I'd
never heard of the Horizons program before Charlie and I got involved
with the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education, which hosts an
affiliate. In a nutshell, paraphrasing from their website, Horizons
is a
decentralized, high-quality, 6-week summer learning program on the
campuses of independent schools, colleges or universities that
supports low-income, at-risk, Pre-K-12 students, and provides them
with the opportunity to experience success in a setting that becomes
an inspirational and stable learning environment for students,
families, and the greater community. Once we heard an impassioned
speech by Warner Horizon's Executive Director Lynn Gatto, we climbed
on board. Little did I know that it would be literally – Lynn
invited us to join her founding board, and I somehow became chair!
So
I was excited when Lynn invited me to join her at last week's
National Horizons Conference in Norwalk, CT. There were well over 100
attendees, and the diversity was remarkable (or is it that the lack
of diversity on so many other occasions is what should be
remarkable?). The day I attended began with an inspiring panel of
three teachers who had just been honored by Horizons. One emphasized
the equity and opportunity aspects of Horizons, and the program's
goal of helping low income kids over the summer to stay on track with
their high income peers. Another told of watching the students'
confidence grow week to week, and the confidence the program gave her
to expand her teaching style and collaborate with other instructors.
 |
| Lynn Gatto sharing Warner School marketing strategies |
The
national program, which is celebrating its 20th year, is
currently in 45 host schools across 15 states, with 446 public school
partners. At roughly 4000 students, the program is a “tiny drop in
the bucket” compared to millions of kids who need help, according
to Lorna Smith, CEO of Horizons National. Rochester alone has three
host schools: U of R, Harley, and MCC (there are additional schools
hosting Summer LEAP programs in Rochester, which have a similar
goal).
Horizons
is joining the giving-day bandwagon, but theirs, on May 20, will have
an innovative twist: the ability to pledge beginning May 1, so people
won't have to remember to give on the exact day. They are also
working with Facebook on some targeted ads that seemed pretty
cutting-edge to everyone in the audience! Lynn spoke on a panel that
shared various marketing strategies for the event, and we got some
great ideas from other schools for broadening our affiliate's reach.
The
final eye-opening panel I attended was for affiliate board members.
Their insights on governance, sustainability (read –
fundraising...), and strategic planning impressed me not just in
terms of their different approaches (boards ranging in size from 10
to 22, board 'give or get' ranging from zero to $50,000), but the
willingness of the participants to share best practices, to learn
from each other, and to help other programs succeed. Because at the end
of the day, it's all about the kids, and helping them succeed. And
in a city like Rochester, with high childhood poverty, failing schools, and
dismal high school graduation rates, we need all the
help we can get. As the third teacher honoree
remarked, “Everyone has great ideas. The ones who are successful,
prove it.” And Horizons is doing just that.
No comments:
Post a Comment