Comment on Oprah's Show on Education

Oprah Winfrey's Friday, September 24th show was most provocative, timely, and intriguing!! Each of the guests offered a thought or viewpoint that was constructive relative to moving the country forward in the realm of education.

Oprah's guests included Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone, Cory Baker the Mayor of Newark, NJ, Chris Christie the Governor of New Jersey, Arne Duncan the Secretary of the Department of Education and Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook who is donating $100 million to the city of Newark to reform its education system.

The most profound idea that was generated among the entire group, including statements by Oprah, dealt with the idea that to improve education in the country we have to stop the blame game and come together. Of this there is no question. This is the case with many of today's problems, concerns, and issues...coming together.

I found Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark, NJ and Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone to be most impressive because of their passion relative to making a great education a dream that comes true for all, even those who, up to now, have been left behind.

Mr. Booker has a great point when he states that we have to get rid of "sedentary agitation." He, of course, is referring to the fact that people get upset with some poor practices in some areas of education and people do nothing about it. He calls on all concerned to "stop the blame game." He is spot-on concerning this point. Unions, government groups, school officials, parents, students, and everyone else involved in education have got to have a common goal. We all have to simply help children while refraining from pointing fingers at one another for the real or perceived failure(s) that exist.

In terms of specifics Mr. Canada offered some that I think we need to implement. As a retired teacher, of over 30 years, and a current substitute teacher, I agree that the school year needs to include more instruction days and more time, each day, needs to be spent on instruction.

I would like to encourage my teaching colleagues and union officials at all levels to embrace the idea and to work with school officials to find a way of achieving this while making the appropriate compensation for the extended effort.

Unless we move forward on a variety of fronts then we are likely to face a situation described by Cory Baker. He warns us that if we don't make educational reforms "we can't have a superior democracy with an inferior education system." There are plenty of great teachers and terrific systems in place right now but we can do our part to help those in need.

To those who continue to aid Schools Count Corp, you are certainly doing your part to help those who most need the assistance.

Thank you, Dick

Area Firms Aid KICK

Local business donations were terrific and one of the biggest reasons for the huge success ($3,290) of the KICK event on Sunday, Sept. 19th. Without them, the event would have been a success but certainly not to this extent.

Not only do I want to recognize them but please consider them when making your next purchase or business transaction. They are clearly civic minded and and most helpful relative to all sorts of local fundraisers and charity events.

Here's the Honor Roll of business donations made to KICK...

Domino's Pizza of Clarendon Hills (donated 20 pizzas)
Einstein Bagels of Hinsdale (donated 6 dozen assorted bagels)
Garnett Family
Hinsdale Bank and Trust of Hinsdale (sponsor of participant t-shirts)
Perfect Plan (prizes provided to 1st and 2nd place finishers by the Cole Family)
Scott Family (drinks and pizza)
Soccer 2000 (donated ball for a raffle prize)
Worthington Family (provided all the water and gatorade)

To one and all...many thanks!

Dick

KICK keeps on Giving

(photos taken by: Harry Bull)

KICK not only was a whopping success in terms of having a great time playing soccer-tennis but it also proved to be a HUGE winner in terms of raising funds for the schools we serve in Chicago!!





Through the efforts of all involved; families, the players, and businesses we brought in $3,290.00 To give everyone a sense of the importance of such a total, it represents 10% of our total budget for one year! Put another way, we can provide schools supplies to ALL the children in three Chicago Public Schools for an entire year!






All of the people associated with the Hinsdale Central Boys Soccer Program, and those who participated in the event, should take great pride in assisting so many children in desperate need of what we often take for granted.

Many thanks, Dick Flesher

KICK - A Huge Success!!

These are but four of the participants in the Hinsdale Central Boys Soccer Tennis KICK (Kick it in for Chicago Kids) competition. By any measure, this year's event was a momumental success. Some 23 teams took part in an afternoon of great fun. Every team participated in a minimum of two soccer-tennis matches in addition to being provided with cold drinks, pizza, bagels, and some good times with friends.



From a standpoint of raising money for Chicago Public Schools, the day brought in some $3000.00 in cash through entry fees, family donations and corporate sponsorship. This is a fantastic amount of money and it will go a long way towards enabling children in CPS schools to have plenty of daily classroom supplies. Much of the credit for this success is due to the efforts of Taylor Cole (to the left) and Andrew Worthington (to the right) the directors of KICK 2010.

These boys got out there and got the job done! This is an incredible feat given the fact that they are attending school and in the midst of their soccer season. Both Taylor and Andrew signed up the players, contacted businesses seeking funds, corresponded with local companies in terms of getting product donations, made up teams and playing brackets, set up the tennis courts and monitored the competition.

I want to give a special thanks to Mrs. Worthington for her help in organizing many of the on-site activities, Dawn Oler for her assistance in bringing in much of the food and aiding me in keeping the grounds in great shape, Harry Bull for taking the photographs, and Brian Anderson (of Buildings and Grounds) for providing tables, chairs, water and more.

To all those who participated in KICK, please accept my heartfelt thanks for making this such a special day. I am ever grateful for your willingness to aid our charity and, in turn, students who need our help.

Many thanks,
Dick

Poverty Increase Affects Education

Yesterday's news that the United States poverty rate hit 14.3% last year is both startling and sad. To think that 1 in 7 Americans is living in poverty is hard to fathom. By the way, just a couple of months ago a report came out that indicated that there are more millionaires than ever in the USA.

Obviously, there are ripple effects to such a sharp rise in poverty. When people don't have jobs and enough money they often go without sufficient shelter, health care and food. There are clearly implications in terms of education.

I am certain that the rise in poverty means that some students who want to attend college may see their dreams put on hold. When it comes to going to school, a fair number of parents will not be able to afford the fees for music instruments or the various fees for other sorts of important activities.

One has to wonder how the increase in poverty affects families and their children, who attend schools, in other ways. Will they go to school having been properly fed? Should they live in an area of harsh weather, will they head to school after sleeping in a house or apartment where the temperatures hovered in the 50's? Will they head off to class with all the supplies they need to be successful?

There's where Schools Count Corp comes into play. We want to be able to support those families and their children in areas that are not only by natural disasters but we want to serve students whose families have been hit by the cruel storm known as poverty.

Because of you we have recently been able to assist families in parts of Chicago where poverty has reared its ugly head.

Please accept my thanks for your support!

The Privatization of American Education

On the surface one may wonder why I would choose to weigh in on the debate over such an issue as public and charter schools. In the past, we have supported any school in need; public, private and charter.

Let's be clear there are great public schools and some not so great. That's also the case for charter schools, as I will illustrate in a bit. There are some terrific teachers in each and some who aren't getting the job done.

But what is taking place right now is a dispute over the very essence of education particularly the very survival of public education as we have known it. Yes, times change and the need for public schools to alter its vision, its curriculum and its standards are at hand. This is not something new. Public schools have always had to change and they will have to do the same in 10 year and 100 years.

But what concerns me is that public education as we have known it is being undermined by charters and private schools and the results, at best, are often mixed. Here's what I mean about being undermined. By the way, I have no doubt that the vast majority of charter leaders may not intentionally undermine the traditional school but it is nonetheless taking place. Schools that receive a charter siphon money from existing traditional public schools thus rendering those most-in-need short of various resources. Also, a good number of charters don't take the lower performing students. Instead, these students are left in the traditional school that is under resourced.

Charters, by their very nature and creation, may not offer the needed liberal education involving courses in Music, FACS, Art and Tech Ed (including shop) not to mention various activities and athletic teams. And if the traditional public schools are under-resourced we find many of the above programs being cut or eliminated.

To date, many citizens have the sense that charters out-perform the traditional public school. Diane Ravitch in her recent book The Death and Life of the Great American School System points out a number of large charter systems that have performed no better than the traditional public school.

Just one example...Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia has about one-half of the 127 charter schools in the entire state of PA. The findings of the RAND Corporation "concluded in 2008 that students in charter schools made gains that were statistically indistinguishable from the gains they experienced while attending traditional public schools." If that's not enough Philadelphia officials themselves announced in 2009 "that the privatization experiment had not worked." There are plenty of cases like this in other parts of the country.

The point I am making is that the structure of a school isn't the cure for the ills and perceived ills of traditional schools. Until we understand and comprehend this point in addition to tackling - and I literally mean it - the whole testing issue then we will continue to lose our way towards improving public education.

Dick Flesher

KICK Hits the Court this Sunday

KICK...Kick It in for Chicago Kids!!! This is our annual Hinsdale Central High School Boys Soccer fundraiser which benefits our charity. Local businesses, various soccer families, friends and all the different levels of soccer participate in this great event.

KICK at its core is a soccer-tennis style of competition that has teams of three or four players (2 playing at a time) going against other teams. The games are played on the HC tennis courts and each 10 minute game sees players knocking the ball over the tennis nets with their feet or head just as they would in a real soccer match. Every team plays a minimum of 3 games to see who advances from the group play. Once the group phase starts then a single elimination takes place until one team is left standing and declared champion?

Each participate pays an entry fee, the entire proceeds benefitting Schools Count Corp. Heading this year's KICK endeavor are seniors Taylor Cole and Andrew Worthington. The boys have gone all out to get business sponsors, family support, and participants for the event. It promises to be another great day! Will the seniors rule or will the underclassman come out on top in this exciting tourney?!

Aside from the fun that will be had by the boys through the competition, pizza and drinks are being provided to one and all. Why not come and support this terrific fundraiser. The competition is being held on Sunday, September 19th at the Hinsdale Central High School tennis courts from 2-5 pm.

I'm looking forward to Sunday!!

Dick

Global Hope in Chicago Public Schools

Below is a short clip from the website of Global Hope (www.globalhope.org) that details their mission of aiding Schools Count Corp as we brought needed supplies to CPS schools a few weeks ago. Global Hope has all sorts of interesting initiatives and they serve a wide range of communities in many parts of the country as well as locally. Partnering with Global Hope has truly been a pleasure!

GH Teams Up with Schools Count to Deliver Supplies to Chicago Public SchoolsOn August 19th & 20th, 22 pallets of school supplies were distributed to 15 Chicago Public Schools, serving nearly 7,000 students. Anna Albrecht and her team of GH volunteers devoted two days to delivering these supplies to the schools with the greatest need (a large percentage of homeless and low-income families).

Dick Flesher of Schools Count, a retired educator with a "get-it-done" attitude, bypasses bureaucratic obstacles and works directly with school principals. He takes and fills their orders by recycling used school supplies from area schools as well as purchasing new supplies where needed.

We support him in his passion for "starting all kids out on the right foot at the beginning of the school year". Anna, Jack, Caroline, Jim, Dickie, Teri and Mary worked with Dick's many volunteers from Schools Count to complete this ambitious project. Aside from the satisfaction of helping so many, they had the added pleasure of meeting appreciative staff members at several schools. The experience, our team reports, was "priceless".

A Letter of Thanks from Curtis

Below is a letter from the Social Worker at Curtis Elementary in Chicago. I want to share this with you so that you have some idea of the impact of your efforts at Curtis and elsewhere!

Dear Mr. Flesher,

I know email is a bit impersonal and I assure you a formal thank you letter is on its way, but I wanted to be sure and send you a more prompt thank you for your tremendous generosity. I sorted through the uniform shirts today and am amazed and impressed by all you have given to our children and families here at Curtis School of Excellence. We had a “Back to School Barbeque” last week and were able to give backpacks filled with your supplies to many of our students. The majority of the supplies you donated will be given to teachers to distribute to students. Instead of handing out a “supply list” with items for parents to purchase, students will receive actual supplies on the first day of school. We are incredibly grateful.

In addition to distributing the school supplies, we have also begun to identify children/families in need of uniforms. We have designated at least 20 uniform shirts to specific student already. Your generosity has already had a deep impact on our children at Curtis School of Excellence. Thank you for your kindness, generosity and willingness to help. You are a gift.

With Gratitude,
Mara Lindsay

Thank You Schools Count Laborers

Traditionally, Labor Day is a day of rest, reflection and relaxation for a job well done. This is not only the case for regular wage and salary workers but, looking back upon the tremendous good our charity has done over the past year, I feel the same way about all the volunteer labor that has gone into the success of the work of our charity.

I can recall people collecting supplies in their schools, volunteers who helped set up for the annual HC Mardi Gras concert, and those who gave of their time and helped to deliver school supplies to New Orleans and Chicago Public Schools. Along the way, a good number of people helped to sort supplies and pack them on pallets. A sizeable group of people, young and old alike, gave of their time to organize various fundraisers; concerts, car washes, bowling events, KIKK and so many more.

Some of our volunteers gave of themselves in other fashions; sending out letters, printing leaflets and brochures or delivering supplies to the house. A couple of my friends met me at various schools and helped to load trucks. I had some last minute volunteers who, with short notice, gave of their 'day off' to run a forklift.

To each of you, though you earned no money, please accept my thanks for all that you have done this year. Without you, thousands of school children would be without daily supplies. Quite honestly, your efforts actually allow students to attend school, in the first place, and stay in school once the year commences.

Happy Labor Day,
Dick

A Success Story in Haiti

Earlier this year Schools Count Corp joined forces with Kids4Good and Global Hope, in conjunction with Haiti Partners, to help resurrect IMN School in Darbonne, Haiti. The results in the aftermath of the earthquake have been nothing short of remarkable.

Three new buildings have been constructed, teachers paid their salaries, children have been provided with plenty of daily supplies, and an entire brand new fresh water system (well and purifier) has been installed in Darbonne. These are just some of the achievements of our 'community' approach to aiding IMN, Maxandre and Darbonne. What appears in the link below is an article that appeared in this weeks Downers Progress newspaper. I think you will find it an uplifting story, one you, as volunteers and donors, should rightfully take pride in, having been a part of its success.

Thanks and enjoy!
Dick

http://www.triblocal.com/Downers_Grove/detail/215201.html

Cancer Walk on Oct. 3rd

Over the years, when I have blogged, I have related a story about our work relative to helping students and schools in need. Today I am reaching out to ask you to help in a different manner.

One of my friends and a former teaching colleague, Carol Smith, has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Carol is the real deal; she helps all who come to her, she is ever kind, and she is extraordinarily competent. In short, you couldn't find a person better suited to be in education.

Some years ago when I was the mentoring coordinator at Hinsdale Central, and Carol joined the staff, it was my job to help her make the transition to HC a smooth one. Little did I know that it would be Carol who would help me!! Carol always took the time to show the other new staff members the latest technology that was being implemented at the school. It was Carol, who in her own way, was the real mentor! I am forever indebted to her for all that she has done for me over the years.

On the eve of wanting to retire, Carol has contracted this horrible disease. Right now Carol is not at HC. She is about to head to TX to get a sense of what treatment path to follow in the coming weeks.

I am reaching out to you to seek your support of a cancer walk that I will participate in on October 3, 2010. The City of Hope (www.cityofhope.org) is sponsoring a walk to raise funds for women with breast cancer. I have a goal of raising $1,000 and would like to have you sponsor me in the walk. Any contribution you can make would be greatly appreciated. Every dollar makes a difference. Should you have an interest in supporting me please contact me at rich219@comcast.net and I'll get the link to you so that you can make your donation to this worthwhile cause.

Carol, and others like her, deserve a better day. Together we can tackle this cruel disease, one day finding a cure to all cancers.

Thanks for your support!
Dick