My 42 - School Perspective from 2014 Breakfast

Did you know that 42 degrees is the angle at which light must reflect off water in order to create a rainbow?

As a resident and educator in Harrisonville, I have seen and experienced the wonders of the Bright Futures rainbow.  Their goal is to build partnerships between schools and community, thus helping students achieve success by meeting school needs and matching student needs with resources.  One example of this at Harrisonville Elementary School has been our Building Site Council.  It was during our council meetings with businesses, faith-based, parents, social/human services, and teachers that we developed a plan to encourage school attendance last year with recognition each month to students with 95% attendance or better, working toward the goal of 90% attendance or better for the school year.   Students need to attend school daily to succeed.  I am very pleased to report this strategy helped us increase our overall attendance from 87.4% to almost 93% of students with 90% attendance or better.  Another program has been our classroom snack program.  It was through discussions at council meetings that we discovered an increasing number of children did not have a daily snack.  We all know the importance of a full belly to ensure we can attend to task.  Our council brainstormed ways to approach this situation.  Now all students benefit from classroom parent donations supported by Bright Futures for additional snacks needed throughout the year.  You can be part of the Bright Futures rainbow and develop a partnership with any of our schools.

Forty-two.  What does it stand for?  The right arm of the Statue of Liberty is 42 feet long.  It stands for an idea - embodying hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life.  One of the Bright Futures goals is providing for individual needs.  At Harrisonville Elementary School, I have the privilege of seeing needs met and the smiles, hugs, and thank yous that accompany each deed.  One program is the Food 4 Thought backpack program which provides weekend backpacks filled with food for students in need.  We all know the phrase, “Never take anything for granted.”   When a child last year said to me, “Mrs. Weber I like when we get fruit to eat.  It is a special treat.” I realized the importance of sharing the message of Bright Futures.  It is critical to expose our students to new experiences and help them learn about building a healthy life through making good choices.  Another program is the Cats Basement, a place where families can get clothing assistance for students twice a year.  It is also a place schools may use to replace a worn pair of shoes, a coat with a broken zipper, or acquire some socks to wear in shoes when the weather gets chilly.  Teachers and students know they can ask for help and needs will be addressed.  Just last week, a student asked if I had some socks so the new shoes wouldn’t hurt anymore.  When I gave the child socks, the response was, “Thank you.  I really only need one for this foot just in case someone else needs one too.”  The back to school fair is an additional program that helps families with school supplies, haircuts, and more as they prepare to return to school.  The Stuff the Bus program helps a number of students at Harrisonville Elementary School start the year off without worry of fitting in because they have a new backpack filled with all the supplies they need to start school.  A newer program is the partnership for youth sports equipment.  Begun this summer, it has already served several young athletes with shoes, practice equipment, and game day attire.  One recipient shared, “My child has never done sports before, this is cool to see her be part of a team and shine.”  Our students can experience new adventures and discover their talents, leading to a brighter future.

When I was making notes for my speech, my nine year old, Kale, asked me what I was doing.  I proceeded to share that I was going to speak at a meeting and 42 was the theme.  I asked him what he thought 42 meant and his immediate response was, “Jackie Robinson, you know mom he was a pioneer for others.”  So true!  Bright Futures goals include ensuring every child has the tools he or she needs to be a successful student who in turn becomes productive and self-sustaining citizens, loving parents, responsible neighbors, and outstanding employees.  Through Bright Futures you can be the pioneer like Jackie Robinson and lead the way.  At Harrisonville Elementary School, I have had the honor of working with numerous volunteers that give of their time to ensure students acquire important tools for life.  During our grandparent day events, volunteer grandparents/friends spend time with students completing activities related to foundational skills.  Conversation and smiles abound as students work with support and later receive a memento photograph.  We also have volunteers assist on Valentine’s day to help students that need a hand addressing cards and signing their name.  This skill is so valuable and time with a helper is priceless and students can then take part in handing out cards like their peers.  Additionally, we utilize volunteers in our kitchen during our family events.  This allows teachers to work with students and families at stations focused on skills for each grade level.  Volunteers help serve families and share in conversations and promote independence as they walk through the line.  Furthermore, we have been blessed with volunteers that read with students or assemble materials.  Reading each day is a skill we work on at Harrisonville Elementary School.  Having someone to read to or with is not always available to all of our students so time with a volunteer solidifies key skills for building a brighter future.

In conclusion, I challenge all of you to give 42.  It may be your time, talent, or treasure, but be part of the rainbow, share hope and provide new opportunities, or be the pioneer for others.

Jauna Weber, Harrisonville Elementary School Principal

My 42 - Business Perspective from 2014 Breakfast

I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power.   The more knowledge I have the more I can arm myself with what I need to help me find my “42”. 

Let me share some of my knowledge to see if it will help empower you.

Washers and dryers have been installed in the cat’s basement so that children are able to launder their clothes.  ECC and HES have established stations where children can go to brush their teeth and clean up a bit because those means may simply be unavailable to them at home.  When you hear that a kindergartener is wearing his father’s dirty socks to school because he doesn’t have any of his own, something needs to be done.  Through generous donations from members of our community, children are allowed to find clothes that fit and are weather appropriate.  Basic grooming, access to water, clean clothes and everyday hygiene goes a long way to dramatically increase a child’s self-confidence, making them feel empowered and on a more level playing field with their peers.  Sadly the number of homeless students in our school district at the end of last year was at 169.  

There were 19 cases of child abuse presented to the prosecutor by the Harrisonville Police Department.  This translates to about 1 ½ cases per month.  Roughly 25% of those cases the children were removed from the home.  How many children do you think there are right at this very moment being abused that we don’t even know about?   These numbers are only for the city of Harrisonville and don’t include any crimes committed against children in the county jurisdiction.

There are 2599 children in the Harrisonville School District.  Did you know that there are 229 children that participate in the backpack program and that 6,469 bags were packed last year?  If these children didn’t have those backpacks, they would go an entire weekend without anything to eat.  Did you know that 42% of our school children participate in the free and reduced lunch program?  That’s 1093 children that need assistance to ensure they will be able to eat a meal.  It is a proven fact that there is a direct correlation to the kids in the free and reduced lunch program with poor grades and unwanted behaviors.  Of course there is.  Snickers made a commercial about what people are like when they are hungry; tired, cranky, lack of focus, irritable, maybe even violent.  I joke with my husband all the time about being Betty White when he’s hangry, but he can easily get something to eat to immediately make himself feel better and increase his concentration and improve his mood.  Imagine if that’s how you felt all the time, and there was nothing you could do about it.   Think about that for just a minute.  How can they learn effectively if they’re hungry and how can our teachers teach effectively when those 1093 children are worrying about where their next meal might be coming from?

These facts are staggering.  

The need is measurable.

The outcome, however, is somewhat less quantifiable.

When we are a part of something where there are so many in need, and we give of our time, our pocketbooks, and our hearts, we all want to see our efforts pay off.  We want to know that each child we help has valued the assistance they received and will learn from it.  One of the goals of Bright Futures is obviously to meet the needs of all of our children, whether those needs are material or emotional, in order to help them grow up to be productive members of society.  We want them to to be educated, to hold jobs, to have healthy relationships and families, to be successful.  The bottom line, however, is that not every child will value this assistance.

The simple fact is this.  Regardless of the child’s background it is not their fault.  Regardless of how our help is received, we have to try.  If we only reach one, we reached one more than we would have if we had done nothing. 

When there is a child in need and we are able to help, we have to do it.

Maya Angelou said, “People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.”

We need to help the children in our community feel valued.

Living and working in this community has allowed me the opportunity to be able to give my 42.  I sit on the Bright Futures Council at ECC and have heard many stories about the various needs of children too young to know how to help themselves.  As gut-wrenching as it is to hear these stories, it’s equally heart-warming to hear the successes, of which there are many.   Through my employer I am able to assist with the “Stuff the Bus” event which helped provide over 200 children with school supplies this year.  I can tell you that by the time I was done buying new clothes and school supplies for my own two children, I actually heard my debit card start crying, so it’s hard for me to imagine the stress of a parent being unable to provide school necessities for their children.  I also sit on the board for Harrisonville NETT, an anti-drug and bullying coalition, which allows me to network needs for the children serviced by both NETT and Bright Futures.  I don’t go to a NETT meeting without thinking how Bright Futures can help NETT, and I don’t go to a Bright Futures meeting without thinking how can NETT help Bright Futures.  I feel that it’s my responsibility as a member of the business community to use whatever resources I have available to me to make this entire community stronger and more successful through our children.  They are, after all, the hope of our future.

With the knowledge you’ve been given today, let me ask you this:  Do you know what your “42” is? 

Tina Graef, Community Bank of Harrisonville & Harrisonville NETT

My 42 - Faith-based Perspective from 2014 Breakfast

In one of the most well known episodes from Jesus’ life, he says to his disciples, “Let the little children come to me…for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14) For generations now, churches have been able to open their doors, and children would come to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. And we could easily celebrate and teach these young ones who so beautifully display the Kingdom of God. We assumed that the Kingdom of God was located in our churches, and when the children showed up, they had come to the Kingdom.

However, in case you have not noticed, the world has been radically changing. We in the church have noticed not only the change in this world, but also a change in our understanding of what Jesus wants from his Church. We still open the doors of our churches, but children no longer show up just because the doors have been opened. Instead, churches today have been recognizing that it is not enough to just open our doors and pray the children come, instead we have to go out and go to the children. Not only that, but we have been recognizing that the Kingdom of God does not exist simply in our churches, it exists wherever the little children are found. And where do our children spend most of their waking hours? In our schools. 

Therefore, Bright Futures has been a wonderful partner for our churches because it is a means through which we in the faith community can do more than simply open our doors and pray that the children will come to us. Instead, Bright Futures is an invitation for us to go to the children. Bright Futures is a wonderful partner through which we can be generous with our children and schools by providing snacks to help the children through the day, by providing help for special events, by providing a sounding board where we can interact with school staff and leadership to discover what challenges the children of our community are facing. Bright Futures is a wonderful partner for the faith community, because it invites us to come in and see the Kingdom of God at work in our schools…at work through compassionate teachers…at work through loving administrators…at work through caring students…at work through all those who are teaching, encouraging, and protecting the most precious people of our community. 

Years ago a preacher was complaining that being compassionate to the community was not working. When asked, what he meant by saying that showing the love of God to people in need through tangible acts of mercy and compassion was not working, he replied, “we’re doing all these great things for so many people, but they are not in turn coming to our church.” That was a preacher who misunderstood why we are called to show the love of God. We do not show the love of God to others so that our churches will grow, we show the love of God to others, because when we do, we find ourselves right in the middle of the kingdom of God. 

That is why Bright Futures is such a wonderful partner to the faith-based community – they invite us to participate in the Kingdom of God, which is at work in our schools. 

Pastor Bill Kirkemo

Lead Pastor, Harrisonville Church of the Nazarene

President, Harrisonville Ministerial Alliance