Issue Date: August 14, 2005

In this article: Ways to get started

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIAL REPORT

5 parents pitch in to make a difference

Meet real-life people like you doing extraordinary things to make sure their kids get the best education possible.

By Dennis McCafferty

Last year, USA WEEKEND Magazine presented the stories of parents around the country who were making an extraordinary impact at their children's schools. Their efforts were not just inspiring, they were instructive, according to the many readers we heard from who said they wanted to learn more. So, in time for the new school year, we went into research-project mode to locate another set of outstanding parent innovators. Once again, their stories provide hands-on examples of how one person, armed with a little energy and a lot of determination, can improve the lives and learning of countless students. To find out how, read on:

Mover and shaker
PARENT: Jennifer Burks, 33, of Salisbury, N.C., a registered nurse and an exercise instructor
WHAT SHE'S DOING: Jump-starting first-graders' days -- and spirits -- with weekly aerobics sessions
Picture this: You walk past a classroom full of first-graders bouncing up and down -- and even kickboxing -- at Hurley Elementary in Salisbury. Don't worry. The teacher hasn't lost control of the kids. They're simply taking part in an aerobics class with class mom Jennifer Burks.

Aerobics for first-graders? For Burks, it's a no-brainer. "The best thing about this is that it gets these kids moving," says Burks, whose 7-year-old daughter, Chloe, was in the class. "The teachers tell me that the students' attention levels are highest on Fridays [the day she volunteers] because of this exercise. And, hopefully, we're getting them into a habit that will last forever."

Like many parents, Burks is alarmed by news reports that say kids are increasingly unfit and obese. So she has brought her talents to Chloe's classroom every Friday morning for a 30- to 40-minute session. She plans to relaunch the classes this year.

Talking to the children about proper nutrition is also part of the effort. "These kids need to be told how to live a healthy lifestyle," Burks says. "At one point, I asked them, 'What's better for you? Four chocolate chip cookies or an apple with peanut butter?' And some of the children honestly did not know the answer."

A tree grown in Lincoln
PARENT: Mike Hillis, 45, of Lincoln, Neb., an event planner, caterer and florist
WHAT HE'S DOING: Introducing children to the wonders of nature via a blooming learning environment
"How do they get the tomato on the vine?"

The question startled Hillis. It was posed to him five years ago when he was volunteering at Beattie Elementary in his daughter's kindergarten classroom. He'd been reading the children a book about gardening.

"These kids had only seen vegetables in the supermarket, packaged in Styrofoam and plastic wrap," he says. "I felt that something important was missing from their lives."

So he went to work. Hillis and his wife, Sally, convinced the local PTO that an outdoor learning environment was an outstanding idea, and he and volunteers raised more than $30,000 to create one. A theme bloomed: The project would be designed like the Platte River, which runs the length of Nebraska. Like the river, the school's front walkway runs east to west, so plant materials along the walkway such as liatris and Nanho Purple butterfly bushes -- as well as native grasses such as little bluestem -- reflect those found along the river. Limestone that forms outcropping along the Platte also lines the front walkway.

Today, students are greeted every day by the cedar-mulched creation, which stretches the length of three city blocks. In the back, there's a contemplation garden, with 20 1-ton boulders scattered throughout, where teachers hold classes.

The outdoor effort has changed things inside, too. For science, children will plant seeds and, based upon each seed's size and weight, make predictions as to how large a vegetable they'll produce. Or, for arts and crafts, they'll collect fallen petals and make a potpourri design out of them. Nutrition awareness also is a large part of the outdoor learning process. "No matter what time of the year it is," Hillis says, "there's always something going on."

Coach in the classroom
PARENT: Eldridge Ellis, 32, of Jackson, Miss., a retail-store assistant manager
WHAT HE'S DOING: Helping third-graders discover reading and writing
While volunteering at his three daughters' elementary school, G.N. Smith, Eldridge Ellis was struck by the lack of needed detail in students' reports. "They'd write in complete sentences," Ellis recalls. "But it was more like, 'It was good' or 'It was fun.' It made me wonder if they were really comprehending what they were reading."

Ellis channeled his volunteer energies into improving kids' reading and writing skills. He enrolled in six days of training with the Parents for Public Schools Leadership Institute in Jackson. Then he met with school administrators to figure out how to apply what he had learned. It was decided he and other parent volunteers would start a writing lab with teachers to help students address specific problems and needs.

"One boy was a bit of a troublemaker in the classroom," Ellis says, "and he was having problems with reading and writing. I was seeing him all the time. Now, his written responses about what he's read are much more elaborative than before. His teachers say that he's acting up a lot less and focusing on his reading and writing much better. They're seeing this in a number of the children now."

Doctor on the field
PARENT: Mark Chilton, 51, of Frederick, Md., an orthopedic surgeon
WHAT'S HE DOING: Making sure needy high school athletes get on the field, thanks to free physicals
Mark Chilton knows what it's like to struggle. He grew up poor in Newport, Pa.; his father died when Chilton was 3. But he always had people to take care of him. He turned out to be a three-sport high school athlete, and when he couldn't afford a jacket on which to wear his letters, his principal bought him one. When he earned an academic scholarship to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., his family didn't have a way to get him to campus. So his basketball coach drove him there.

When Chilton moved to Frederick, Md., in 1986, he decided to give athletes there a helping hand. Never mind that, at the time, he didn't even have children in his local school, Governor Thomas Johnson High. For the past 15 years, athletes who couldn't afford the physical examination required to play sports have known that Chilton comes to campus three times a year to provide it free of charge.

"There are usually 20 students for every season who need this," Chilton says. "They wouldn't be able to play without a free physical. I don't ask any questions. If they come, I take care of them." Chilton is also a regular at the football, basketball and baseball games, volunteering as a team physician.

Chilton is driven by his conviction that sports are about more than playing games. Without them, he believes, he would not have become a doctor. "I got the greatest sense of direction in my life by being a quarterback on my high school team," he says. "It taught me about leadership, working under pressure, decision-making on the spot and teamwork. That's what I deal with on a daily basis now as an orthopedic surgeon. When I'm providing these kids with their physicals, I'm thinking that any of these young people could grow up to benefit throughout life from the same experience."