Work hard. Be nice.

Below is a guest column that KIPP alumnae, Marissa Bonner, wrote earlier this week in the U of H paper. Congrats again on making impacts on your KIPPsters that, whether you realize it or not, will last for decades.
Plow on,
Mike

Guest Commentary by Marissa Bonner, Class of 2007
KIPP Academy Changed My Life
Published on: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 in the University of Houston’s Daily Cougar.

In Tuesday’s issue of The Daily Cougar, Lindsay Gary wrote that “KIPP has room for improvement.” I agree with Gary that KIPP has room for improvement, but my experience at KIPP Academy Middle School was different from hers, and I am only one year older.

I, too, am African American and was a minority within a primarily Hispanic school. My experience at KIPP helped me get where I am today.

I do not have fancy statistics or data to share about KIPP’s success; results are not just numbers, but people and changed lives.

I grew up in Third Ward right down the street from the University of Houston. I had always felt different as an African American youth who could not identify with her surroundings. I can honestly say that KIPP changed my life.

I will never forget the first day of fifth grade, sitting on the cold floor with my fellow KIPPsters because we had yet to earn our chairs.

The first message that co-founder Mike Feinberg gave us was that “we are on a journey up a mountain.” To a group of preteens collectively wondering what this “mountain” was, it seemed logical that Feinberg was crazy.

But as it turns out, that mountain was college and the top was a degree. Just as any experienced mountain climber will tell you, it takes years of hard work and dedication to reach the top, but once you’re there and looking down at what you have accomplished, you cannot help but be grateful for the people who pushed you and held your hand as you made that journey.

The teachers and staff at KIPP taught us the importance of giving back and becoming more than what society says we should be. After that first day, there was never a doubt in my mind that I would go to college and make something of myself. I wanted to give back to the educational system that helped shape me into the person I am today.

One of the hardest lessons any KIPPster had to learn was that nothing is going to be given to us; everything we want must be earned, whether it be a seat in class or end-of-the-year trips all around the country.

That lesson still haunts me to this day. When you have a school filled with minority students, it is important that they know the real world has already stereotyped them and if they do not work hard, then they are forced to perpetuate the stigmas already in place.

Now standing a month away from the top of my own personal mountain — a B.A. in creative writing — I can look back on my time at KIPP and smile the biggest smile.

From my teachers like Jill Kelly-Koren, who inspired me, to my friends, who shaped my life, everyone at KIPP saw something in me and pushed me to tears because they knew I had potential.

My time at KIPP was a constant learning experience. Without the dedicated teachers and, most importantly, the commitment and support from my mom, I could have wound up at a high school that didn’t continue to prepare me for college rather than going to Carnegie Vanguard. I would not have found my love of English and writing in seventh grade and been able to get into one of the finest creative writing programs in the country.

Although both of my older siblings and I all went to the same KIPP school, we all turned out differently. My older brother is a Staff Sergeant and a part of the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and my sister is an HPD officer. My younger brother attended the first all-boys KIPP school, KIPP Polaris. He is class president at St. Andrews in Delaware and the only freshman on the varsity basketball team.

Without KIPP, our lives would be different. I do not want to know what path four African American kids growing up in the Third Ward would have taken if it wasn’t for KIPP. I am beyond appreciative and far beyond grateful and lucky, because it was our hard work that got KIPPsters to where we are today. It would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the idea that “knowledge is power” and that we must “work hard and be nice.”

I offer you an invitation to visit a KIPP school yourself. They have an open door policy and love visitors. I hope you witness part of the experience I had as a KIPPster and a person who is now at the top of the mountain to and through college.

Marissa Bonner is a creative writing senior.

Thank you for the outpouring of emails and calls we’ve received regarding the Shaikh family and our family’s tragic loss on Sunday. Jacqueline Shaikh, a KIPP Sharpstown 6^th grader, was killed, and her older sister, Vivian, who is a 9^th grader at KIPP Houston High School, was critically wounded by gun shots. Their mother was also critically wounded.  The shooter was their father who shot and killed himself as well. Our thoughts and prayers are going out to both KIPPsters and their family, and we are hoping to get news on Vivian and her mother that they are recovering. The update as of Tuesday is that both Vivian and her mother remain in critical condition and are fighters. Please join us in hoping and praying for news that their condition improves.

Many questions have come to us about ways to help. A fund has been established at Amegy Bank to help the family. Donations can be made at any Amegy Bank Branch or by contacting KIPP Houston’s Deedrah Harp at dharp@kipphouston.org. The info is:

Gorena – Shaikh Family Fund

Dr. Deedrah Harp, Trustee

Amegy Bank Account # 0051947648

It is times like these that one wonders what is the point of it all, and it is also times like these that one realizes the importance of our KIPP Team and Family and why we do what we do. We have nearly 8,000 KIPPsters in Houston and 32,000 KIPPsters in the nation to whom we made promises to get them up the mountain to and through college, all in the name of having a great and happy future. 98.6% of them will make this climb, and we will climb both for them and for the 1.4% who could not finish with us.

Thank you again to many of our teammates for reaching out, One Love, and Plow on,

Mike

Along with national education thinkers, leaders, and reformers like Frederick Hess, Jim Blew of the Walton Family Foundation, and Don Shalvey of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, I was recently asked by the Center on Reinventing Public Education to describe the future of district/charter collaboration. Below is my blog response. To read thoughts and opinions from other education experts, visit the Center’s web page.

Coming Full Circle by Mike Feinberg

The push around the country for public charter schools and traditional districts to work together is an exciting development in our collective efforts to build truly effective public systems of schools for all our children. It also means that, in some cities, charters and districts are coming full circle. Take KIPP’s history, for example. KIPP started within the Houston public school system as a program and then as an in-district charter school. When there was no more room to house us, we became a state charter school, and we have been operating outside of the traditional school system for the past decade. Now, first with Galveston ISD and soon with Spring Branch ISD, KIPP has returned to the traditional school system by starting in-district charter schools.

In some cities, the relationship between charter schools and the traditional school district is analogous to cats and dogs, and that’s not surprising; competition is a new concept in public education, as we haven’t reformed our delivery system for educating our children in over a century and have relied on a government monopoly to deliver the educational services to our communities. Ultimately though, the cats and dogs need to learn to co-exist for a purpose larger than either of them. If we start from the perspective that all of our efforts are aimed at helping all of the children have a great education and a great life, then traditional districts and charters are two members of the local public system of schools that can achieve this mission for their children more effectively in harmony than in battle. Many other industries have proven it is possible for competitors to work together to help their industry flourish, and there is no reason why the different members of the public education community cannot do the same.

I’m still riding high, after an amazing trip last week.  Although my feet are back on the ground in Texas, it feels like I’m blogging while flying at 35,000 feet.  That’s because I’ve got two great partners, and we just publicly affirmed our commitment  to providing ALL the children in our suburb of Houston with a great education and the opportunity to enjoy a great life.

Duncan Klussman, Spring Branch Independent School District superintendent, and Jason Bernal, president of YEP Prep Public Schools, and I recently returned home from a Charter-District Collaboration Compact announcement hosted by the Gates Foundation in Chicago.  It was great to announce our Compact, and to be in the company of leaders from 13 other cities that share this passion.

YES Prep and KIPP have been Houston partners since the mid 90’s, constantly looking for more ways to help one another.  In SBISD, we have found a school district partner who also gets it: SBISD doesn’t view children as belonging to one district versus another or one charter versus another.  Rather, they hold the view that all our children are just that: all of our children. SBISD isn’t focused on passing a low bar of ensuring they remain acceptable in the eyes of the state education agency.  No, they are focused on doubling their percent of children obtaining a degree in higher education after leaving the district (by the way…how many school districts know their numbers post HS graduation?  Raise the bar

SBISD doesn’t view intellectual property as a resource that needs to be hidden and protected.  They are open and hungry to share best practices with their new partners at KIPP and YES Prep, and we are thrilled to reciprocate.

We are calling our partnership SKY, using the first letters of the names of our three organizations.  And it’s poetic that our 3 letters can come together to form something that none of the letters could do on their own:  a word.  That synergy of 1+1+1 equaling something greater than 3 will come to fruition in the summer of 2012 as Landrum Middle School will be the new home for a KIPP school, and Northbrook Middle School will be the new home for a YES Prep school; and in 2015, KIPP and YES Prep will further our partnership as a new YES Prep High School at Northbrook High School will be the feeder high school for the entire class of Landrum KIPPsters.

We are excited to learn from one another, grow from one another, light a path for other charters and ISD’s in Texas and the nation to follow, and in the end, help more of  OUR children climb the mountain to and through college. The SKY is NOT the limit!

The impact of a good teacher is limited to the students of his or her class. The impact of a great teacher reaches into other classrooms and schools as well as lasts for decades. And every once in a while an extraordinary teacher can change the field for teachers across state borders and even across nations. Harriett Ball did just that. 

From the first day that Dave and I met her and heard the drum beat of kids learning echoing out her classroom door, we knew that we were witnessing an extraordinary teacher, and our world would be changed forever.  KIPP is here today because Ms. Harriett Ball taught us to teach. Ms. Ball was recently recognized by Wendy Kopp and Forbes as one of the world’s 7 Most Powerful Educators.

From Harriett, we learned to love to see the light bulb go off above a child’s head when he/she demonstrated mastery over a skill and to proudly shout out “Whoomp There It Is.” That’s the magic that happens when a teacher’s teaching and the students’ learning come together, and there was no better master of this magic, than Harriett Ball.

Harriett was, and remains, the single best teacher that Dave Levin and I have ever had the privilege of seeing in action. Yes, she knew how to write a lesson plan, deliver instruction, assess students’ progress, and reteach as necessary, but beyond those technical skills, Harriett had the gift of reaching both the hearts and minds of everyone in her classroom.

And I mean everyone. She was a teacher’s version of the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

Or as Harriett would simply say: Send me the kids everyone is giving up on, and I will teach them.

Of course, Harriett knew how to remain in charge of her classroom, no matter how challenging the situation. One of my favorite Harriett Ball quotes I learned was: This ain’t Burger King- you don’t get it your way

Harriett’s contribution to all our work transcends charter schools or traditional public schools or private schools or home school, and her contribution is more important than chants and expressions. What we all can take away from Harriett’s work is a shift in mindset. There are some classrooms and schools that have a poster or banner up that reads: All Children Can Learn. That’s a nice statement, and certainly if someone does not believe it, they need to get out of our classrooms and schools. But Harriett pushed us to change one word in that expression. It’s not All Children CAN learn…It’s ALL CHILDREN WILL LEARN. It’s taking on this responsibility that no matter the obstacles, no matter the challenges, no matter the variables that are getting in the way for a child to learn, a great teacher, by taking on the responsibility, will ensure all of his or her children WILL learn. Harriett did it, and the actual proves the possible. And she was fond of saying if her two protégés could do it, who are whiter than snow and one of whom can’t keep a beat to save his life (that would be Dave ), then the actual most certainly proves the possible. Hundreds and soon to be thousands of children are going to and through college, because of this mindset shift that Harriett taught us, and we in turn have taught other teachers and school leaders to follow in her lead. 

More children yearning to breathe free, graduating from college.

More children believing in the possible.

More of us, the adults, believing in the possible.

That, my friends, is Harriett Ball’s legacy.

Thank you, Harriett…whoomp there it is.

Thursday’s State of the Schools was a humbling and powerful experience. More than 130 people joined Duncan Klussmann (Spring Branch ISD Superintendent) and KIPPsters Ajibola Bodunrin (Class of 2014) and Vanessa Ramirez (Class of 2002) to hear where we had been and where we are  today.

To hear Ajibola, an 8^th grader from KIPP Polaris Academy, talk about his boarding school and college plans was a strong reminder of the opportunities that exist for children who are taught to reach for the stars.

And Gema Porras Funez brought us back to earth sharing her testimonial in a video of her path through KIPP, St. John’s, and UofH Downtown to become a world history teacher at KIPP 3D Academy. She reminded everyone that if 300 KIPPsters help 300 people, then 90,000 are better off than they were. And if those 90,000 each help 300 others, 27 million people are on a path towards fulfilling lives…and when those 27 million help 300, well, 8.1 billion people have been touched and we have fixed the planet…and she is doing it every day.  Here’s the video of her story.

Then Duncan Klussmann’s thoughtful consideration of what all schools can learn from each other reminded me how much progress we really are making towards the tipping point—the day when we can truly claim ALL of our children are well.

And Vanessa Ramirez brought us home, reminding us of the passion and determination that we saw in her eyes in 1994. If you haven’t heard Vanessa tell her story before, check her out at the KIPP Generations’ Groundbreaking last spring.

And somewhere in there, I shared our past, where we are today, and the work we still have left to do. Here’s what Jennifer Radcliffe wrote about the State of the Schools in the Houston Chronicle. Watch our highlight video of the event.

Thank you, Ajibola, Gema, Duncan, and Vanessa for believing and being the change.

Two kids are more than one, and one parent is less than two…how’s that for deep and prophetic thoughts? KIPP has tried to be empathetic since the beginning about how hard it is for a single parent to raise his/her child(ren), especially when that parent is a working parent…and especially when there are no other family members in the same city, state, or even country to help. This is why from the beginning at KIPP we visited the homes of our students and parents, why we gave them our phone numbers, and why we spoke about –and lived –our role as partners with parents in educating their children. We were right to view the single parent’s job as extra challenging, but understanding and living this reality are two different things.

As I came up for air with my wife Colleen’s triumphant return after 4 days on the road (the kids were very happy to see her), my respect, appreciation, and admiration for our single parents increased even more. As I fed Abadit while looking through Gus’s folder and asking him how his day was in school, I found myself thinking that teaching 70 kids “Thinking Skills” in a classroom was easier.  I still want our parents to sign homework tickets and check agendas every night, but I understand a little bit better how that fits in with everything else they are juggling.

We have been talking a lot at the leadership level about the importance of empathy. For those of us who believe we have it, that’s great, but keep in mind your empathy, like other skills and knowledge, can still grow. I hope we will continue to exercise our empathetic perspectives with our children, our parents, and with each other.

I wanted to share some sobering news from a NY Times article on Tuesday on college completion.  The numbers aren’t pretty, and here’s an excerpt about our Lone Star State:

The numbers are stark: In Texas, for example, of every 100 students who enrolled in a public college, 79 started at a community college, and only 2 of them earned a two-year degree on time; even after four years, only 7 of them graduated. Of the 21 of those 100 who enrolled at a four-year college, 5 graduated on time; after eight years, only 13 had
earned a degree.

More specifically:

1.  Our state’s community college system has less than a 9% graduation rate after 4 years (reminder this is a 2-year degree; 2.5% graduated on time after 2 years)
2. Our state’s 4-year public college/university system has a 62% graduation rate after 8 years (24% graduated on time in 4 years)

And then there’s this challenge:

Among older students, as well as those who are awarded Pell grants, and black and Hispanic students, the report said, fewer than one in five of those attending college part time will earn a degree in six years.

“Time is the enemy of college completion,” the report said. “The longer it takes, the more life gets in the way of success.”

And finally:

Another factor is the large number of students mired in noncredit remedial classes that the report calls the “Bermuda Triangle” of higher education. Half of all students studying for an associate degree, and one in five of those seeking a bachelor’s degree — including many who graduated from high school with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, previous research has shown — are required to take remedial, or “developmental” courses, and many of them never move on to credit-bearing courses, much less graduation.

This is why we do what we do.  We know it does not have to be this way, and those stats aren’t chiseled in stone.  Transforming those stats, though, is incredibly difficult, swim-upstream-everyday type of work.  Possible, yet hard, for both our children and for us as their teachers.

And we have seen our graduating classes get better with time with their college completion rates, as if they have an existing path to follow up the mountain from the prior trailblazers.

So just know it’s working, and that your work every single day – coupled with our older KIPPsters’ success getting to and through college – is helping transform this article into an interesting piece of our history but not our reality.

Keep plowing,

Mike

Full New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/education/27remediation.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=college%20completion&st=cse

The Promise of College Completion: KIPP’s Early Successes and Challenges from April 28, 2011.