Continuing Process: Study Circles Grow Wider
At the first in a series of Study Circles meetings, like the one in April at Haven Center, everyone agrees there is a lot of "venting." Parents and other members may have issues that make them angry, or need to get frustrations off their chests.
By the end of the first meeting at the Haven Center, however, group members had already turned to focus on the positive things going on in the district. They cited examples of good teachers who care about children, support for non-English speaking students, and a stronger school board than the one in Kansas City, Missouri as examples.
Pastor Robbs says a second Study Circle formed around Hawthorne last fall and now has joined his group.
" Now, instead of 15 or 18 people, you have almost double that number. I think its just going to snowball, when people begin to see and hear what we are doing. And we're excited about the new group that has joined us, because they are active parents and have a stake in it. But we can't take all the credit; we give credit to God. He plays a big role."
Robbs has noticed another benefit to the Study Circles that goes beyond the schools. When he joined his group, it was meeting at the Mt. Carmel Church of God. It's unusual for one pastor to go onto another pastor's turf. Robbs says there are now Study Circles that contain other pairs of ministers from different churches, and they have begun to build bridges in the religious community as well as in education.