Reaching Out

Student and active members get down and dirty at Outreach to Teach.

Photo by Chuck Cook

By Kristen Loschert

When it comes to school improvement, NEA members aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. Residents of Garyville, Louisiana, witnessed that firsthand in June when nearly 300 members spent a day cleaning, painting, and planting at the St. John Child Development Center. The event, known as Outreach to Teach, targets a different high-needs school each year in the host city for the NEA Representative Assembly.

"It's an exceptional experience where soon-to-be teachers, current teachers, ESPs, and retirees can truly make a difference," says Dawn Shephard, chairperson of the NEA Student Program, which sponsors the event. "Whenever we do something to advance a school, we make the community better and that enhances the level of education the students receive." The NEA Student Program provides resources and support to 60,000 preservice teachers on more than 900 college campuses.

For seven hours volunteers painted classrooms and hallways; planted trees, flowers, and shrubs; decorated bulletin boards; organized storage areas; and even created a teachers' lounge at the school, which is located about 30 miles from New Orleans.

"I thought it would be a great thing to go into a school like this and see a complete transformation in one day," says Charles Smith, a retired science teacher from Jefferson County, Alabama. "To me there's nothing more rewarding."

The program gives preservice teachers hands-on experience in a school. It also helps them connect with students and parents in the local community, says Laquitta Walker, a Student Program member at Georgia Perimeter College.

"They see that you're not just a teacher in the classroom Monday through Friday," Walker says. "They see you as someone who cares about their neighborhood."

Outreach to Teach started in 1996, when a group of 35 Student Program leaders organized a school beautification project during the Student Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Since then, attendees of the annual Student and NEA-Retired conferences, along with other NEA members, have volunteered at a local school during the week preceding the Representative Assembly.

All schools chosen for the project qualify as Priority Schools or have other tremendous needs, says Malcolm Staples, organizational specialist for the NEA Student Program. Through its Priority Schools Initiative, NEA provides resources and support to low-performing schools. At the St. John Child Development Center, which serves 250 preschool students, 99 percent of the children participate in the federal free and reduced price breakfast and lunch programs.

By improving the school environment, beautifying the grounds, and enhancing the appearance of the facility, Outreach to Teach builds morale, which ultimately impacts student achievement, Staples says. The program works with community members and local affiliates of the Urban League, NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, and the Organization of Chinese Americans as well to gain support for the project and maintain the facility improvements, Staples says. The Parent Teacher Association at the St. John Child Development Center also committed to maintaining the improvements, he adds.

Outreach to Teach helped N.W. Harllee Elementary School in Dallas, Texas, during the 2002 RA. Since then, the Texas State Teachers Association has supported the school, which has become a popular after-school playground for children in the area. Next summer, volunteers will target a school in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area during the 2004 Student Leadership Conference.

"It's great to get out in the community and help schools that really need it," says Mike Mackie, an elementary education major from Eastern Connecticut State University. "If teachers participate more in projects like this it will spread the word. And maybe all those schools that really need the help will get it."