On behalf of the Pershing School community and the many people who continue to work diligently to engage with one another to improve life in Lexington, we accept this award. Thank you Nicholas.
A special thanks to Carol Wilson, David Duran and Ann Foster for their excellent work in providing leadership training for 28 individuals working in our community to engage with the school. Thank you John Goodlad for your vision and leadership in bringing the grant project, Developing Networks of Responsibility to Educate America’s Youth, to fruition. Thank you to UNK and to Dennis Potthoff for holding our hands throughout the grant project, for your planning, organizational skills, and for your diligent recording of the activities of the people committed to improving life in Lexington.
The University of Nebraska at Kearney is just 35 miles east of Lexington, in an area that is the center for the migration route of whooping and sandhill cranes, ducks, geese, and shore birds. More significantly for us, the Platte River Valley has formed the historic migration route for people from the eastern United States to the Great American West. The overlapping California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails run along the valley.
Today, the migration of people into and through this area continues. Immigrants from Mexico, Central America, South America, Cuba, the Pacific Islands, and Asia, as well as refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, Tanzania, and Kenya, pour into this community in search of jobs, primarily in the beef packing industry. In fifteen years, Lexington has changed from a community of 7500 mostly white residents (with only 3 percent from minority groups) to a diverse community of more than 11,000 people, 60 percent of whom now come from formerly minority cultures. White children in our elementary schools, once the overwhelming majority, now represent only 15 percent of its population. We are a vibrant, diverse, culturally rich community. Challenged and enriched by change.
Thirty percent of our children are learning English for the first time. We have a 40 percent mobility rate; 78 percent of our children come from backgrounds of poverty. Approximately 40 percent of the parents speak little English. The literacy rate of our immigrant families is very low. Clearly, the demographic changes in Lexington—the high poverty levels, cultural diversity, mobility, and language barriers—have presented the community and its schools with formidable challenges.
To address these issues and to engage with our community Pershing Elementary School began its tripartite relationship with UNK and the community. Through the Developing Networks Initiative, we sought to increase the engagement of our parents in the democratic purposes of our schools and community to create a bridge for an immigrant people living on the fringes of society to the established community holding the keys to a future full of the promises and responsibilities of the American Dream, Liberty, and Democracy.
As a result of the work of our leadership groups we engaged with more than 180 people in the community utilizing Community Study Circles. Several actions plans were developed and brought to completion:
Members of our community joined with the faith community in response to the needs of immigrants and refugees just arriving in Lexington. A “Welcome Center” was started connecting our new neighbors to the service agencies in the community. Our grant helped fund training for an Immigration Specialist, Ana Castaneda, to serve immigrants, saving them the expense and time of travel to Omaha or Denver.
A Multi-cultural Commission is being formed to work for increased tolerance and understanding through dialogue among the many cultures, new and old, in Lexington.
Students at our High School lead yearly “Breaking Boundaries” Study Circles to engage and unite the diverse groups now studying and growing together.
All of the student leaders involved with us in our first leadership groups are now in college. They are planning careers in education, agri-business, law, and health and nutrition with dreams, the energy, and the vision to serve people here in America. Additionally, they have plans to reach out to people suffering from multiple challenges in Africa, Mexico, and Central America. They dream of bringing hope and help to these people addressing areas of human need in health and nutrition, civil rights, food production and education.
Members of our leadership team continue to find areas within our community to utilize skills they developed and honed working with the DN initiative. Victor Diaz, a member of our first leadership group, is leading an effort to bring a “Boys and Girls Club” to Lexington. He has secured Federal funds and is engaging with people throughout the community to find matching funds to secure the Federal dollars.
As a young boy my friends and I loved to play in the dirt. No amount of soap, Ivory, Lava, or my Granny’s homemade lye soap could scrub that dirt completely from our nails and knees.
Today, as middle aged men and women, we now toil in the dirt--the dirt of social, economic, political, and educational injustice.
No amount of mind numbing antiseptic, political rhetoric, educational reform—no amount of money can cleanse the soul where injustice reigns.
In Micah 6:8 we learn…what is good…but to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly...
I urge you to bring to your playground an open heart—an open mind—Listen deeply to understand completely. Speak clearly and thoughtfully.
Get dirty; cleanse the soul of our Democratic Republic with kindness, justice, and humility.
I introduce to you, Janelle VerMaas. She is doing just that. Janelle will share with you a couple of initiatives we use to continue engagement with our community.
Together for Children and Quarterly Parent Engagement Activities
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