Three Cups of Tea and a 1/2 Marathon

I am currently training for a 1/2 marathon in Pennisula State Park. The race is May 1st. Many of you know I did this last year as a fundraiser for the Thoreau School Playground. Thanks to many of you, I raised a little over $480.oo and that money is sitting in the Thoreau PTO playground fund. I'm hoping to raise $500.00 this year.
It appears the playground momentum has been put on hold, so I was considering organizing an All-School Literacy Event for our next school year. Three Cups of Tea is a book by and about Greg Mortenson and his ability to open schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The chapter book is available in an adult version and a student version. Another book called Listen to the Wind is a picture book on the same topic. I'd like to work with a small literacy committee to plan some reading events around this book and then use the money raised from my running to buy copies of the book for each of our students. The book has a fundraising element attached to it as well, called "Pennies for Peace." It might be that we'd incorporate that into our book events. Some math integration too? The pennies we raise could then be split between helping support school openings abroad and replenishing our "big books" in the book room. Remember how we ran out of money to do that?
I'd be curious to know your thoughts on these ideas. And is anyone interested in joining a Literacy Action Committee yet this spring?

Whatever It Takes

Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough is a book the PDS students and I are reading together right now in seminar. I reference it in my first blog posting. Kris, our school nurse, recently alerted me to the fact that the WI Film Festival has a documentary of Jeffrey Canada's, Harlem Children's Zone work, filming from the perspective of 4 parents whose children are part of this movement. Thought some of you might enjoy attending the film too. Here's the link:

http://filmguide.wifilmfest.org/tixSYS/2010/xslguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=3088

"25 square miles" is a phrase coined by former Gov. Lee Dreyfus when describing the city of Madison, WI. It's on our family's license plate and now my blog name. The governor implied that Madison is "...25 square miles of fantasy surrounded by reality." Like so many others in this city, I have always taken great pride in the fact that Madison cares deeply about the welfare of everyone in our fair city. I believe my license plate ethic. My husband and I have devoted the last 20 years of our lives to public education. Our daughter is a city planner in San Francisco. Her and her husband are volunteering time there to help organize a marketing plan that encourages support for the public schools. And our son, currently a first year law student, spends two half days a week volunteering in Minneapolis Public Schools. We, along with many, many others care about making a difference.
So recently, I've been rereading a book by Paul Tough called Whatever It Takes, with my UW-PDS students. It describes in detail Jeffrey Canada's plan for the Harlem Children's Zone. He asks the question "What would it take?" Meaning what would it take to change the lives of not just a few but many poor children nationwide? Mr. Canada visited Madison recently and shared his hopeful plan and it's successful results. President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are paying close attention to this model as well. But one comment of Mr. Duncan's, in particular, has stuck with me. He said that no one is going to drop down into Madison,WI and change our situation. It's going to be our own doing that changes the lives of our poor students.
So with a $30 million budget cut looming in our present school reality, I can't help but wonder, can we do it? Will this city take on the challenge of "baby college" offering to teach parenting skills? Early childhood education? Pre-K schooling? These measures may have the largest impact on the neediest among us. Will our city maintain small class sizes so teachers can address the academic needs of every student and reach beyond the classroom walls to understand family needs? Will our city give the school board feedback that says vote for cuts that least affect poor children?
I'm proud to be a supervisor for the UW-PDS (Professional Development School) program. It's mission is to train teachers who put social justice at the forefront of their instruction. The students who apply to this program agree to do extra work. They must commit to community fieldwork experiences. They must do action research to improve their instructional practices. They must help design their seminar class so it includes community resources and expertise. They live within two schools for all four semesters of their practicum experience so they delve deeper into the families and issues that are our students' day to day realities. Most of them enter the program with the hope of teaching in an urban setting where poverty is an issue. I'm honored to support young people that want to dedicate their lives to this work. My job is on the cut list for next year because the UW supports less than .33% of my salary. MMSD has picked up the rest for years because they believed in the PDS partnership. Personally, it's not a concern for me. I can return to the elementary classroom and continue to make a difference. But I must ask, " Will UW-Madison see the value in a teacher education program that puts poor students at the forefront?"
Will our city be worthy of it's title? Are we truly the oasis we claim to be or are we only a fantasy deguised by reality?