Education
Principal El: “A dream without a plan is a hallucination.”
Yesterday, Principal Salome Thomas – El spoke to some of our supporters at the Gilmore Car Museum. Principal El has been a powerful advocate for education for over 20 years and is the author of the best-selling book, I Choose to Stay. He shared his story of working in inner city schools and how he…
Read MoreMotivating Monday: Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran, An Advocate for Education
As Kalamazoo College president, Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran focuses on providing a challenging academic atmosphere for young people readying themselves to embark on an adult learning odyssey. As a local United Way leader, she’s targeted her academic passion at another point in learning: early childhood education. Wilson-Oyelaran, 64, credits the United Way with providing a framework…
Read MoreMotivating Monday: Denise Washington, From Poverty to Ph.D
Denise Washington seemed destined to be a poster woman for young, single mothers aspiring to little more than a minimum-wage existence. Forty years ago, Washington was offered a college scholarship to pursue a degree in accounting at Western Michigan University and had a promising internship lined up. But with a semester left before her high…
Read MoreBack to School Means Time to Invest in Our Students
It seems like everyone is getting in the back-to-school spirit! As a recent college grad, it feels a little surreal not to be agonizing over the costs of my books and comparing class schedules with friends. While I’m still adjusting to my new “alumna” status, back-to-school time as a new United Way employee brings…
Read MoreBeating the Summer Slide
Summer brings a lot of excitement when you’re a kid; sleeping in, plenty of outside play time, and no homework. The freedom kids celebrate, however, causes educators to worry about the “summer slide.” Summer slide refers to a learning loss some students experience when removed from the school system for months on end. At United…
Read MoreCreating Opportunities Through Reading
I’ve always been impressed by the great work being done through the Early Grade Reading Pilot Program at Verona Elementary School in Battle Creek. But it’s much more powerful to actually see the excitement the children had for reading. Last week Thursday, I joined several families for Verona’s Literacy Night. I saw first-hand that this…
Read MoreGreater Collaboration Provides a Great Start
Visit www.changethestory.org to learn more about the work we are doing in Education. At United Way, we believe that positive, nurturing early childhood experiences are vital to creating a thriving community, so that our children are able to begin their journey strong and continue to succeed. We know that when we invest in children from…
Read MoreYouth Day of Caring 2013
On Friday April, 26, nearly 500 students from across Battle Creek reported to Full Blast Water Park where they headed into the community for a day of volunteering. The effort is an annual United Way HandsOn event during national volunteer week called Youth Day of Caring. This year’s event was the largest yet, with more…
Read MoreStaff Leaders Conference
I want to share my perspective on the recent United Way Worldwide Staff Leadership Conference in Indianapolis. And I’ll start by pointing to the stars. There’s an incredible episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine titled “The Visitor”—don’t watch it without tissues nearby; you’ve been warned! The main character, Ben Sisko, counsels his aspiring-writer son,…
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