It Takes a Community

“The traditional function of a school is to provide academic and social growth. We understand that kids will be sent to us every day and we will teach them. That’s our traditional model. Students will come; I will impart knowledge, the end. We know that’s not going to create the students that we need. Instead, what schools need to be able to do is to develop well-rounded, diverse, creative thinkers. It’s a big task and it’s not a task that schools can do on their own.” 
-- Luisa Palomo Teacher, Liberty Elementary
There are many different factors that go into the education of a child. There’s classroom learning time, extracurriculars, health and nutrition, other basic needs, socio-emotional wellness, and extended educational opportunities outside of school, among others. Traditional models would suggest that schools are solely responsible for student learning: students come into the school classroom, learn new material from the teacher, then go home. However, schools recognize that this simplified process is no longer adequate to fully educate and develop well-rounded and engaged young citizens, especially for students coming from backgrounds of poverty. Although there is no silver bullet when it comes to solving the achievement gap, a good place to start is ensuring that all students have equal access to supplemental learning opportunities in order to reach their full academic growth and development. But schools can’t do it alone. Education must become an inclusive process in which each member of the community has an important role in contributing to opportunity equality so that each child has a chance to succeed in academics and in life.
"It Takes a Community" is a documentary on how business, nonprofit and mentoring organizations work together to support Nebraska public schools.
 -- Watch entire documentary here (by NelovesPS)