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Bama Brown-Grice is a parent advocate in Milwaukee. |
Community is a key to success for Bama Brown-Grice
What is your most important responsibility as an education support professional? I have many responsibilities, but one of my important responsibilities is the planning and coordinating internally and externally projects and programs for the parents, community and students within MPS. I provide valuable support to the teaching staff along with providing superior learning strategies to all students. What first drew you to the field of education? The thing that first drew me to the field of education was the lack of communication between the schools and the community. What makes a great school? A variety of great things such as great educators, a great classroom social climate, great extra-curricular activities, a great understanding of race relations, great strategic planning, professional development and budgeting, and great teacher/parent attitudes toward learning. It also takes a great community that is willing to provide resources and time. |
On the second floor of Milwaukee’s Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, a small room carved out of a hallway is a place of hope for community families. Parent advocate Bama Brown-Grice makes the most of the cramped space, surrounding herself with a colorful array of Post It notes, photographs of parents with whom she works, and a calendar featuring her own family that bears the words “A New Beginning.”
“That calendar reminds me that each day is just that – a new beginning,” Brown-Grice said.
Brown-Grice works at the grass-roots level to open the doors to a bright future for the kindergarten through 5th-graders she encounters every day. An education support professional at one of the two MPS Title 1 Parent and Family Resource Centers, she promotes partnerships that increase parental involvement and participation in all areas of a child’s growth.
A graduate of West Division High School in Milwaukee, which is now called Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Brown-Grice finds that making her home in the city’s Sherman Park neighborhood keeps her connected. “The community knows that I am someone they can contact and trust to get answers and results,” she said.
She’s sometimes compared to an Eveready battery – taking charge of any task. Whether volunteering as block watch captain or serving as co-chair of the Parents Leadership Academy, she gets the job done. But her interests go beyond – she’s a 20-year member of the National Brotherhood of Skiers and president of Milwaukee’s Ebony Ice Ski Club. She’ll soon add another accomplishment to the list – this 50+ mother of two will receive her bachelor’s degree.
The fourth of nine siblings, she fondly remembers as a child going to the Big Boy Restaurant with her mother, Lula Mae Chambers, whenever she received good grades in school. “She will always be the person I most admire in my life for how she raised me, and for accomplishing so much with so little,” said Brown-Grice.
Brown-Grice finds that giving back through her work with parents, residents and students within MPS allows her to accomplish great things for public education. She also knows, however, that so much more can be done within the schools and for her profession.
To that end, she serves as vice chair of the WEAC Education Support Professionals Committee. Brown-Grice has served as an ESP Representative Assembly Delegate for the state and national levels for two terms and will proudly serve her third term this year. She also ran for a seat on the Milwaukee Public School Board in 2007.
“Even though I came up short, I did not lose,” said Brown-Grice. “I won by bring a new and fresh awareness to both the district and the community regarding the importance of getting involved with their children’s education on all levels. And for that I am most proud.”
She said all of her community and union involvement helps shine a light on the work of education support professionals throughout the state and nation. “We are not looked upon as educators. We are always an after thought. We are not paid fairly, we are only credited for days worked and not a full year when it counts for retirement. And we do not get tuition reimbursement when we try to better our education,” she said. “But yet, when a teacher is out of the classroom, we step in with quickness. I wish that the teachers and the world would realize that we do matter. You cannot spell respect without ESP.”
WEAC’s Great Schools Member Spotlight features WEAC members who are making a difference in the lives of others every day in their schools and communities. Member Spotlight profiles appear on OnWEAC, and one profile is selected each month for the OnWEAC In Print newspaper. To submit a suggestion for a Member Spotlight candidate, send an e-mail to the WEAC Public Relations Department.
Posted April 23, 2008
