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By Bill Hurley
How do I know this? Because I had the pleasure of spending some time with them April
16-17, when nearly 200 Student WEA members devoted their weekend
to sprucing up, repairing and brightening five schools in Beloit
as part of their annual Outreach to Teach project. Student WEA
members – Wisconsin college students studying to be teachers
– organized and executed Outreach to Teach like, well, professionals.
It was, indeed, an incredible sight as they worked with teachers,
librarians, education support professionals, parents, students,
business leaders and other citizens, spread out throughout the
schools like a well-trained army. But they sure didn’t see
this as work. To them, this was a weekend of fun and service,
camaraderie and personal growth. The only thing more prominent
than paint-stained hands were positive attitudes. Some were taking down tattered, water-stained ceiling tiles and
replacing them with bright, new ones; others were using their
talents to paint colorful murals on the walls of the hallways,
classrooms and gymnasium; some were building shelves; some were
painting playground equipment, bike rails, and parking lines;
and some even were remodeling a shop class. One of those leaders of tomorrow is Sarah Watson, a UW-Eau Claire
student who was coordinator of this year’s Outreach to Teach.
She spent countless hours working with teachers and principals
to decide what could, and couldn’t be done, and then (with,
of course, a lot of help) executed and coordinated a complex plan
of dozens of simultaneous activities at five schools, with more
than 200 workers. Not only did they have to complete all these
projects in two days, they had to clean everything up by the end
of the day on Sunday so that when students arrived on Monday morning
everything was spic and span. You’d think it would be chaotic,
but it wasn’t. When I arrived at Wright Elementary School on Sunday, Sarah greeted
me with a handshake and smile, ran me through a laundry list of
activities underway, gave me a tour of the school, introduced
me to a good dozen students and other participants, and left me
with a notebook full of notes, a photo disc filled with pictures,
and a very positive feeling about the future of education in Wisconsin.
Sarah not only is a great organizer; she’s a great communicator. “As teachers, we become involved in the community and students’
lives. It’s a way to show you really care about the students,”
she said. “We have a dedication not only to the students
but to the community as well.” Of course, the students had a lot of help from adults, including
WEAC’s Student WEA coordinator Nancy Clark and Beloit Education
Association President Tim Vedra. But the students were the heart
and soul of the project. They demonstrated with time, energy and work that they are future leaders not only of our schools but of our nation. Posted May 13, 2005 |
