Learning and Work

We totally underestimate the power possessed by young people when it comes to playing a more substantial role in our adult world. Young learners are capable to do so much more than just show up at 8 A.M. for “school.” We just need to give them the opportunity to show what they can do for us, and them, in the “out of school” world.

Two of my favorite places in the world are Vermont and Iowa. My wife and I spend time in both states. So it was fortuitous when I came across two articles recently, one from the Green Mountain State and the other from the Hawkeye State, that demonstrated what might happen if, as adults, we were ready and willing to empower our young learners to take a bigger role when it comes to leading in the “out of school” world.

We are all aware of the problem with “news deserts” growing across America. Reasons to be Cheerful online reported recently about young people coming to the rescue by filling in Vermont’s “news gaps,” along with other work needs. The article begins,

“On the drizzly first Tuesday in March, voters crammed into a historic white clapboard meeting house on a hill in Stockbridge, Vermont. It was Town Meeting Day, when Vermonters across the state gather to debate and vote on local government. And the election for the next member of Stockbridge’s three-person select board, the main governing body of this town of just over 700 people, had drawn record turnout.”

“As voters waited to cast handwritten ballots in a long queue that snaked around wooden benches, University of Vermont sophomore Sarah Andrews approached locals, notebook in hand. Andrews and two classmates were not just there for course work: They were there as part of UVM’s Community News Service, reporting for the White River Herald, the weekly newspaper that covers 16 towns in this rural region.”

“Small newspapers like the Herald have long been the main way of recording and distributing information about community happenings. But local news outlets are disappearing. The 2023 State of Local News report found that about half of all counties across the country have only one local news outlet, and more than 200 counties have none.”

“As local news deserts grow, universities are stepping in. With initiatives ranging from student-staffed statehouse bureaus to newspapers run by journalism schools, these academic-media partnerships are bolstering local news.”

…

“…The model isn’t new: The University of Missouri has been practicing a ‘teaching hospital’ approach that involves students in community news coverage since 1908. Now, in the current media landscape, higher education institutions are looking at how they can both offer students enriching experiences and contribute to communities, according to Richard Watts, who heads the University of Vermont’s Center for Community News.”

In Iowa, the Oskaloosa Community School District announced plans to open a downtown square café. RadioIowa online reported that,

“[The district] is planning to open what it’s calling then Oskaloosa Spirit Café on the downtown square in an effort to foster entrepreneurship and empower students with special needs.”

“Sarah Deronde, a special education teacher at the high school, says the ultimate goal is to provide opportunities for all students to thrive and offer a meaningful contribution to society.”

“’It started off as kind of a dream for placement for my special education students, to give them the skills they need to get into our community, find jobs, get the skills that they need to be successful, create more sustainability in our community, those kinds of things,’ Deronde says, ‘and it’s kind of just grown from there.’”

“Employment will be open to all students as well as to adults in the community with special needs who want to learn skills, from basic jobs all the way up to management. Deronde hopes to get culinary arts students involved in the café as well.”

…

“The walls of the café will be a showcase for student art, and there will also be a ‘service wall’ where students and others can advertise their talents, from making t-shirts to mowing lawns.”

“’We have a young lady who potentially will be starting and opening her own shredding company,’ Deronde says. ‘She has very limited usage of her arms, but one thing that she enjoys doing is shredding papers, and so we will advertise that for her.’”

Most small-town downtowns struggle to keep all of their storefronts occupied. What if those vacant storefronts were used to house “pop-up” businesses started by young entrepreneurs like those working at the Oskaloosa Spirit Café?

What if young learners were given the opportunity to lend their talent to “out of school” business ventures like newspapers, banks, grocery stores, and other retail stores?

The time of separating “school world” with the “real world” must end. Young learners are young workers, interested in not only becoming smarter and stronger in their reading, writing, and problem-solving abilities, but also becoming adept at spending time in the “adult world” – demonstrating talents inside the workplace.

Til tomorrow. SVB