What do our schools need?
- April 29, 2015
- / Randy Hammer
- / video
Mentors.
When Mollye Barrows asked Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas what the community could do to help educators, he had a quick answer:
Mentors.
“There are over 40,000 students in the Escambia County School District…With those 40,000 students, I have less than 500 mentors,” said Thomas.
He needs 3,000.
Barrows, an associate with Studer Community Institute, will continue the conversation about the need for mentors and other issues in education with teachers, parents and business leaders in a town hall meeting that will air live on BlabTV at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5.
The town hall, presented by Cox Communications, is a follow-up to the Institute’s education report that ran in the Pensacola News Journal in February. As a prelude to the town hall, Barrows invited executives from the area’s top five employers to talk about their workforce needs and hopes for the schools in the area.
“Now we plan to take that conversation to the community and hear what people have to say about what can be done to maximize the potential of all Escambia County students,” said Barrows.
Institute founder Quint Studer said Tuesday’s town hall is the first in a series of regular community meetings and lectures the Institute will sponsor in the future.
“Rishy and I, as well as all of our businesses and developments, are committed to improving people’s lives in our community,” said Studer. “The town hall meetings are a way to include more and more people in a discussion about what needs to be done to move Pensacola and our area forward.”
[sidebar]
BLAB TV is re-airing the CEO Roundtable Discussion with the area’s top five employers to bring you up to speed before the Studer Community Institute’s Education Town Hall on Tuesday.
Watch it:
Thursday, April 30 at 8 a.m.
Friday, May 1 at 6 a.m.
Saturday, May 2 at 6 a.m.
Sunday, May 3 at 8 a.m.
Monday, May 4 at 8 a.m.
Tuesday, May 5 at 6 p.m.
The Education Town Hall airs at 8 p.m. and is presented by Cox Communications.
[/sidebar]
Executives who participated in the April roundtable Barrows put together agreed that in addition to improving children’s education, the district also needed to help students with their interpersonal skills.
“We’re seeing in entry level positions a lack of soft skills,” said Darline Stone, chief human resource office at Baptist Health Care. “It’s the ability to have a one-on-one conversation and look eye-to-eye. They’re so used to texting and doing things in the younger generation that when they’re coming into the workforce environment they don’t necessarily have those interpersonal skills we need in the service environment for our patients.”
Thomas said the district was moving to more and more career academies to help improve students’ workforce readiness.
“But we have so many other issues,” said Thomas.
Of the more than 40,000 students in the district, 62 percent live in families below the poverty line and qualify for free and reduced-price meal plans.
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture’s income guidelines, a family of four making $23,850 a year is eligible for free lunch; a family of four earning $44,123 a year is eligible for reduced-price lunch.
Poverty, however, isn’t the real issue.
“I used to talk about it’s poverty, poverty,” said Thomas. “I’ve really changed my tune in the last couple of years. Now I’m talking about a culture of low expectations. There are pockets of people in our community that don’t expect to do any better than what they’re currently doing. That is the problem.”
The solution? Things are only going to change when leaders in our community decide to make a difference.
“Let’s define who is a leader,” said Thomas. “It’s anybody who decides they want to influence our community and make it better. That makes you a leader in our community.”
As Thomas pointed out earlier, he has 500 leaders today mentoring children in the district. But he needs another 2,500 more.
Barrows will talk about this and other education issues during Tuesday’s town hall.
“Our schools and teachers face so many issues,” said Barrows. “My hope for Tuesday is that we can talk about the community’s priorities when it comes to education and identify ways each of us can help make difference.”
The town hall, presented by Cox Communications, is a follow-up to the Institute’s education report that ran in the Pensacola News Journal in February. As a prelude to the town hall, Barrows invited executives from the area’s top five employers to talk about their workforce needs and hopes for the schools in the area.
“Now we plan to take that conversation to the community and hear what people have to say about what can be done to maximize the potential of all Escambia County students,” said Barrows.
Institute founder Quint Studer said Tuesday’s town hall is the first in a series of regular community meetings and lectures the Institute will sponsor in the future.
“Rishy and I, as well as all of our businesses and developments, are committed to improving people’s lives in our community,” said Studer. “The town hall meetings are a way to include more and more people in a discussion about what needs to be done to move Pensacola and our area forward.”
[sidebar]
BLAB TV is re-airing the CEO Roundtable Discussion with the area’s top five employers to bring you up to speed before the Studer Community Institute’s Education Town Hall on Tuesday.
Watch it:
Thursday, April 30 at 8 a.m.
Friday, May 1 at 6 a.m.
Saturday, May 2 at 6 a.m.
Sunday, May 3 at 8 a.m.
Monday, May 4 at 8 a.m.
Tuesday, May 5 at 6 p.m.
The Education Town Hall airs at 8 p.m. and is presented by Cox Communications.
[/sidebar]
Executives who participated in the April roundtable Barrows put together agreed that in addition to improving children’s education, the district also needed to help students with their interpersonal skills.
“We’re seeing in entry level positions a lack of soft skills,” said Darline Stone, chief human resource office at Baptist Health Care. “It’s the ability to have a one-on-one conversation and look eye-to-eye. They’re so used to texting and doing things in the younger generation that when they’re coming into the workforce environment they don’t necessarily have those interpersonal skills we need in the service environment for our patients.”
Thomas said the district was moving to more and more career academies to help improve students’ workforce readiness.
“But we have so many other issues,” said Thomas.
Of the more than 40,000 students in the district, 62 percent live in families below the poverty line and qualify for free and reduced-price meal plans.
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture’s income guidelines, a family of four making $23,850 a year is eligible for free lunch; a family of four earning $44,123 a year is eligible for reduced-price lunch.
Poverty, however, isn’t the real issue.
“I used to talk about it’s poverty, poverty,” said Thomas. “I’ve really changed my tune in the last couple of years. Now I’m talking about a culture of low expectations. There are pockets of people in our community that don’t expect to do any better than what they’re currently doing. That is the problem.”
The solution? Things are only going to change when leaders in our community decide to make a difference.
“Let’s define who is a leader,” said Thomas. “It’s anybody who decides they want to influence our community and make it better. That makes you a leader in our community.”
As Thomas pointed out earlier, he has 500 leaders today mentoring children in the district. But he needs another 2,500 more.
Barrows will talk about this and other education issues during Tuesday’s town hall.
“Our schools and teachers face so many issues,” said Barrows. “My hope for Tuesday is that we can talk about the community’s priorities when it comes to education and identify ways each of us can help make difference.”
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