Growing up in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, I attended the kind of schools
that give public education a good name. Smart teachers, plenty of resources,
clean, well-maintained buildings ---
what more could we white, middle-class kids want?
Once in a while, a student would do something bad, or have something bad done to her, but it was unusual. In eighth grade, a couple of well-known "hoods" were arrested trying to burn down the house of their science teacher. It made the front page of the Washington Post, and the principal gave us a sad, stern lecture over the PA system --- the parents were at fault, the kids had disgraced their school. And in high school, we had two shocking suicides in the space of two months. These were blamed on drugs and rock music, as I recall.
No one questioned whether the school and the surrounding community might possibly work together to ensure that bad things didn't happen to kids. The school had its own, clearly demarcated turf; parents had total responsibility for their children; and that was that. Indeed, looking back, it's striking how rarely I ever saw an adult in my school who wasn't either a teacher or a parent. Even the parents showed up only on special occasions, to accompany us on field trips or to meet our teachers during "back-to-school night." It was as if the entire community, the outside world, didn't know we existed --- until something went wrong. And that happened so rarely, it really wasn't worth thinking about.
Bad Things Happen
Flash forward: It's a new century, and bad things are happening a lot more often, to a lot more kids. Even protected suburban enclaves, like the place I grew up, can experience the nightmare of a Columbine. As for inner-city and poor rural schools, they are so starved for resources, so unsafe, so unsupported, that kids bring guns to class for protection, and half of them become dropouts or "throw-outs" long before graduation.
How can we help? Is there a way to follow Christ's commitment to the poor, and to the children, to bring hope back into the lives of millions of "at-risk" kids?
I work for Communities In Schools (CIS), a nonprofit group that helps communities bring resources, services, and concerned adults into the public schools. The idea is very simple. Children need adults who care about them, and sometimes neither their family nor their school can give them what they need: health care, tutoring, mentoring, job skills, drug and alcohol education, the tools of nonviolence. All these services are in fact available in most communities, thanks to city, county, nonprofit, and private-sector groups, along with a host of dedicated volunteers. The challenge is to bring the helping resources together in one place, and then make sure children's needs are met.
CIS believes that the public school is the perfect place to do this, and so far 243 school districts in 32 states agree with us.
Founder
Bill Milliken, founder and president of CIS, is living out a 40-year spiritual commitment to children. An academic failure himself, he was about to be kicked out of high school when a youth worker from Young Life, an ecumenical Christian organization, "turned him around." Bill made the decision to follow Christ, and at the age of 20 he and two colleagues went to Harlem to begin working with dropouts, drug addicts, and the homeless. That was in 1960, and Bill's original commitment has never changed. The methods have, however.
"To me, this is all about God's call," Bill says. "We're called into community, and community is the one thing that millions of kids don't have. Of course, we adults aren't very good at it either! So that's the real challenge: First we have to create community among ourselves, and then share that with the children."Throughout the '60s, Bill did "streetwork" with society's dispossessed, the throwaway kids whose lives had already been nearly destroyed. He launched small live-in communities for these young people, and also founded the Street Academies for high-school dropouts who wanted to earn their diplomas. With backing from 16 major corporations, the Street Academies were highly successful, but Bill was concerned that it was too little, too late.
"We had to find a way to turn off the tap, to reach the children before they dropped out. Even though it wasn't considered cool to be 'part of the Establishment," we realized we needed to go inside the system, to work with the public schools to stem the tide of failure."
Communities In Schools was founded (as Cities In Schools) in 1977. At the time, the notion of opening a public school to community involvement was radical, and most educators were against it --- just like the principals and teachers at the schools I attended. But Bill persevered, and today he's considered one of the pioneers of schools as community centers, places where children and families can be connected with the resources they need to succeed.
Spiritual Commitment
CIS is completely nonpartisan, and has no religious affiliation. But Bill's vision has always attracted people with a spiritual commitment to young people, and he makes no secret that his belief in personalism and community is spiritually based. "Programs don't change kids --- relationships do. You have to be willing to walk the walk with young people, to hang out with them, show them you care. It's also incredibly important that you let them give back. You have to believe that they have something to give, because it really is more blessed to give than to receive. If you don't think kids have gifts to give --- to you, to their peers, to the community --- then stay away from them, because you'll only do them harm."
Communities In Schools is definitely a success story: We provide access to services for more than a million students every year. However --- in a nation where one out of four young children live in poverty --- that isn't nearly enough. I wish every community would invite CIS into its schools, but in the meantime there's plenty you can do. Volunteering as a mentor or tutor can make an enormous difference for a child, and if you work for a business, you can do even more. School/workplace partnerships that introduce young people to job-shadowing, career counseling, and employment skills have proven to be of great help in keeping students on track toward graduation and college.
What's most important is that we treat our public schools as part of the community --- our community. One young man at a school with a CIS presence put it beautifully: "Well, just look around. No one can get in trouble here. There are too many adults." With a somewhat embarrassed smile, he added, "They must really care about us."
The CIS Five BasicsKids need to know that they're cared about, safe and secure, and expected
to succeed. The Communitites In Schools network believes that every child needs and deserves:
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On March 4, 2000, Bill Milliken received the coveted "Champion of Children" award from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in San Francisco during its National Conference on Education. Paul D. Houston, AASA's Executive Director, spoke of Milliken as "a guiding force." "AASA is proud to honor Bill Milliken's contribution to the youth of America through its most prestigious Champion of Children award," he said. "Bill has opened the doors to success and growth to countless youngsters across the nation. AASA salutes Bill and his dedication to building a brighter future." |
(Photos of Bill Milliken with students & sponsors from a North Texas CIS rally.) |
John Morris lives in Alexandria, VA and works for the national office of CIS.
John wrote a poem for Faith@Work magazine in 1999: Judgment Day
