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| dorky picture of me in 2006 & slightly less dorky picture of me in 2012 |
Before I was a McConnell Scholar, before attending UofL, my education was hardly homogenous. I attended a small private Christian academy for elementary school, home-schooled through middle school and half of high school, and dual-enrolled in college classes for my junior and senior years, first at the Gatton Academy for Math and Science and then as a home-schooler once again. In March of my senior year, I ended up interviewing to be a McConnell Scholar and the rest is history... well, not quite.
This semester, I have been working with the director of the family resource center at Roosevelt-Perry Elementary, one of the lowest-performing schools in the Jefferson County Public Schools system. Located in the west end of Louisville, the kids at Roosevelt-Perry struggle academically, scoring as low as the 28th percentile according to state standards. Academics are not the only concern for these students, as many of them come from difficult family situations, to say the least. That's where the family resource center comes in: planning extracurricular activities meant to inspire parent involvement, providing free food and free educational resources, having a uniform drive so that some kids can have more than one uniform to wear to school.
So, what's the connection?
My personal education history has certainly been diverse, and I have been incredibly blessed with to have many incredible unique opportunities, all of which have shaped me into the person I am today. But the most important thing I have gotten from the collected experiences that have been my education is that no matter what my professors teach me, no matter what books I read, papers I write, or tests I take, what I learn is completely up to me. You can spend hours and hours in a classroom, but you have to take ownership of your education to 'make it stick.'
At Roosevelt-Perry, the family resource center tries to fill in the gaps, understanding that the education of these young students does not solely depend on teacher instruction during school hours, but requires support outside of the classroom. Surely we can all agree on this: education is not just what you have been taught in a classroom, but it informs and is informed by every aspect of your life. This not only speaks to the vast importance of education, but also demands that we not just be passive when it comes to learning.
Roosevelt-Perry is just one of the schools in Jefferson County that struggles to meet the standards. But as members of this community - even if for no other reason than that you are financially invested via taxes paid toward the school system - we have a responsibility to try and promote the education of ALL of its students. Better education for Louisville kids means a better Louisville, and it doesn't end there. Better education for Kentucky's kids means a better Kentucky. Better education for American kids means a better America. And all of us have to do our part, we all have to take ownership of our education.