Connecting Your Community to School’s Activity Programs

Was there a community connections section in the handbook you were given when you were hired as an administrator? Was it the last section in the handbook, coming after everything else including a suggested daily checklist? And even then, did it simply address the need for school administrators to “engage the community” without any specifics, suggestions or goals?

Your community, represented by your school board or other elected or selected body of citizens, is your employer and therefore your boss. Engaging or communicating or informing them should be a prominent chapter in that handbook, and it should be equally as significant in your faculty-staff handbook. Educators at all levels do what they do for their students because they have been asked to do so by their community. The “boss” needs to hear how their most precious possession – their children – are doing.

The primary manner that schools communicate with their community, outside of the school itself, is through grades. Teachers provide grades, and schools share them through online systems and/or report cards. Additional information is shared when there is an occasional triumph or temporary failure, both of which get some added attention from the student’s team of supporters.

A school’s athletic teams display the results of their practices in their competitions, sharing what they have learned with a very specific segment of the overall community. A few times a year, the music department puts on a concert, the drama club performs a play, the debate team hosts a competition, and the parents and supporters of those students see the results of their efforts.

The vast majority of the people paying for all of the school employees have no consistent or even annual connection to the school outside of paying their taxes and voting for the budget.

So, give them one or two or more. And look at your co-curricular or afterschool or athletic or activity offerings to do that. Yes, it will mean more work for the teachers, coaches and administrators involved in those aspects of the school day. Yes, it will entail some research or legwork to find the best contacts to make that extra effort more worthwhile. And yes, it will require some creativity and some initial funding to support those making and maintaining those connections. Benefits? Likely more than you anticipate and for longer than just the four years a student spends in your building.

Your community is full of skilled people, interesting people, engaging people, bored people. Find out what they are good at, what they enjoy, what they might share and connect to something going on at your school. Look past these individuals being spectators or audience members and consider how they might contribute to the learning and teaching. Some examples:

Local Quilt or Knitting or Sewing Guild Members:

• Love to create and sew;

• Can make or repair costumes for your theater group;

• Can work with student leadership to provide apparel for students in need; and

• Could support a teacher who is bringing a history or literature lesson to life with in-class plays.

Former Musicians Could:

• Sit in on school band, chorus, orchestra, jazz ensemble rehearsals;

• Give lessons to students;

• Form school-based community performance groups involving all ages, including students; and

• Chaperone music trips, sharing their previous experiences with students.

Tradesmen Could:

• Create a database of tradesmen and companies;

• Connect students who are interested in learning about carpentry, plumbing, electrical, etc. for internships and apprenticeships;

• Connect local suppliers to donate tools for students who are just starting out; and

• Include them in college nights, etc. as an alternative to higher education for your upperclassmen.

Legal and Legislative:

• Ask local elected officials to consider holding a meeting in your school.

• Record your debate team’s practices or matches and ask local lawyers and legal aides to view and evaluate.

• Bring in community members with these skills to judge debates.

• Have students consider writing and proposing legislation for your community or state, including your representatives in the process.

Check with local officials (city, county, state) regarding opportunities for students to submit artwork for official displays.

Local Media:

• Restore or enhance your school newspaper by including adults as reporters, editors.

• Ask local paper or town website to include a writing from a student on a regular basis.

• Have students submit photographs for local publication.

• Have a student group responsible for sending the current events listing to local media.

• Engage local radio or television personnel in supporting student radio and student livestream broadcast.

Artwork Displays:

• Reach out to your dentist, doctor, urgent care providers and have them consider displaying art class work in their offices on a rotating basis.

• See if the local historical society or library will display your students’ artwork or photographs.

Others (including artists, longstanding residents, local officials):

• Consider doing a large-scale art project that would include local artists, art students, non-art students and parents.

• Mural on building(s) downtown – Barn quilts to form a trail around the community

• A community heritage project (historical buildings, Native American artwork, walking town history, cemetery restoration) – Restoration of a community artwork that needs some attention

• Find events such as craft fairs, business openings, community celebrations to enhance with art displays, musical or drama presentations, student helpers (ushers, guides, etc.)

The goal is simple. You are trying to make sure that every member of your community interacts with a specific student, either in person or through sharing of their efforts, on a regular basis. Some will be brief, such as viewing their artwork at the doctor’s office. Others will be long-lasting as the adult and the student or student groups find additional ways to share once the initial project or effort is complete. And some will last well past graduation or become an annual effort where new students are connected in some way each year.

As a school community, establishing positive relationships with your town community has more benefits than simply being a conduit for information. Engaging parents is often, but not always, easy to do, but your community is rich in talent, skills and interest. Find ways to support engagement for those without students in their family and make them a part of your school family.

Steffen Parker is a retired music educator, event organizer, maple sugar maker, and Information Technology specialist from Vermont who serves as the Performing Arts/Technology representative on the NFHS High School Today Publications Committee. He received the NFHS Citation Award in 2017 and the Ellen McCulloch- Lovell Award in Arts Education in 2021. He can be reached at steffenparker@ gmail.com.