Voices for Community Schools: Gia Grier McGinnis

Last week, Community Schools advocates packed City Council chambers for an Education Committee hearing about cuts to the initiative proposed in next year’s city budget. Greater Homewood Voices just caught up with one of those who spoke out in support of Community Schools at the hearing: Gia Grier McGinnis, Assistant Director with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern.

The Community Schools initiative requires an investment of just over $1 million in public funding through the Family League of Baltimore City each year. Full-time Site Coordinators at Community Schools leverage that investment to bring the goodness of the community into the school, netting $8.5 million in enrichment services to address students' real-life needs. These services range from health screenings to dance classes to after-school tutoring, and they help children thrive personally and academically. GHCC manages three Community Schools in Greater Homewood: Barclay, Guilford, and Waverly Elementary/Middle Schools.

GHV: Tell us a little bit about your role with JHU and the relationship the Center for Social Concern has with GHCC's Community Schools.

Gia: The Center for Social Concern (CSC) is the main hub for direct service to Baltimore City on the JHU Homewood campus. We have 30 programs that work with youth in Baltimore City Public Schools, with a concentration of programs at two GHCC Community Schools: Barclay and Waverly Elementary/Middle Schools. Programs at those schools include dance, Girl Scouts, soccer, creative writing, computer literacy, cooking classes, health education, and environmental education.

Students at Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle School in Charles Village participating in an after-school ballet program sponsored by the JHU Center for Social Concern.

GHV: What inspires you about these partnerships? What are some of the mutual benefits to the kids and the JHU students?

Gia: What I love about these community-campus collaborations is the significant learning and growing that happens on both sides of the program. Our students may not come in knowing much about Baltimore or working in a public school system, but have a wonderful talent they want to share. The students benefit by learning something new, and also by meeting a younger adult who can talk with them about their travels, organically learn about one another's cultures (for example, we have a larger Asian population than other campuses of our size), and what college is like. I think the experiences are eye-opening for all involved.

JHU Soccer Kids program at Waverly Elementary/Middle School

GHV: Why do you think community schools are important to Baltimore? What would happen to the programs the CSC supports if Community Schools funding went away?

Gia: The Community School resource takes a lot of pressure off of principals to budget time and funds for afterschool programming and other enrichment programs, especially in tight economic times. If Community Schools funding went away, I wouldn't say all of our programs would disappear, but I envision us having to scale back on how many programs we have at any one school. Right now student groups are asking to expand—we would not encourage that in any way if the proper supports (in this case, Community Schools) were not in place.

GHV: How did it feel to attend the Education Committee hearing last week and testify in support of an initiative you believe in?

Gia: I was very moved by the other panelists—there was a lot of passion in the room for this issue. I think we all feel this is important and should (hopefully) be a no-brainer for the City Council. The chambers were packed with supporters wearing red to show their support. One of the Council members remarked to me before the hearing that the usual crowd at these hearings is about 15 people, so the turnout should tell them something!

GHV: What did you tell City Council, and what do you think is important for everyone to know about Community Schools, especially as our elected officials near a decision on next year's budget?

Gia: Schools without this resource may leverage programs, but at a much slower rate and they struggle to do so consistently. Being able to reach out to GHCC’s Community School Site Coordinators has made things much easier for our office in terms of program allocation and management. I think an important point that several people echoed is that having a Community School Site Coordinator onsite often makes the crucial difference between a program happening and a program not happening.

Celebrating a Successful Barclay Youth Safe Haven Launch

On Monday, GHCC staff joined Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Congressman Elijah Cummings, and representatives from Telesis Corporation and the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation to kick off the Barclay Youth Safe Haven program. The Safe Haven provides 50 students at Dallas F. Nicholas Elementary School in Barclay with a safe place to go after dismissal, complete with mentoring and enrichment activities. The kick-off got some great press coverage this week, and we're delighted to spread the word about this great program! Check out the news stories below:

Mentoring and training programs to target Baltimore youth - The Baltimore Sun
Nonprofit announces Baltimore youth programs - The Afro-American

Photo: Congressman Elijah Cummings with GHCC Executive Director Karen Stokes and Barclay Youth Safe Haven Program Director Shekita Wilkins at Monday's kick-off event.

Advocating for Adult Education On and Off the Job

February always has us watching the state budget process. While we've been spreading the word about the Baltimore Education Coalition's campaign to prevent cuts to public education funding, you might not know that the Governor's budget affects our Adult Literacy & ESOL Program as well.

Recently we caught up with Adult Literacy & ESOL Program Director Todd Elliott to talk to him about his work at GHCC and on the state level as an advocate for adult education. Todd has worked at GHCC for the past 10 years, and in addition to his efforts here he serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Maryland Association for Adult, Community and Continuing Education (a volunteer role).

What is MAACCE, and what is your current role? How long have you been involved with the organization?

MAACCE is the Maryland Association for Adult, Community and Continuing Education, a statewide professional group that supports adult educators and adult education advocates. Our mission is to provide leadership for those interested in advancing education as a lifelong process, touching adult learning in literacy, GED, family literacy, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), and correctional education. This has traditionally included professional development (primarily through an annual conference) and advocacy.

I’ve been a member of MAACCE since I started teaching adult education in 1997, and I joined the Board of Directors in 2007. In July 2009 I became President of the Board of Directors, and I’m currently serving a second term.

Playing this role at a state level isn’t in your job description, but it’s clearly related—what makes it so important to you, even at times when you’re swamped with work at the Program?

We frequently get very focused on our day-to-day operations, managing individual programs. It’s the syndrome of always putting out fires. Yet there’s a bigger picture to what we do, and I’ve appreciated being part of making a wider impact. We have a relatively small program at GHCC, so it doesn’t always feel like a significant dent in the need in Maryland. The work MAACCE does touches so many more teachers—and subsequently adult learners—than I could possibly do daily in north Baltimore. And ultimately GHCC benefits from those efforts, particularly through the professional development opportunities afforded by MAACCE and our general advocacy efforts to sustain support.

Tell us about the advocacy work MAACCE is doing now. What’s at stake this year?

Just about every year—and even more so recently—budgetary concerns have us on the edge of our seats. Very few things are safe in Annapolis, so we pay attention to what Governor O’Malley and his cabinet are doing. We spend time communicating our learners’ successes and needs to our elected officials. The more we can focus their attention on the power of adult education—and how their decisions impact the lives of so many Marylanders—the more likely it is that we can sustain funding.

It does not appear there will be great stressors on adult education funding in 2011, and we thank Governor O’Malley and the House and Senate leadership for their continued support of our efforts. It has been very clear over the past few years that the Governor continues to value the connections between getting people better skills through our educational efforts and being effective citizens and strong workers.

We also have to pay attention at the federal level—our primary funding there is through the 1998 Adult Education & Family Literacy Act, tied to the Workforce Investment Act. This federal legislation hasn’t been on the block for a dozen years, and while it’s been suggested that it would be up for review numerous times, Congress always puts it on the back-burner. The chance of it gaining some momentum with the newly elected House, though, remains to be seen. At this point we’re more concerned about President Obama’s proposed domestic spending freeze!

What’s the one thing you want the average person to hear about these issues? Why should we get involved, even if it’s just to send a postcard to our congressperson?

Adult education, especially ESOL in other parts of Maryland, has a huge impact on our everyday lives. Helping more people become better educated opens their eyes to a broader world, prepares them to be stronger citizens and community members, and better prepares them for the work world.

All of these elements contribute to strengthening our communities, yet there’s too much to do. Current programs don’t have enough support to reach all those in need. To reduce current wait lists and really make an impact on our neighborhoods we need a significant influx of funds, preferably with a balance of federal, state and local support—something that currently does not currently exist in many of our jurisdictions.

How can someone reading this get involved if they want to make a difference?

While MAACCE is professional association for those working in adult education, I would encourage people to contact a local program—like GHCC’s Adult Literacy Program!—and volunteer or donate. Most programs around the state also rely on a myriad of partners, so if there’s someone out there who knows of a program that could lend support we can put them in touch. We could also use help contacting local and state officials and encourage them to support our efforts.

RFP Announcement: Bring a VISTA to Your Organization!

We know you like to hear stories from our AmeriCorps*VISTA members, and why wouldn't you? During their year of service, VISTA members bring passion and idealism to the amazing work they do, and they've been behind the scenes on many of our most successful initiatives.

Because of our long history with national service, GHCC is pleased to announce we are becoming a VISTA sponsor site. This means we will have a number of VISTA slots available and are currently soliciting proposals from qualified organizations in Greater Homewood.

If your organization wants to increase its ability to assist underserved communities, look no further! Your organization may benefit from hosting an AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) member. GHCC is accepting applications from Baltimore City non-profit agencies, service agencies, and community organizations to fill 10 AmeriCorps*VISTA project slots for service terms beginning in July 2011 and ending in July 2012. VISTA members provide one year of full-time service at their host organization.

RFP applications are due on February 22, 2011 by 9:00 a.m.

We will hold an informal pre-proposal workshop on Tuesday, February 8 at 5:30 p.m. at GHCC’s main office (3503 N. Charles Street) for applicants interested in obtaining more information about being a service site.

Think a VISTA service project might be just what your organization needs? Please RSVP to Glenda Garcia at 410-261-3618 or ggarcia@greaterhomewood.org to reserve a space at the workshop.

Click here to download the RFP, and please contact Tyson Smith, Director of Administration and AmeriCorps*VISTA Supervisor (410-261-3509 or tsmith@greaterhomewood.org) or Glenda Garcia, VISTA Leader (410-261-3518 or ggarcia@greaterhomewood.org) with any questions regarding the development of a VISTA project or specific questions regarding this RFP.