Elementary schools provide more than just education
When Broad Street Elementary School was preparing to open this school year, its library was filled with books as a result of community donations.
Inspired Hearts and Hands donated boxes of food for Easter that were available for all students at Emily Brittain Elementary School last year.
Parents and other volunteers helped plant greens and produce at Summit Township Elementary School when it received a Moonshot Grant to install gardening materials last fall.
According to Butler Area School District Superintendent Brian White, each of the elementary schools is developing a unique identity that administrators use as a basis to build education around. Emily Brittain is a community demonstration school, Broad Street is a community-centered school and Summit is a community agricultural partnership school.
White said administrators take the unique aspects of their schools, the large green space available at Summit Elementary or the numerous nonprofit groups in downtown Butler near Emily Brittain and Broad Street, for example, and mold their mission around how those aspects can educate students.
“We just had so many community organizations that were going to help,” White said. “There is definitely good community support and parents who create some really awesome programs for our kids.”
The BASD school board often discusses at meetings the socioeconomic status of families within the school district. White said the school district serves many families with financial hardships, but many parents still want to be involved in the school community.
Each elementary school formed a board of organizers that involves parents and faculty members to drive activities around their school’s theme.
“What we heard from parents is they wanted to be actively in discussions specific to their school,” White said. “They wanted something that is genuine and means something to the school communities.”
Board members are able to share resources with one another and the administrators of a school. Administrators are also able to learn about the needs of their students.
Vanessa Boyd, principal of Broad Street Elementary, said she has found that some parents have a negative association with schooling, which has affected their children’s view as well.
As a result, Boyd takes a holistic approach to education, because if a student isn’t having his needs met, he won’t be able to perform well at school.
“School is supposed to be a fun place. If we are doing math, you need to find joy in it,” Boyd said. “Everything we are doing we need to find joy in. We're going to discover that together. That's important to me.”
She said that Broad Street’s location gives students close access to many resources that can help a student get what he needs. Boyd also hopes that in getting connected to those resources, students will learn something as well.
“There are lots of resources, hidden gems, and it is my responsibility to help (students) reach their academic dreams,” Boyd said. “If my kids need a mentor, who is their mentor? Therapy; where is it? What can I do to develop relationships so they can be an active part of education.”
Cassie Pencek, principal of Emily Brittain Elementary, said elementary schools have come to provide more and more to students and even families within the district.
“I think the goal is to make sure we are supporting the whole child and not just academics,” Pencek said. “We're kind of a conduit; one common denominator for all kids and their parents. We have their kids here all day, so if there is a family need we certainly want to support.”
Pencek also said food insecurity is an issue for families of Emily Brittain. However, the school has more often been able to connect parents with resources in recent years.
“For one like ours, we are in the city and we are a low-income school, there are some barriers,” Pencek said. “Being able to connect and support our families so they can be successful, I think that's amazing.”
Food insecurity in school students is an issue the district elementary schools constantly fight.
Summit Township Elementary received a $70,000 from a Moonshot Grant in January, which allowed the school to install gardens to grow food that can be distributed to other area schools.
David Andrews, instructional coach for student engagement at the Butler Area School District, said students will tend to the plants, and even come up with new educational activities around gardening.
“Someday we could have farmer's markets at Summit; maybe we can make applesauce,” Andrews said. “The Moonshot Grant really was written for some of the food insecurity in the district, maybe we can help with the food insecurity in the district.”
Andrews is also coordinating a “Fishing is Fun” program through a grant from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Students from Summit, Emily Brittain and Broad Street are participating in the program, which is building up to a fishing day at Glade Run Lake in April.
Andrews and other volunteers have been teaching students how to fish through practice at each school, and another local nonprofit, Fishing for Memories, has been leading some of those sessions.
Fishing and gardening are not only methods of feeding the school communities, but also introduce children to activities that could become passions.
“We know kids are curious,” White said. “This is to help develop their curiosity and learning. It’s giving them more options early to learn more.”
According to Andrews, the Moonshot Grant is also funding the creation of a greenhouse at Summit, and a storefront at Broad Street where products from Summit’s gardens can be sold.
He said the goal is for schools to also share the resources each has on hand, and this may be accomplished with video calls between classes.
“If students at Summit are gardening, Broad Street can join in and see what's going on,” Andrews said. “We see other schools in our district coming to visit campus to see how we ingrained agriculture into the curriculum. There is going to be an intertwining throughout the district.”
The “community partnership and demonstration” piece of Emily Brittain sums up the schools’ mission.
“Community partnership and demonstration school just means we partner with as many community organizations to meet the needs of our students here,” Pencek said. “The demonstration part of that is to share what works with the other schools within the district.”
Boyd said the reopening of Broad Street Elementary has in some ways given children and parents a fresh start in defining what they will get out of elementary education.
Thanks to the participation of parents and community members, the school has already been able to expand its offerings.
“It's just about building community and the only way is to involve the parents in the design process,” Boyd said. “They can tell us about their dreams for their children and work with us. Together we can create their dreams.”
