LIVE UNITED Y’All!

by Chris Locke

Here we are, roughly three weeks into the New Year, and some of us have already started to falter on our ambitious 2011 New Year’s Resolutions. You know the ones where we swear to do exponential numbers of crunches, push-ups, sit-ups and to run miles in our beautiful regional parks. We vow to eat differently, be a little nicer, become a little wiser, and act a little more stately when we get upset. We promise to pinch a least one or two more pennies, and learn at least one new thing a week so we’ll be more engaging during social chats.

Well, my endorsement of these sorts of aspirations does not necessarily solidify the fate of the aforementioned list getting deemed as great things to aspire to, but what “reasonable” person would see any of them as bad things in which to aspire?.

So when we turn to look at what it takes to accomplish our resolutions, things can begin to get a little tricky. Often, by the end of January many of us start to adjust our thinking a little as we lower the “resolution bar” a notch or two. All the while thinking… this is too much!  So, we begin to rationalize about the beauty of achieving  just one of the lofty sorts of resolutions listed above.

Consequently, over the course of the last couple of weeks ,I have thought about resolutions a little more than usual and how Metro United Way has revealed our resolutions for 2011 and beyond. I thought about Metro United Way’s 2011 resolutions along side my personal resolutions and I am excited about the fact that one of our goals focuses on achieving the same outcome: supporting education success.

Two weeks ago, I received a generous invitation from a middle school to be a part of an effort to motivate students for the second part of the school year.  In seizing the opportunity, I had the pleasure of speaking to over 1200 students at Noe Middle School about developing their own personal vision to victory in education and life, and how having a personal vision for success can give students a reason for giving just one degree of extra effort towards being successful in school, getting prepared for college, work and life.

So consider this bold resolution: By 2018, 87% of students in the Metro United Way region will graduate on time. Pretty ambitious huh! Sure, it will certainly require a deliberate commitment with specific actions steps to inspire every young person to value success in school and to work with our entire community to create a college going culture.

With Metro United Way’s resolution in mind, I am proud and privileged to report that as we near the end of January, one of my personal resolutions remains intact, and I am happy to say that I am contributing to helping Metro United Way meet one of its resolutions. I think with hard work, dedication, and commitment from all of us together, Metro United Way’s bold resolutions can be achieved. Let’s move forward in 2011, with the dream that ALL of our resolutions are achieved, but with the determination and commitment to fulfill a very important one: working together to better all of our children, youth and our community

Advocacy, Education Common good, community service, Education, High School Graduation, opportunity, success, youth

By Christopher Locke

Wow, it’s that time of the year again! A time when young people of all ages have visions of cartoon-covered backpacks, reams of three-hole, loose leaf paper and bounties of yellow Number 2 pencils dancing in their heads… Which means it’s indeed time for school! With the return to school and visions in mind, I’m reminded of a Henry David Thoreau quote that says “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

And while most parents and adults in the community are expectedly looking at purchasing items like sports and band uniforms, instruments, or even lab supplies to support their children’s education success in the classroom and school– a lot of well-meaning and caring adults have been spending a lot of time creating a compelling child-centered, community-based vision for young people to be successful outside the classroom and school. These caring adults and young people were callers, conveners and participants in a community effort called the Youth Vision. It was exciting to participate and witness the process of developing a vision that the community can be proud of that will also mobilize us to action.

The community response to an invitation from a group of youth development and education experts convened by Metro United Way to come and share their thoughts on youth success was overwhelming. When all the conversations were complete, 36 community conversations had taken place with residents from 30 of the 32 zip codes in the Louisville Metro area, from 11 other Kentucky zip codes and from 3 Southern Indiana County zip codes. The participant demographics revealed that the conversations had attracted broad and diverse participation from community residents interested in young people.

And as Thoreau said, they looked at some things. In fact, the participants looked at a long list of depressing challenges that often impede many young people’s paths to educational success.

• 1 in 4 freshman entering 9^th grade in JCPS don’t graduate on time and in four years with their peers.
• 65% of JCPS students are on free and reduced lunch.
• Worse still, last year JCPS reports that 10,500 students were classified as homeless.

In all three cases, a disproportionate number of the students are African American and Latino.

But again, like Thoreau wisely recommended, the community residents participating in the youth vision conversations did not get mired in pessimism. No, instead, this spirited group, led by Metro United Way and Metro Government, decided that the callers and the residents see what matters. So the optimists flipped the deficit-based reality that many of our students and families deal with everyday on its head and decided to engage resident voices in the process by asking three strengths or asset-based questions.

• Think about a young person in your life…What are your hopes and wishes for their success?
• What helps a young person be successful?
• If you could waive a magic wand, how would our community look different if ALL youth were succeeding?

After over 500 people had answered, the compelling Youth Vision emerged.

Louisville Youth…

• Have the skills and education to be self reliant, healthy, engaged and economically thriving.
• Have hope and show strength of character to achieve their goals, follow their dreams, respect others and contribute to bettering their community and world.
• Live in a caring community where everyone values, supports, invests in and fights for their success.

It sounds  pretty compelling to me, and we hope you agree! What are some of your ideas for our community’s youth? Would you be willing to act in creative ways to bring this vision to life in the community? How?

Advocacy, Education, General back to school, Children, Community, Education, future, High School Graduation, kindergarten, making a difference, Metro United Way, opportunity, parenting, Southern Indiana, students, success, youth, youth development, Youth Vision