It was 2004, and Dr. Claudia Limbert was president of Mississippi University for Women. She strode into Dr. Suzanne Bean’s office and asked her what she would do with a million dollars. The question seemed preposterous, but Limbert wasn’t kidding — a federal grant was available from the U.S. Department of Education, and Limbert wanted Bean to chase it.
Bean called her husband and told him she would be working late. Then she sequestered herself behind her desk and carefully wrote out a proposal that would win the grant and lead to the creation of the Roger F. Wicker Center for Creative Learning.
The fourth floor of MUW’s Education and Human Services building, which had once held its home economics department, was gutted and renovated. And a recipe for success was born.
Bean, community liaison for the center, spoke with members of the Kiwanis Club of Columbus Wednesday afternoon, reminiscing about CCL’s past and outlining its future as an incubator of opportunity for children, teachers and adults in Mississippi. She said she’s still surprised how many people are unaware of CCL or the programs it offers.
She and her four colleagues — Director Kate Brown, Professional Development Specialist Sarah Sumners, Youth Development Specialist Ivey Ivy and Outreach Coordinator Administrative Assistant Patti Davis — have turned capturing federal dollars into an art form, writing and receiving nearly $13 million in grants to benefit children and educators across the state.
Bean spends a great deal of time just listening. She listens to teachers, who tell her about their struggles with everything from math skills to technology in the classroom. She listens to parents, who tell her about the challenges of raising children in today’s world and preparing them for the future. She listens to business leaders, who tell her about employees who lack the so-called “soft skills” — critical thinking, problem-solving, team focus and work ethics — to succeed.
When she is finished listening, she gets busy. The result is a smorgasbord of offerings, with more on the horizon.
Preparing for the real world
The name of the game is readiness, and the 21st Century Learning Program aims to achieve that goal, preparing students to compete in an increasingly global economy. Based upon the mission set forth by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., the program seeks to blend the so-called “3 Rs,” reading, writing and arithmetic, with the “4 Cs” — critical thinking, communication skills, collaboration and creativity.
Increasingly, Bean said, employers are noting a severe gap between what employees walk into the workplace knowing and what they actually need them to know. Teachers, pushed to meet federal requirements and “teach to the test,” might spend inordinate amounts of time coaching students (and themselves) through the Pythagorean theorem, but most business owners rank the complex formula last on the list of things they need employees to know.
The statement drew a chuckle from the Kiwanians, many of whom had their own horror stories from high school math. It’s not that math isn’t important, it’s that real life skills are just as vital and shouldn’t be eschewed, many said after the meeting.
“It’s about getting our students on a level they can function in the real world,” said Antwann Richardson, branch manager for Regions Bank in Columbus.
In an effort to bridge that gap between textbook knowledge and real world experience, CCL is offering an after-school program at Cook Elementary School and will soon begin a program after school at West Lowndes Elementary.
At the crossroads
The Crossroads program, funded by a 21st Century Learning grant and facilitated through CCL, provided enrichment for at-risk middle school and high school students. Though the three-year program is no longer being funded, Bean said CCL is seeking new grants to revive it. Spotlighting everything from academic achievement to leadership, personal development, cultural enrichment and physical fitness, the program was well-received by parents, teachers and students, Bean said.
There was another benefit as well: Students who went through the Crossroads program scored higher on state tests than students who didn’t, according to Bean.
“We know we were doing good things, but when the money runs out, it runs out,” she said.
Adding it up
The Creating High Achievement in Mathematics and Problem-Solving (CHAMPS) program through CCL and Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, seeks to solve a different problem: Middle school math teachers sometimes have a skimpy personal background in the subject, undermining their confidence and ability to adequately teach their students. The two-week summer program brings fourth through eighth-grade teachers from across the state to MSMS, where they can brush up on their own math skills while learning new techniques to make the subject more engaging for their students.
This past summer, 48 teachers attended the 8th annual CHAMPS conference. In addition to the hands-on workshop, teachers are also required to attend four Saturday workshops. About half the teachers also receive in-class mentor coaching four times a year as part of an experiment to see what impact mentors make on teacher effectiveness and student achievement.
They also receive funding to attend the state and national conferences of the Council of Teachers of Mathematics, which offers professional development and provides a sense of belonging and interaction with peers.
The program is funded by a $518,000 Mathematics and Science Partnership grant through the Mississippi Department of Education.
Making it better
Bean also touched upon the Community Engagement, Lowndes Young Leaders, and Project Citizen initiatives, inviting Kiwanians to work with her and the CCL team to continue the center’s mission of economic and social advancement, professional growth and positive change for children and adults.
“Every one of us share the same goal of wanting a good community,” Bean concluded.
So what’s next on the agenda for CCL? Taking on MUW’s Continuing Education program and helping it grow.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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