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fundraising for everything to getting really good at early education.
And it was at that point that she realized how UWS could tell this
story and lead the charge with “The Big Plan.”
Before launching the initiative, Beightol met with Manatee County
Superintendent of Schools Cynthia Saunders. Beightol recalls
asking: “Now, here’s what United Way is doing… But what do
you need? Because the community keeps asking us: How do we
get involved? How do we make a difference? What can we do
differently? And I don’t have those answers.” She continued: “My
goal was to make sure that we help to educate our community
on the role that they have – that we all have – in our children’s
future. In creating that future and the story of our children from
the time that they’re born to the time that they graduate from high
school ready for life… our role – our moral imperative – in that.”
Beightol and Superintendent Saunders discussed the most
challenging issues facing the School District’s efforts to overcome
the reading gap. What they realized over the course of their
discussion was that the District had these ten Title 1 schools
where students had consistently struggled to reach their potential
for varying reasons over many years. Saunders proposed
focusing on preparing those children to enter the school system
successfully. They found that many of the children needing extra
support from the community not only attended these schools,
but also tended to move between these same schools over the
years – allowing The Big Plan to follow them as they progress.
Having formed this new goal of preparing students in key
attendance zones for school and reading success, United Way
Suncoast continued collaborating with the Suncoast Campaign
for Grade-Level Reading Advisory Council, while also developing
a “Results First” methodology. After commencing work with Hal
Williams, the Results First “Outcome Guide” recommended by
Susie Bowie of the Manatee Community Foundation and also
used by Manatee County Administrator Cheri Coryea, Beightol
realized what an asset it was to be taking this approach.
“You have three major funding organizations who are following the
same tenets, using the same language, understanding together
who we’re investing in and why and how we can leverage those
investments for greater impact. That’s a BIG DEAL. And having
both the School District and the Early Learning Coalition in
that conversation, as well, adds even more enormity to what is
happening,” Beightol enthused.
With all of the major players at the table and a set methodology
for reaching their goals, The Big Plan to increase the number
of students reading at grade-level in third grade was launched
with two main tenets: 1. Put Results First: Commit to the desired
results and look at all activities for their ability to help achieve
those results. 2. Anchor in Places: Focus on the ten elementary
school in the selected attendance zones, allowing the initiative
sufficient intensity to make a difference, with the multiple touch
points needed when a child is far behind. Additional tenets of
tracking the progress of individual children rather than program
groups, starting at birth, creating tight in and out of school
connections, and dealing with all relevant challenges help to
support those two main principles.
Beightol recognizes that meeting the goals of The Big Plan will
not be easy. “It’s a lot… But we start with the mission, which is
‘when the systems, policies, and practice align to ensure that our
children are reading on grade-level by the end of third grade now
and for future generations.’ That’s our mission. And then we go
to The Big Plan, which is a collaborative effort in the attendance
zones of three neighborhoods focused on ten schools, a series
of micro-implementations that will then be rolled in to long-term
implementations to ensure that our children are reading on gradelevel.
At its core, it’s consistent innovation.”
The Big Plan has now begun to take shape in Manatee County.
Beightol and United Way Suncoast Director of Strategic
Impact Carolyn Griffin brought the initiative to life through
Design Sessions which focused on asking new questions of
the stakeholders who are involved. These sessions brought
community leadership, community members, principals, and
even donors together to discuss the hard issues and how they
would approach them. Beightol and Griffin walked through a
series of questions and processes to try to understand what
everyone wanted to see happen, but then also to pinpoint who
wanted to take ownership of those goals and strategies.
Inspired by the message of Hildy Gottlieb to “Change the
questions; change the world!” Beightol and Griffin focused on
questions like:
• What do we really want?
• What does good look like?
• How do we get there?
Griffin is proud of the willingness of The Big Plan team to ask new
questions. “We arrive at different answers when we ask different
questions. I’m just really excited that we’re asking different
questions and that we’re trying to do things differently, because
we’re asking our agencies to do business differently, as well.
We’re trying really hard to model that for them.”
It was also important to the leadership of The Big Plan that the
principals at the ten participating schools be true partners in
these efforts. As Superintendent Saunders said at a special
session arranged for the principals to meet with and understand
the goals and participants in the initiative: “It is important for all
school sites impacted by The Big Plan to understand all of the
initiatives available in the community to leverage their resources
and to ensure the success of the neediest children.”
Ultimately, Beightol sees The Big Plan not just as a project to
address reading or school readiness, but to bring the community
together in a way that has never been done before. “By the
time that we are finished, we will leave behind a community
that has established pathways to work together so that this isn’t
even a conversation ten years from now – hopefully, it’s not a
conversation years from now. We will have ways to work
together. We will have removed barriers. Our legislators will have
come up with viable solutions for getting our kids educational
access early. That’s what’s exciting for me. It’s not in the details
– although those are good things and solid and we want to do
them correctly and appropriately – it’s in what we’re building
together, and the fact that we’re building it together.”