by Bill Cumming

At present, The Boothby Institute is managing a three year, 2.2 million dollar grant for LearningWorks / AmeriCorps Aims High. While we are excited about hiring and training 217 AmeriCorps Members to go into six schools throughout the state of Maine (Riverton Elementary and East End Community School in Portland, Spruce Mountain High School in Jay and Livermore Falls, Carrabec High School in North Anson, Ellsworth High School in Ellsworth and Sumner Memorial High School in Sullivan), schools everywhere can be inspired and produce brilliant results.

What we can do in schools is simple, not easy and we can commit to doing it now. No matter how quickly we accomplish what needs to be done it will take a few years for the results to show up and they will.

People who do not love people don’t belong in schools. And, yes, I am going to use the L-word, LOVE, and use it a whole lot. What every young person can get from the people in schools (teachers, administrators, bus drivers, cooks, custodians, in short, all of the employees) is that someone loves them (cares about them; holds them in high esteem; recognizes they are not their behavior or performance) If you don’t love people (want them to be able to create lives that are meaningful, productive, creative, joyous, happy and have the tools necessary to do so), young people in particular, get out of schools.

Teachers can be inspired. For a definition of inspired think back to the two or three really inspired teachers you had and write down a list of the characteristics they had in common. Totally into their subject, 200% prepared, respectful of every student (you got that they cared), creative, alive, excited and enthusiastic. People who do not want to be inspired teachers belong out of schools. We can give teachers six months to come up with their own way to solve this problem (self-policing, if you will) or do away with tenure and ask the students who goes. They know the adults who are just putting in time, who don’t care about what they are doing, are lazy or don’t set high standards. Inspired teachers must be the rule, not the exception. In some schools they are already. In every school, they can be.

Administrators must have been inspired teachers first. To be effective, they should be advocates for teachers and students, leading by example, creating an environment that is caring, alive, achieving and inspired. These are the people who can talk about the purpose of school all day and it sounds as exciting at the end of the day as at the beginning. The purpose of school is to assist young people in creating meaningful, productive, contributory and joyous lives and to insure that they have the skills and tools necessary to produce that result. We don’t talk about that purpose enough. Everything we do can be done in an inspired way in order to achieve that result. Administrators can insure that is happening.

Everyone else on the staff, custodians, bus drivers, nurses, cooks….. everyone can be on the same team. Teachers and administrators can give everyone an equal amount of respect. They are the team, can be included, trained and involved. Who sees the youngster first in a rural school? The bus driver probably knows more about the kind of condition a student comes to school in than anyone else. That’s a resource. The custodian can usually get through to some kids no one can reach. Another resource. How can we make much better use of all of these resources? Loren Ritchie, a brilliant rural principal, made his support staff the first line of defense and raised the percentage of students going on to further training by over fifty percent in the process.

School board members can be inspired too. They can make sure that everything outlined in the preceding paragraphs is happening. Standards can be high. Everyone reads. Everyone graduates. Everyone goes on for additional training, some to colleges, others to trade schools, others to apprenticeships. School board members can be advocates for school staffs. People in schools can be very well paid. Inspired people, producing inspired results need to be paid well. If you are not an advocate for young people and school staffs, get off the board, you are part of the problem. School boards and other elected officials can conduct meetings that reflect respect for all people. We must not engage in disrespectful communication or conversation. We must live what we say we want for our young people.

Parents can participate in the lives of their children and the school. Statistically, in districts where parents participate, students achieve better. Not a shock. Parents can be told they are part of the problem when they don’t participate. Parents who are involved can make it their goal to involve every other parent. Do something, volunteer, tutor, contribute, do anything but do something. Parents and school board members can educate the community about the importance of the schools to taxpayers who do not have school aged children. Inspired schools are in the whole community’s interest. Involve senior citizens. They are going to be the majority of the voting public in a very few years.

Students can take responsibility for their own education. Regardless of their background, they can recognize that they are valuable people. They can lead the way in doing away with negative behavior in our society. I have heard students’ say that they wished they had lived in the 60’s, the issues were clearer then; civil rights was a huge issue. Civil rights is still a huge issue. We have changed the laws and the reality is we have not changed much that can be changed in terms of attitudes. We can respect everyone. No more ethnic, sexist or racist jokes. No more put-downs. Decide the kind of a world you want to live in and create a school that is already like that. Get rid of the cliques, jocks, nerds, geeks, brains, preps, blacks, whites. People won’t lose their identity; people just won’t put anyone down. How exciting it would be if everyone achieved! Be the person who stands up for all of it. If you don’t, you are part of the problem. Each person can get the most they can from school. If school is about how your life turns out, why aren’t you excited about that? The goal is to leave nobody out. No exceptions.

Colleges of education can be producing inspired teachers only. No exceptions, no excuses. If faculty at the college itself are not inspired, give them the same option: get inspired or resign. Being inspired isn’t about flash or pizzazz. There are as many deeply inspired teachers who are quietly committed. They still stand out. Nothing less than top-notch, quality people, totally committed to their discipline and totally loving young people. Evaluations can be developed by and for students to evaluate faculty. School systems can be asked how first year teachers are performing and how the university supports them and experienced mentors.

Following is a link to a short article with a list of specific questions for those intimately involved in schools today. Through Our Hands asks a hundred and twenty-eight questions worth raising in a community that wants to create inspired schools.