There are still several weeks left in 2011, but it is time to start cataloging some of the accomplishments of the past year.

Despite some hefty surprises and unbelievable setbacks, the 2011 ledger will show a positive and productive year. The personal high — the birth of my daughter Harper — can’t be matched by any professional feta, but it was a great year. In addition to a raft of business milestones and editorial triumphs, I am particularly proud of our philanthropic contributions during the past calendar year.

• Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross overcame rain to fill the riverfront with headliners Tonic and John Michael Montgomery.
• We sponsored the “Holiday with Heart” event at the Toledo Club, a sold-out event which benefited AIDS and HIV organizations in the local gay and lesbian community. We are also sponsoring this year’s event, set for Dec. 3.
• Toledo Free Press initiated a private fundraising drive that brought in $12,000 for the Toledo Symphony Orchestra trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City, which nullified a request for the funds from taxpayers.
• “Education Champions,” a news series that highlighted local Toledo Public Schools projects and resulted in a multimedia awareness campaign that culminated in WGTE’s literacy program, First Book, winning a grant from the United Way.
• “Restaurant Week Toledo,” which involved more than 16 restaurants and raised funds for Leadership Toledo’s high school scholarship program. We will launch this again in late January.
• We partnered with and facilitated a Columbia Gas of Ohio program that provided free or reduced-cost programmable thermostats, showerheads and home energy audits.
• The “Egypt Experience” and Artoberfest promotions with the Toledo Museum of Art were highlights of our friendship with the museum.
• We participated in our first Arts Commission Art Walk series, which led to our sponsorship of the “Zygote in My Fez” poetry festival.
• Toledo Free Press co-sponsored a Red Cross program, “Ready U,” a 12-month educational series that offered free sessions on a variety of safety and disaster-preparedness topics. The second “Ready U” series is under way.
• Our  “Round Up Hunger” series focusing on Feed Lucas County Children resulted in a fundraising campaign through Walt Churchill’s Markets.
• We co-sponsored a Banned Books Week awareness series at the University of Toledo to fight censorship. This was our fifth year with the event.
• The Northwest Ohio Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society honored our work at a magnificent event in October.

The Ohio Society for Professional Journalists award for Best Weekly Newspaper in Ohio, our third consecutive such honor, capped our year.

This is not a definitive list, but we are grateful for each and every one of these partnerships and opportunities. We take none of them for granted and hope to expand upon them moving forward.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: Artoberfest, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Banned Books Week, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Education Champions, Feed Lucas County Children, Holiday with Heart, John Michael Montgomery, Leadership Toledo, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Publisher's Statement, Ready U, Red Cross, Restaurant Week Toledo, Round Up Hunger, Smoke on the Water, Toledo Free Press, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Public Schools, Toledo Symphony Orchetsra, Tom Pounds, Tonic, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Friday, November 18th, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion, Publisher's Statement.
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Chad Kolebuck, principal of Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys off Dorr Street, arrives at work two hours before school starts. He has plenty of prep work, but that’s not his sole reason for being there early; he makes sure he is there because so many parents will drop off their kids, leaving them to stand outside the locked doors. Kolebuck has often found himself at the school more than two hours after classes have been dismissed, staying with students whose parents leave them at the building until well after the last classroom light has been turned off.

The Scott feeder school, built in 2009, is well-lit, open and a marvelous example of efficient use of space. On the inside, it still feels new and hopeful and encouraging. On the outside, the building, which houses kindergarten through fifth grade (it will expand through eighth grade next year), is bordered by several abandoned and boarded-up houses and a liquor/convenience store phonetically named “Dis ‘n’ Dat.” The school is planted squarely between two gang corners; many of its students walk an unimaginable gantlet every day.

On March 29, I spent the morning at MLK in a Partners in Education program as a “Principal for a Day.” I job-shadowed Kolebuck, 39, and dean Willie Ward as they patrolled the halls and managed the ebb and flow of the morning.

Kolebuck said 98 percent of the school’s 275 students depend on the school for breakfast. As they line up, Kolebuck walks among them, asking them to remove their hats, to stand up straight. He gently admonishes those who fail to respond to his “Good morning” greeting and makes sure those who are introduced to me offer a firm handshake.

The students can choose from fruit, various cereals and other breakfast options. When two young boys arrive just before class starts, Kolebuck shoos them toward class. Then, he stops and calls back to them.

“Have you two eaten yet?” he asks. When both boys say no, Kolebuck walks them toward the cafeteria and makes sure they can grab food before their day begins.

Many of the students at MLK wear belts, socks, coats, and clothes the school and its supporters have provided. Most of the students are dressed appropriately for the weather, but it is easy to spot the ones who are coming in cold or could use better-fitting clothes.

As the first hour of the day passes, Kolebuck interacts with close to 80 students, and knows the names of every one. When he passes a group, he will often call, “Boys of destiny,” which results in a proud response of “Men of distinction!” from the boys. That is the crux of the school’s mantra, along with an emphasis on respect and building relationships.

In addition to basic food and clothing needs, the school deals with countless challenges that fall outside the realm of reading, writing and arithmetic. Ward estimates about one-third of the school’s students use school-provided asthma inhalers, because their home environments are filled with smoke and other toxins. He also discussed an ongoing issue with several students who are given a bottle of Coca-Cola to slam down for breakfast at home.

“That caffeine hits those little bodies and creates an incontinence problem,” Kolebuck said. “They can’t always give voice to the specific issue so they end up in the nurse’s office.”

The issue of parental responsibility — or lack thereof — permeates nearly every factor of life at MLK. For many students, attendance is a problem. Lack of support and follow-up at home is a problem. One student had missed accumulated weeks of school; Kolebuck and Ward theorized the fifth grader was being kept at home to help his parent with younger siblings.

Word of MLK’s success is spreading; in the few hours I trailed Kolebuck, six applications for students seeking transfers in were received. Observing a few classrooms makes it easy to see why the school is reaching students. The classrooms I observed had invested and engaged teachers, volunteers and “foster grandparents” to keep the kids focused on their lessons, plus computers and technology that acts like Smartboards. I witnessed an atmosphere designed to make every student feel cared for and cared about.

I have avoided describing Kolebuck and Ward for fear of hyping them as larger-than-life educators; they have enough issues to deal with; they do not need an interloper to mythologize their efforts. But the two men can walk out to face a gang of red-shirted Bloods and keep them away from school property, then spend time trying to figure out why a normally good student is calling for attention by defacing school property; that suggests a combination of physical toughness and intellectual gentleness usually found in Hollywood heroes, not elementary school administrators.

That same day, I spoke at the reception for the conclusion of the United Way/Toledo Free Press/”Bridges” series, “Education Champions.” I oversaw every story in the 12-part series, and was often stunned by the facts and situations they contained. But to walk the halls of MLK and see the promise of that series brought to life by Kolebuck and Ward exponentially increased my faith in the human ability to overcome the most depressing and limiting challenges.

I reflected many times that day — and every day since — on how blessed my sons are, and how determined my wife and I are to make sure they will have — and appreciate — every advantage of love and support we can provide.

God bless them all. Boys of destiny. Men of distinction.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Email him at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: 13abc, Bill Kitson, Bridges, Doni Miller, Education Champions, Lighting The Fuse, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Boys, Michael S. Miller, Partners in Education, Toledo Public Schools, United Way

This entry was posted on Friday, April 1st, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Lighting The Fuse, Opinion.
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WGTE’s literacy program, First Book, was announced as the recipient of a $1,000 grant from United Way of Greater Toledo at a reception March 29.

Twelve area organizations competed for the award via a 72-hour online poll between March 25 and March 28. More than 900 people voted, said Bill Kitson, president and CEO of United Way.

The programs were spotlighted in Toledo Free Press’ recently completed 12-part “Education Champions” series, a partnership with United Way and Doni Miller of 13abc’s “Bridges” program. The reception was hosted at United Way by Columbia Gas of Ohio.

Kathy Smith, WGTE’s director of early learning and outreach, accepted the check on behalf of First Book, crediting a social networking campaign for rallying enough support to emerge the top vote-getter in what Kitson said was a tight race

“First Book is just a simple program that provides new storybooks to kids who would ordinarily not have the opportunity to own a book of their own,” Smith said. “This will just mean we’ll be able to buy more books and serve more kids.”

So far this school year, the program has distributed 2,151 books through 13 partner organizations in Lucas, Ottawa and Wood counties, mainly to low-income children ages 3 to 5.

From left, Bill Kitson of United Way; Chris Kozak of Columbia Gas of Ohio; Tom Pounds, Toledo Free Press Publisher; WGTE’s Kathy Smith; Doni Miller of 13abc’s ‘Bridges’ and Michael S. Miller, Toledo Free Press editor in chief.

Smith said the online voting process brought the program to the attention of many people who hadn’t been aware of it, including one person interested in starting a similar program in Cleveland.

The $1,000 was provided by United Way’s education committee, one of the organization’s Community Solutions teams.

“It comes out of our allocated fund that we’ve raised from the community,” said Pat Holmberg, volunteer chairperson of the committee. “We thought this was an extraordinarily worthwhile, important adventure to see how it worked.”

The Education Champions series, launched in January, spotlighted a variety of community educational initiatives, including after-school programs, teen pregnancy prevention initiatives, an in-school mobile dentistry program and more.

“We tried to show how despite the economic challenges, despite the crushing realities you are going through, there is still progress being made one student at a time — that’s what we wanted to celebrate,” said Michael S. Miller, editor in chief of Toledo Free Press, at the gathering. Miller said that while the contest is done, Toledo Free Press will continue spotlighting the issue under the “Education Champions” banner.

13abc’s Doni Miller said she was impressed by all the programs.

“I thought I knew an awful lot about Toledo. I’m around a lot, know a lot of people, see a lot of things going on, but I was amazed at some of the things you all are doing very quietly and very effectively,” Doni Miller said. “You’re finding ways to make your resources work for the betterment of these kids.”

Kitson said education is the community’s most important pressing issue and United Way’s No. 1 priority.

“We’re excited about the momentum that’s building around education in our community,” Kitson said. “To all our education partners, for the hard work you’re doing every single day: Thank you so, so much. It really was special to be able to tell your stories.”

Tags: 13abc, Bill Kitson, Bridges, Chris Kozak, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Doni Miller, Education Champions, First Book, Kathy Smith, Michael S. Miller, Toledo Free Press, Tom Pounds, United Way, WGTE

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 31st, 2011 at 5:55 pm and is filed under Community, Education Champions.
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Listed below is a link to each one of the 12 programs featured in the Education Champions series sponsored by Toledo Free Press, United Way of Greater Toledo and 13abc’s “Bridges” with Doni Miller. In addition to the links to the individual stories in the series, is our online voting system where you can pick which one of the 12 programs you believe should be selected as the winner of a $1,000 grant from United Way.

1. Program helps pregnant teens with prenatal care – Lucas County Initiative to Improve Birth Outcomes, informally known as Pathways
2. Successful approach to learning lacks district-wide implementation in TPS – East Side Central Elementary School SEL Program
3. CLIPP provides kindergarten readiness – CLIPP, Collaborative Learning and Instructional Pre-school Project
4. Sherman Boys & Girls Club lifts scores, attendance, pride – Sherman Elementary Boys & Girls Club
5. YWCA works to lower teen pregnancy rates – YWCA Pregnancy Prevention Program
6. Program fights harmful ‘student mobility’ – The Stable Families Collaborative
7. High school students given chance at college before graduation – Toledo Early College High School
8. Youth learn from hands-on garden program – Toledo GROWs and CITE
9. Parents address concerns – Parents in Action Coalition
10. WGTE program aids early literacy education – First Book
11. The Learning Club helps struggling students succeed – The Learning Club of Toledo
12. Program keeps smiles on students – Mobile Dental Program

Voting will begin March 25 at noon and end March 28 at noon. Results, including the number of votes, will be released after the conclusion of the voting.

Voting is now closed, any votes recorded while the voting system formally closes out the question will not be counted. To preserve the accuracy of the votes recorded to determine the winner, a screen shot of the vote tally was taken at noon on March 28. The winner will be announced on March 29 at the United Way of Greater Toledo during their “Education Champions – An evening sponsored by Columbia Gas” event that is set to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Tags: Community, Education Champions

This entry was posted on Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 11:03 am and is filed under Community, Education Champions.
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Editor’s Note: Toledo Free Press, United Way of Greater Toledo and 13abc’s “Bridges” with Doni Miller are profiling 12 education initiative programs in Northwest Ohio. This is the 11th story in the series.

The Learning Club of Toledo helps about 250 struggling students succeed in school each year, building students’ confidence along the way.

Through seven programs at various locations throughout Toledo, the Learning Club fosters a sense of accomplishment and pride in what students can contribute by becoming independent learners, said Executive Director Deborah Apgar.

Apgar is also the director of the program, which is housed at the Zablocki Senior Center on Lagrange Street. Each site is set up the same way, from the table arrangement to the schedule of the session to the soothing classical music, she said.

Apgar said she tries to create an environment in first grade through high school where students can thrive, based on social and emotional learning.

“From the moment they walk through the door, it’s all about choices and consequences,” Apgar said.

Children earn points for their work, tests and bringing in their report cards and progress reports. They can then use those points to “shop” at the store — a table set up with different items that interest the students.

That connection between earning and learning provides a jump-start for students who are falling behind in school because of a lack of basic skills and a lack of motivation.

Even though the store is available at the end of each session, students who save their points to buy the more expensive things can earn interest points, similar to a bank account.

The more correct math problems and properly spelled words, the more points a student will receive.

“It is the driving force initially, but as they [progress], they become self-motivated,” Apgar said.

Shane, a fourth-grader who has been coming to the Learning Club for several years, said he likes the Learning Club better than school because at school there is “too much talking and too much fighting at recess,” he said.

He only has 55 points now, but he said, “I want 1,000.”

Each program serves 28 students. All five sites — Redeemer Lutheran Church, Warren AME Church, Imani Learning Academy, Monroe Street United Methodist Church and the Zablocki Senior Center — donate the space for sessions held two nights a week.

“It’s a beautiful story of all these faith communities working together,” Apgar said. “They all work together to serve kids in the community.”

Each program has state-licensed teachers, education majors from the University of Toledo and student tutors to monitor and help. They try to have a 1-3 teacher/student ratio.

“So many diverse people coming together through one purpose — helping children succeed,” Apgar said.

The Learning Club uses an individualized approach, starting with a skills assessment so that students are given books to work at their own level. The books are numbered, but the numbers do not coincide with grade levels so students do not know what grade level their book represents.

This method lets students feel proud knowing that they have mastered their book and can move on to the next one, without worrying about what books their peers are on. Since each student works independently, each can work at his or her own pace.

“It starts changing your attitude about yourself,” Apgar said. “It builds confidence.”

Even though most children who come have some behavioral problems, Apgar said, the problems work themselves out as the children continue with the program.

“We stress attitude a lot,” she said. “That’s why they are greeted at the door. That sets a tone of ‘Hi, I’m happy to see you. We’re a team.’ It’s a very supportive program.”

The Learning Club’s goal is to see each child’s aptitude level in math and reading increase at least one grade level.

Last year, students exceeded the organization’s goal. The average grade level increase in math and reading was 1.25.

Through constant repetition of material, one fourth-grade student who came in at a pre-kindergarten level has now moved beyond her grade level, Apgar said.

“There’s nothing better than to see a child get out of their book,” Apgar said. It’s exciting to tell them “throw it out. You don’t need it anymore!”

One-third of funding for the program comes from United Way and the other two-thirds from foundations, corporations and individuals, or, as Apgar said, “wherever I can find a way of figuring out where it will come from.”

The Zablocki Senior Center program is funded separately through the Mental Health Recovery Services Board because many of the children there use its services.

About one-third of students come back to the Learning Club after their first year. Many times, once parents see what it has done for their child, they want to continue seeing that growth. Plus, if students come early, they can receive homework help.

“Parents really value this service,” Apgar said.

As the end of the school year nears inside the Zablocki Senior Center, it’s difficult to believe that some students there have severe neurological and emotional issues. It’s a calm room where teachers play classical music; students sit at tables doing their work without talking to one another and patiently raise their hand when they need help.

One is an autistic second-grader who once needed constant attention. Another young student used to be so afraid that he would hide underneath tables. Now, both sit and work independently and quietly.

“It takes this whole little room of nurturers to make them feel comfortable,” Apgar said.

Tags: Community, Education Champions, United Way

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 24th, 2011 at 6:18 pm and is filed under Community, Education Champions.
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Editor’s Note: Toledo Free Press, United Way of Greater Toledo and 13abc’s “Bridges” with Doni Miller are profiling 12 education initiative programs in Northwest Ohio. This is the 12th story in the series.

Dr. Michael Stubblefield

“Can you please fix my teeth?” the little girl asked the dentist who had come to her school, and he was happy to oblige. It’s times like those — a recent exchange with an area kindergarten student — that remind Dr. Michael Stubblefield why he does what he does.

“She had 12 to 13 areas of active decay, easily twice as many as I usually see, and she knew she had issues,” said Stubblefield, public health dentist at the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, which operates a mobile dental program at low-income schools. “It’s almost heartbreaking when you see a child that small and they have serious issues.”

The health department’s mobile dental program has two parts: a school-based sealant program and a school-based clinic program. The programs set up portable dental offices inside a school, where they remain for a few days to several weeks, depending on the size of the school and response from parents.

The 23-year-old sealant program, which places sealants on molars to help prevent cavities, operates in about 60 Lucas and Wood county schools, including 36 Toledo Public Schools (TPS) elementary schools, seven TPS middle schools, eight Washington Local schools and two charter schools, said Dental Program Supervisor Barbara Stichter. It recently expanded for the first time into Rossford, Oregon and Springfield schools.

The 10-year-old clinic program operates in TPS schools, providing services like X-rays, cleanings, fillings, fluoride treatments and simple extractions. In 2010, the mobile clinic program saw about 1,200 students, Stichter said.

The programs are funded through Ohio Department of Health grants. To qualify, 40 percent or more of students must be eligible for free or reduced lunches. If a school qualifies, all students are eligible for dental services. About 50 percent of students elect to participate, Stichter said. The services are free to students, but Medicaid and other insurances are billed to help cover the cost.

“The whole benefit of what we’re trying to do for that family is introduce them to dentistry and lead them to a dental home,” Stichter said. “We’re not trying to be in the schools to be their dentists. We’re trying to take care of immediate problems, get them used to seeing a dentist and then get them into a stable dental home where they can go every six months to get cleanings.”

Tooth decay is the most common childhood disease, Stubblefield said.

“It’s something that even with advances in prevention, the decay rate has actually gone up,” he said, a likely factor being poor eating habits, especially excessive consumption of pop and candy.

Poor dental health can affect a student’s performance in school, Stubblefield said.

“A toothache is one of the worst pains you can imagine and you’re expected to function in class, which is next to impossible,” he said.

By providing school-based dental care, more children receive needed services, stay in school and have greater academic success, Stichter said.

“It boils down to a kid that feels well stays in school and if a kid can’t concentrate because of their health, they’re certainly not going to do well,” Stichter said. “A kid that’s not in pain means better attendance and that is going to make for a better student.”

Children from low-income families miss nearly 12 times as many school days because of dental problems compared with children in higher-income families, said Kate Sommerfeld, health specialist at the United Way of Greater Toledo.

Other local agencies, including the Neighborhood Health Association and the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio, also play important roles in connecting kids to dental service, but the health department’s program is noteworthy because it is school-based, Sommerfeld said.

School-based programs override the common barriers of cost, transportation or not knowing where to go, Stichter said. Some parents think it’s not necessary to care for baby teeth. Others have lost jobs or insurance.

“It’s hugely important because a lot of these kids just plain and simple don’t go. I’ve had lots of teachers approach me about kids in pain for months. They’re missing entire days of school,” Stichter said.

Oral hygiene is also reviewed with each student, Stubblefield said.

“A lot of these kids were never taught the right way to brush and floss,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to not be needed. I doubt that’s going to happen, but you do the best you can.”

Tags: Community, Education Champions, United Way

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 24th, 2011 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Community, Education Champions.
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Editor’s Note: Toledo Free Press, United Way of Greater Toledo and 13abc’s “Bridges” with Doni Miller are profiling 12 education initiative programs in Northwest Ohio. This is the 10th story in the series.

Imagine a child entering kindergarten not knowing how to hold a book or turn its pages, or not knowing that text is read left to right, top to bottom.

That is the situation some area students find themselves in, but an early literacy program run by WGTE aims to ensure kids are getting the literary exposure they need to start school right.

First Book gives away about 2,850 books each year, mainly to children ages 3 to 5, said Kathy Smith, WGTE’s director of early learning and outreach.

“What it really is at its root is putting books in the hands of kids who normally would not have the opportunity to own a book of their own,” Smith said. “If you don’t know [how a book works] when you come to kindergarten then you have to learn that before you can even begin to learn what letters are, or what they sound like, or what letters rhyme, or what a word actually means.”

From kindergarten through third grade, children are learning to read, but from fourth grade on, they are reading to learn, Smith said.

“If they are not fairly fluent by the beginning of fourth grade, it’s really easy to shut down and not be successful in school and in life,” Smith said. “It’s critical that kids come to school with some skills to build on so they can really hit the ground running.”

WGTE partners with organizations that work with low-income families, stipulating that at least 75 percent of the children receiving books be living at or below the poverty level, Smith said.

Since September, First Book has distributed 2,151 books through 13 organizations in Lucas, Ottawa and Wood counties.

WGTE does more than just give books away, however. At each presentation, which happens twice a year, WGTE also does a literary activity called a “story stretcher,” Smith said. For example, a book about a duckling might also include watching a TV program about ducks, drawing pictures of ducks or taking a field trip to watch them swim, she said.

“It’s that ‘read, view, do’ format we do a lot because children learn in a variety of ways,” Smith said. “There needs to be some way to make that story come alive for children.”

Each child is also sent home with an activity sheet developed by WGTE that corresponds with their new book. The activity sheet is meant to involve parents in the reading process, prompting questions to ask while reading and ideas for related projects using common household items.

WGTE has activity sheets for more than 200 books, which are available on its website. Local nonprofit Adelante has translated some of them into Spanish, said WGTE’s School Readiness Specialist Sally Brinkman.

Research has shown that children in low-income families are exposed to significantly fewer words than children in middle- or high-income families, Smith said. Books introduce new vocabulary as well as allow for quality time together, she said.

“This is sometimes a way for parents and children to experience a little time together that’s more than just business language, like ‘Go to bed,’ ‘Brush your teeth, ‘Let the dog out,’” Smith said.

Many times, even if parents can’t read, older brothers and sisters will read to younger siblings so the program improves the reading fluency of older children as well, Smith said.

First Book was started in the mid-1990s, federally funded through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. When that funding ended, United Way stepped up.

“We had to scale the program back, but we felt that it was too valuable to not do it at all,” Smith said.

The program operates on $12,700 in funding — $7,700 from United Way and $5,000 from Owens-Illinois — at a cost of about $5 per child, Smith said.

One of First Book’s partner organizations is the East Toledo Family Center. Cheryl Amborski, child care coordinator for the preschool, said the children always look forward to getting their books.

“You can see the excitement when they say ‘I get to take this home? It belongs to me?’” Amborski said. “So many in our community don’t have the opportunity to get books; they’re worried about buying groceries. This gives them that extra contact with books. If it’s a library book, you might read it once, but when it’s yours, you have the opportunity to read it over and over. It helps to have that repetition.”

For more information, visit www.wgte.org or contact Smith at kathy_smith@wgte.org or (419) 380-4638.

Tags: Bridges, Doni Miller, Education Champions, Toledo Free Press, United Way, WGTE

This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2011 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Community, Education Champions.
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When we launched the “Education Champions” series in mid-January, we hoped to present a picture of Toledo Public Schools (TPS) that showcased the forest and the trees. It was important to illustrate that TPS has great success stories that triumph in a time of great financial challenges.

We joined forces with the United Way of Greater Toledo and Doni Miller of 13abc’s “Bridges” program to celebrate the work and results of some special and dedicated people.

We have witnessed the impact of the Lucas County Initiative to Improve Birth Outcomes, the social and emotional learning process, the Collaborative Learning and Instructional Pre-school Project, the Stable Families Collaborative, Toledo GROWs and other outside-the-box programs and initiatives.

We have met extraordinary educators who refuse to quit even as they face increasingly difficult conditions and we have seen how they improve lives in demonstrable ways.

Upon publication of the final two “Education Champions” stories on March 27, we hope you will participate in a 48-hour vote at www.toledofreepress.com that will determine which of the highlighted programs will receive a $1,000 grant from the United Way of Greater Toledo at a March 29 reception sponsored by Columbia Gas of Ohio.

Now, one week before the last installment of the original 12-part series, we marvel at how fast time can fly by, and realize that a brief 12-part series is nowhere near enough space to fully explore this topic; scores of readers have nominated people and programs that merit equal attention.

Therefore, “Education Champions” will continue to be a regular feature in these pages as we progress through 2011 and accompany TPS officials on their difficult and unenviable journey.

Other local publications are following our lead by announcing their own education series; that increased attention will further serve to spotlight the ideas and implementations we began back in January, and we welcome their efforts to contribute to the ongoing education conversation.

We owe great thanks to United Way, 13abc, Columbia Gas of Ohio and everyone who contributed to the series so far.

There is a lot to be learned, and when it comes to devoting resources to this crucial topic, we intend to continue to be with those at the head of the class.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: 13abc, Bridges, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Doni Miller, Education Champions, Publisher's Statement, Toledo Free Press, Toledo Public Schools, Tom Pounds, United Way

This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion, Publisher's Statement.
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Editor’s Note: Toledo Free Press, United Way of Greater Toledo and 13abc’s “Bridges” with Doni Miller are profiling 12 education initiative programs in Northwest Ohio. This is the ninth story in the series.

Parents living in the North End of Toledo came together about three years ago to discuss concerns about their community’s growth and their children’s safety — concerns many parents share. But they wanted to do more than talk — they wanted to take action.

After several meetings, the parents  had a new mission to improve its community and a brainchild was born: the Parents in Action Coalition.

The group approached Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA) community coordinator Norma Pittman, who helped organize the members.

As a licensed social worker, she was able to work with parents to spread the word since she was already involved with the housing units in that area. It spread by word of mouth, but the best publicity for its activities now are the fliers the members take door-to-door, Pittman said.

She had already been organizing some programs, but the parents wanted to organize some programs, too.

“It was resident driven, they just needed someone to get it together,” Pittman said.

All of the parents involved are residents of LMHA. While it is still evolving and in its early stages, Pittman said, Parents in Action has given the LMHA residents involved a sense of community support, especially because the programs and events occur so close to where they live.

Parents in Action has been able to provide education programs and activities for youth, such as “Safe Night” on Halloween. Kids are able to dress up and enjoy themselves in a safe environment, Pittman said, and parents can enjoy the activities.

They also coordinate with Chase STEM School for various events. One of the most positive impacts of the coalition is the fact that they are setting up positive outlets through their activities, Pittman said. Plus, the activities are not only for kids and parents.

The group has various programs for teens that focus on sexual health and pregnancy prevention, the importance of education and growing into well-rounded individuals.

“We want to raise the consciousness of young people,” Pittman said. “We’re giving them a safe environment to talk about issues on their minds.”

For young adults, both female and male, the group has a program that talks to residents about how the media affects their life, even when they do not realize it. Pittman said the group reviews popular song lyrics and the meanings behind them.

Parents in Action also sponsors adult workshops on topics such as obtaining a GED and dealing with domestic violence. It is also starting senior programs. Pittman said she loves being a part of Parents in Action because she gets to see the progress and growth of the teens and youth as they learn their passions and purposes.

Tags: Bridges, Doni Miller, Education Champions, Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority, Parents in Action Coalition, Toledo Free Press, Toledo Public Schools, United Way

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 12th, 2011 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Community, Education Champions.
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Editor’s Note: Toledo Free Press, United Way of Greater Toledo and 13abc’s “Bridges” with Doni Miller are profiling 12 education initiative programs in Northwest Ohio. This is the eighth story in the series.

A partnership between the Toledo Botanical Garden and the Lucas County Juvenile Justice System’s programs helps youth learn skills they’ll need for a successful future.

Toledo GROWs together with Community Integration for Training and Employment (CITE) connects youth with positive mentors while they learn valuable job skills and help the community.

The program’s entrance is based on court referral, as well as an interview process. Those in the job readiness program must also have a stable place to live, practice a drug-free lifestyle and proceed with an education plan.

Eric Jones

The partnership began in 2001 and expanded in September 2009 to include a new re-entry program.

The goal of the programs are for those enrolled to find jobs in the community so they can take care of themselves and not end up in the “revolving door” of the adult justice system,  said Charlie Johnson, director of the CITE program.

“We help kids identify their natural abilities so they can develop them further,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to take them in 16 weeks from no skills to a technical job or semi-skill job level. We want them to begin to understand what their abilities are and for them to develop a curiosity and interest in improving themselves.”

Both CITE and the new re-entry program focus on similar things, but the re-entry program is aimed at higher level offenders who have just been released from incarceration. The regular CITE program deals with those on probation, Johnson said.

Other differences between the two are the average age of individuals in the program and their length of time within the program.

The regular CITE program has younger kids, with the average age being 16 years old, and they’re in the program for 10 weeks. While in the re-entry program, the typical age of individuals enrolled is 17 to 18 years old and their program is 16 weeks.

Eric Jones said his future has gotten better because of the Toledo GROWs/CITE re-entry program.

“I never thought I’d be doing anything like this. They certainly don’t teach you any of these things in school,” he said. “Working with my peers and the job training coaches teaches you a lot; from responsibility to coming to work on time, just taking steps toward being a responsible man in life.”

After attending the re-entry program, Jones was hired in January as a junior leader. In addition, the 18-year-old is attending Owens Community College where he is studying social work.

Jones said he’d like to start a similar program for youth after he retires, because the experience is beneficial.

Kids in the partnership programs work at different Toledo GROWs sites which provide them with experiential learning, said Michael Szuberla, Toledo GROWs manager.

“Usually in the classroom you only use a pencil.  Your hands get a lot more dirty here,” Jones said.

Those within the programs have helped build a greenhouse, chicken coops, picnic tables and a self-contained aquatic ecosystem.

The youth also learn responsibility through taking care of chickens, genetics from breeding rabbits and complex systems from maintaining bee hives, Szuberla said.

The setup of the programs allows the students to learn from their mistakes, as no grades are given out. However, students are evaluated every two weeks on a checklist of skills by their job trainer to help measure progress.

“Knowing how to use a tape measure involves exact measurement, mathematical formulas, fractions, addition and  multiplication, all the basic kinds of math…If you’re building a chicken coop and it’s an inch and a half off you’re going to see that right away. It’s going to be a visual and for some of the kids that is the best way they learn,” Johnson said.

Szuberla said one day after a certified electrician came to help the students install lighting in a chicken coop, one student told him it was time for him to learn algebra.

“In the classroom this seems detached and irrelevant to the kids,” he said. “[Here they see] if you want to be an electrician, you have to know math; a plumber, math; a gardener, chemistry. Suddenly when the kids get goals and plans and can see themselves three years down the road doing a particular career, they are going to be willing to do the learning.”

Students learn not only integrated math skills and to use different tools through the programs, but more importantly they learn how to show up on time, work in a team and follow directions, Johnson said.

“You can talk to kids about getting a job and what it takes to get a job.  You can teach them how to fill out a resume and do mock interviews. Getting up at 6 a.m. so you can be on the job site at 7:30 or 8 is a skill that won’t be learned in the classroom,” Johnson said.

In addition to helping youth, the Toledo GROWs/CITE program and re-entry program are cost-effective. Those enrolled in the program work roughly 20 hours a week for minimum wage. For the16 week re-entry program the cost is roughly $4,600 a youth, Szuberla said.

It costs $60,000 to incarcerate a juvenile for one year.

“It’s very cheap compared to the alternative where the community has a really high price tag,” he said. “Plus, it’s a job for the kids. They get a check from the Botanical Garden and they’re building up their resume. It’s really huge for them to be able to put three contacts down that aren’t related to them.”

Funding for the collaboration comes from grants, private donations and earned income from products grown or constructed.

Toledo GROWs/CITE plan on building a training center near its greenhouse to expand its joint programs. The center would be constructed by the students with assistance from some professionals. The estimated cost for the project is roughly $225,000, Szuberla said.

It’s too soon to judge the success of the re-entry program since it’s only had two complete groups, Johnson said. However, the program has had some unsuccessful students mostly because the kids didn’t show up or make a commitment to the program, he said.

“We really never fire anybody, they fire us. They quit on themselves, we don’t quit on them,” Johnson said.

Some of those who’ve quit the re-entry program have come back and utilized other CITE services.

“Part of the issue is timing. A kid when he’s 17 may not be ready, but when he’s 17-and-a half or 18 he might be more ready,” Johnson said.

Tags: Bridges, Doni Miller, Education Champions, Lucas County Juvenile Justice System, Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo Free Press, Toledo GROWS, United Way

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 8:37 am and is filed under Community, Education, Education Champions, Uncategorized.
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