Schools don't have to solve enormous problems...

Schools don't have to solve enormous problems (lack of funds and not enough good teachers) before responding to the needs of children.

My last job in a 22-year career of working in schools, pre-school through University, was in the coldest, most dysfunctional school I'd ever been in. One day after observing a teacher physically abuse a 3rd grade boy in the hall, I decided to see if I do could something.  

 I asked the secretary in the main office to give me a printout of all the kids in the school who rated highest on 5 factors:  
     *Missed more than 10 days of school a year
     *Reading below grade level
     *Qualified for free lunch
     *Sent to the vice principal for behavior more than twice a year
     *Had a serious health problem.
I selected sixty-five kids at the top of the list on the printout.

Then I sent a letter to every employee from janitors to Superintendent, asking them if they wanted to be a Big Buddy to a student for one year.  Amazingly the result was close to the number of Little Buddies selected.  

I sent letters to the Little Buddies and their parents for their permission to participate. Then sent letters to the Big Buddies to welcome them, and give them the name and classroom of their Little Buddy.  I suggested that they arrange to meet once a week for an hour, in a classroom with the door open, and have fun!  I never met with anyone, they were on their own.

At the end of the year, I sent a simple note asking Big Buddies if they would like to continue another year - everyone did.  I also asked them to evaluate the experience on a simple scale, all rated it high. (The assumption I’d made turned
out to be correct: good teachers love children and crave the opportunity to be with them one on one where they can impact their lives more powerfully.)x

I then sat down with each child and had them rate having an ice cream cone on a scale of 1 to 5. They all rated it a 5.  I then asked them to rate their experience of being a Little Buddy.  They also all rated it a 5 and wanted to continue next year.

I compared the kids’ attendance records and reading scores for changes from the previous year.  I don't remember those details (it was many years ago)  but theresults were very impressive. I recall one 4th grader who went from reading at at 2nd grade level to a 4th-grade level.

Before I met with the children, the principal came to my office to apologize
because he had not had time to meet with his Little Buddy all year.  I was devastated and dreaded meeting with that little boy!  When that boy rated being a Little Buddy a 5, I said "tell me about that”.  He enthusiastically said, "Every time I saw the Principal in the hall - he smiled at me!"

I wrote a report describing the program and the results, and sent it to the Superintendent.  He didn't respond, but I suspect the superintendent wanted to
share it with other schools, since I was made the School Social Worker of the Year in the State. I observed that our school atmosphere was much warmer than it had been.