CISNTblog

On any given day, CISNT stands in front of groups to advocate for students who are at-risk of dropping out of school.  Well, actually we beg for help…  In the last 24 hours, CISNT has talked with Mayors, a County Commissioner, prominent business leaders, UNT faculty & students, chamber of commerce members, school board trustees and non profit leaders.  And this was a slow week!

CISNT had the pleasure of meeting with the Denton Young Professionals organization yesterday.  What an AMAZING group of emerging leaders!  One of their members has been mentoring a child for about a year.  His dedication to doing “whatever it takes” to help this boy succeed was inspiring to me.  And as is most often the case, the mentor wondered if he was really making a difference…he is.

I am encouraged that so many people are hearing the message about our growing “at-risk” population in Denton and Wise counties.  23% increase in the last year!  Even more exciting is the action people are taking to help meet the growing need. 

Before many of us even begin shopping for our holiday gifts this year, CISNT will have received thousands of dollars in donated gifts for CISNT students to receive this holiday season.  Students who will return to school in January without “their story to tell” if we don’t help.  If you haven’t already, please consider contacting one of our CISNT campus staff at http://www.cisnt.org/campusesserved.html and help provide an at-risk child a gift this holiday season… 

Each month CISNT produces a “balanced business scorecard” report for our management team to guide the organization by and for our board of directors to oversee the business that is Communities In Schools of North Texas.  The scorecard contains key metrics about our customers (the at-risk students we serve and the volunteers who generously donate time to us), metrics about our financials (cash flow, revenue vs. expenses, budget vs. actuals, etc.), metrics about the “internal” activities that drive our organization (website hits, status of our top 10 partnerships, etc.) and metrics on “learning and growth” (our public relations activities, staff retention, professional development, etc.).  It is a great monthly “check of the gauges” in the airplane that is CISNT (which by the way never lands!) that reminds us of our progress towards the big rocks, our strategic goals…

 Today, as I went through the routine of entering results into the scorecard.  Our e-mentoring program caught my eye.  In October, CISNT mentors and CISNT students exchanged 939 e-mentoring messages. WOW!  That’s 939 times an at-risk student used technology to communicate.  939 times a mentor connected with an at-risk student, but never left their work space or lost productivity or just grabbed 10 minutes between meetings or college classes. 

What’s really cool is that the majority of those 939 messages came from General Electric staff in Lewisville, Irving and Addison and connected with 5th grade students at Hedrick ES providing help with their social studies project.  Did you know that the lowest elevation point in the U.S. is below sea level and it is at Death Valley in California?  Well, it is… 

Our Communities In Schools of North Texas campus staff came together today for our monthly staff meeting.  We were graciously hosted by our University Behavioral Health friends at the NorthPointe Family Center in Carrollton.  I was reminded today how really messy is the work we do with children who are at-risk of dropping out of school.

As our campus staff shared “success stories”, which in reality are disasters averted, it was humbling to see the span and depth of impact our people have - both staff and volunteers.  Stories of children from Little Elm to Denton, The Colony to Rhome, Lewisville to Roanoke, Newark to Justin - every situation desperate unless a CISNT staff member were present on their campus to providing or find desperately needed services and volunteers who drive miles upon miles to “be there” for our children.  Children facing cancer, parents with cancer, hunger, abandonment, poverty, no electricity, suicidal, homicidal, running out of answers, running out of hope, running out of time.  How do you pass a math test with this staring you in the face.  Tears.  Many tears.

 I have the highest regard for our people at CISNT.  Passionate, possible workaholics, driven to stand in the gap for every child who needed them.  How do you not take this kind of load home each day?

The North Texas community is a giving community.  It’s interesting that the week started with a great meeting with Flower Mound Mayor, Jody Smith and ended in a therapeutic room where the weight of serving at-risk students was shared and supported by each of our staff.  I walked away troubled and relieved at the same time.  The answer lies within the community.  We simply must continue to share the grim reality that many, many children need their help!

That’s the way I described Communities In Schools of North Texas’ role on behalf of students who are at-risk to the men and women of the Lewisville Morning Rotary today - “the conscience of the community”.  Meaning, it is up to us to make the community aware that there are children in our community that go to school underfed, without healthcare, undersupported and destined to fail, eventually, in school.  Following the amazing Dr. Penny Reddell, who gave a brief overview of the state of Lewisville ISD, was a perfect way to demonstrate the strong partnership that exists between CISNT and LISD and our passion for finding people who will invest deeply in helping “our” children.

The Lewisville Morning Rotary is embarking on a project to provide dictionaries to Lewisville students who are English Language Learners or who possess Limited English Proficiency.  And as Dr. Reddell so eloquently shared with the rotarians, ELL’s come from all ethnic backgrounds, but share one common factor - they live in homes that are at, or below, the Federal Poverty level.

CISNT former Mentor of the Year and Lewisville Rotarian, Ray Irwin and longtime friend of CISNT and ARAMARK executive, John Pokorny shared the details of the dictionary project.  In the next few weeks, hundreds of poor Lewisville children will receive a new dictionary that will belong to them - not their school, not their classroom - their’s to keep forever!

Sometimes being the conscience of the community is a painfully hard and sometimes lonely job for our staff.  Today, with the amazing men and women of the Lewisville Morning Rotary, it was a joy!