Making a Difference

I have always said that my own indicator of program quality is the distinction anyone can make between a program participant and the rest of the children in the area. We should be able to spot the participant on any street, grocery aisle, school building, church, and anywhere else in the community because of the way they speak, the way they carry themselves, and confident with what they know and strive for.  This is the real test of the difference we make in children’s lives.  This is particularly true of those students who are Higher Achievement Scholars. They are already smart – they don’t need us to be smarter. They are already curious – they don’t need us to point out things. They are already motivated – they don’t need us to push them further.

 

But like any gem, they need to be polished. They are raw talent waiting to be honed, shined and crafted.  This is what we do. We take dreams and make them real. We take ambition and we make them reachable.  We help all students see that the impossible is indeed very possible. 

Investing in Community

 As I think about how we can improve opportunity and success for all students – particularly those that have the motivation, but have lacked the push to succeed – I am reminded of a tradition we have back in the Philippines. There is a Filipino term for it, bayanihan (pronounced bah - yah - nee - han).  It is taken from the word bayan, referring to a nation, town or community. The whole term bayanihan refers to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective. The term also can be traced from a common tradition in Philippine towns where community members volunteer to help a family move to a new place.

 

The process involves literally carrying the house to its new location. This is done by putting bamboo poles forming a strong frame to lift the stilts from the ground and carrying the whole house with the men positioned at the ends of each pole. The tradition also features a small celebration, a fiesta hosted by the family to express gratitude to the volunteers. The entire community celebrates when a family is able to improve their life and move to a new and better location in the community. It is a momentous occasion because it reminds other community members that what is possible for other families is possible for them. This is nothing short of solidarity – a term all of us should be familiar with.

 

By knowing where you can carry the weight, which end of the pole to hold, and how to synchronize our steps so that our “house” moves in a perfect and balanced way, we are all able to take K-12 education, particularly in the middle grades, to a higher place.

(Posted by Higher Achievement Program CEO Richard Tagle.)