This is my twenty-second year living in Iowa - I know, I should probably start exploring elsewhere. From experience, I can say that this is always the worst time of the year. It consists of waiting desperately for warmer days and sidewalks that aren't icy and perilous. I wake up grumpy every morning that it's below 40 degrees, which is every morning. I check the 10-day forecast on weather.com religiously, looking for some glimmer of hope on the horizon while knowing that a weather forecast for 10 days from now isn't even going to be accurate. You get the picture: it's bleak. So this is just to warn you of my current grumpiness toward the weather.
Knowing the Stakeholders
These past few months I went to a couple of events that were very revealing of some of the most prominent issues that Grinnell-Newburg is struggling with. In late December I observed a brainstorming session between high school faculty and a search consultant who was conducting the search for the new high school principal. The consultant asked faculty members to talk about the major issues they are facing at the high school and the top qualities they were looking for in the next principal. I have heard over and over this year how much of an impact the building administrator has on school climate. Observing this session helped me realize the gravity of the hiring process and made me more empathetic to the state of flux that the teachers are in as they wait to start working with the new principal. I also found that these brainstorming sessions didn't surprise me too much. The information I was hearing mirrored what I had found through interviews I had conducted with faculty members, making me more confident about my conclusions.
In January I attended a regional meeting in rural Victor that brought school board members and state legislators together to discuss the concerns of local districts. This really put our district in perspective for me. Most of the district leaders from other schools brought up the same issue, declining enrollment and shrinking budgets. The superintendent from a nearby town asked legislators how they thought it would be possible for their school to continue offering the array of programs they have without the funds to support it. Many rural Iowa communities are facing this question, and while some legislators expressed a push for consolidating small rural districts, that solution obviously poses a problem for many Iowa communities.
Poverty in Grinnell
Through my research at the district, numerous school climate issues have emerged as areas that need improvement. I presented a short summary of what I've seen so far to the school board in January, but I won't go into too much detail here about the common themes I've seen. I would like to share one big issue that students and teachers have shared with me, and that is poverty and the significant "have" and "have-not" division that plays a part in the Grinnell community, as well as the school district. I am reminded of reports from previous Grinnell Corps in Grinnell Fellow, Jane Hereth, which frequently mention the effect of poverty on local families that she witnessed while serving at MICA. I couldn't agree more with the frustrations she mentioned regarding the larger societal issues of poverty that play a role in the strife of many local families facing life barriers. These barriers are closely wrapped up in the education of many Grinnell High School students, as they face 40-hour-work-weeks, early parenthood, and unstable home situations, all while trying to earn their diploma. Many teachers and staff members at the high school work daily with those students to help them deal with these kinds of situations while encouraging them to continue their education. They talk about how frustrating it is to see the situations these students are in without being able to change those circumstances.
Survey Data
A significant component of my work this quarter has been focused on preparing for the administration of a school climate survey for the high school students, personnel, and parents. I have previously only been collecting qualitative information through interviews with students and staff at the high school. The potential effectiveness of quantitative, research-based data seemed clear, so I pursued existing commercially developed surveys. I was particularly impressed with the information sought by the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI), which is produced by a non-profit organization, the Center for Social and Emotional Education. After presenting to the board numerous times and getting feedback from administrators and counselors, the board decided to use the CSCI. I will use the quantitative data that it provides in conjunction with the interview data I have already collected in order to research solutions for improving the school climate at the high school.
Still in Grinnell
Life in Grinnell is still moving along smoothly, weather aside. I worry that I've become one of those people who talks too much about their work at inappropriate times. I'll be out to dinner on a Friday night with friends and find myself going on long rants about the effect of local poverty on student success in our schools. I find myself taking a step back and apologizing for setting such a depressing mood, but everyone has seemed very interested in learning more about issues affecting Grinnell's community. I imagine that most students don't yet have a good picture of what is going on in Grinnell's community, just as I hadn't known too much before my experience this year.
This spring is beginning to feel like a repeat of my senior year, with consistent questions about what I'm going to do next, and the same fear that I felt last year when I would reply "I have no clue!" But that worked out okay, right? So yes, I'm still considering options for next year, which will most likely include time spent researching graduate programs and studying for the GRE. Hopefully I'll be able to scrounge up something a little more exciting to do along with that.
The End of a Long Semester
Because the culmination of my year at the school district is a final report of everything I have found and recommendations for potential changes, it feels similar to those final papers I wrote so often in school. Except rather than one semester, it's two, and it's the only thing I've been working on. As well as being lengthy, it has to be good. It won't just be read by a professor, it will be presented to the school superintendent, the school board, and the community. The pressure is certainly on. There are many loose ends to tie up before the end, and I will definitely be busy. I look forward to that final report and will let you know how it goes! Any comments or questions in these final months, e-mail me at Snavelyk@grinnell.edu
