I've never before written about the following wonderful experience. But it portrays how courage and perseverance can help you to lead the change you want to see. I call it changeship: the pairing of strong leadership with dedicated, collective progress toward a common goal. These two qualities can be found in almost any neighbourhood.
It takes a community to raise a child and it can also join together to solve the kind of problem that Glengrove P.S. in Pickering, Ontario was experiencing. A few years ago, the parents, teachers and students of this inner-city Canadian school achieved a dramatic turnaround with changeship. Working together in optimistic tenacity, they helped break a deeply entrenched pattern of angry posturing by the students.
To produce this minor miracle, the community followed two natural leaders. One of them was me. At the time, I had been elected chair of the school's community council, an advisory body made up of staff, parents, community representatives and one lone but dedicated young student. I was deeply, desperately concerned about my child's school and it caused me to assume a leadership role despite my fear of the daunting responsibility.
The other leader was Bill Littlefair, our receptive and supportive principal. This man, possessing the strength and compassion of a true leader, was a key component of our success. He provided a strongly positive role model; he helped smoothed the way for several initiatives; and he unconditionally supported our efforts.
Together we created an encouraging atmosphere within which everyone's contribution was both valued and appreciated. Many of that year's parent members had joined to express their concerns. I asked them to bring their 'ideal' to the table and it quickly filled with their plans. Feeling empowered to do something constructive, there was no lack of volunteers for our campaigns and they all worked hard. Some parents nervously took up new leadership roles on sub-committees, performing their unaccustomed roles with great success.
Cleaning up a School's Attitude
An anti-bullying poster contest wallpapered the school's lobby with more than 200 posters, vividly depicting the values of inclusion, of being individual but equal with others, and of community acceptance. City mayor David Ryan was the poster contest 'prize' and had lunch with the winner. Ambitious fundraising efforts helped pay for celebrity speakers, who shared positive messages at school-wide assemblies.
Glengrove's teachers those few who chose to stay, year after year were also distressed about the school's failing morale and supported all the plans we made. Then they continued working throughout the next year to reinforce the positive, cooperative values that had been established.
Within a calendar year, the students at Glengrove P.S. had acquired a community reputation as a helpful and respectful group, and a collective sigh of satisfaction went around the entire school. The remarkable change in the school environment has had a lasting impact. My daughter says the old slam-term 'Ghetto Grove' is never heard today, and other schools are openly appreciative of Glengrove's students.
Several ethnically diverse teachers have joined the school's faculty, offering new role models. Students work together in an atmosphere that is peaceful, tolerant and most importantly, hopeful. Last month my daughter performed, with the new Glee Club, a farewell during her grade-eight graduation ceremony, singing K'naan's optimistic Waving Flag lyrics: "When I get older, I will be stronger. They'll call me Freedom, just like a waiving flag!"
We are an example of changeship, of leading with collective dedication. We have seen with our own eyes the impact that can be had on an entire community from joining together for change. But it takes concerned and committed leaders to get it all going. Are YOU that kind of leader? You'll never know until you try. If you're hesitant to get involved, just feel the fear and do it anyway. That's usually how changeship starts.
|
Biography
