Professors in Residence (PIR) is a grant-funded program at James Madison University that focuses on promoting education to underprivileged K-12 schools in a two hour radius. JMU professors who volunteer are assigned to a school and meet with students and faculty. The program was formed in 2004 as a diversity outreach program in high schools to reduce minority dropout rates (and increase diversity at JMU), but it was soon concluded that the children needed to be reached prior to high school. PIR is now in middle and high schools in Richmond, D.C., and Waynesboro.
PIR website
I travel to Waynesboro High School every week and think about how much elementary schools would benefit from the program. Unfortunately, PIR is not taking on any more schools because of budget constraints. I am in the process of working toward having the PIR Program implemented in elementary schools, especially the elementary school where my mother teaches fourth grade. It qualifies as an underprivileged school with its 62% free lunch statistic. It is located in an area with approximately an 82% Caucasian population, but the school has a 54% minority population. From my experience volunteering in the school for the past four years, the children can use all of the help that can be provided.
The goal of the PIR Program is to widen the horizons of students and show them that the sky is the limit and that they can go to college. So many students that I have worked with (at the elementary school and at the high school) do not believe that college is within their grasp. At the elementary level, they are not supported at home and as a result; do not see the importance of homework. At the high school level, they are not doing their homework to allow time to work to buy a car or to take care of family matters. Many of their parents are encouraging them to drop out of school to work to pay family bills and care for their siblings.
A growing initiative within the PIR Program is FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams at PIR partner schools. FIRST is a non-profit organization partnered with JMU and is the foundation for Lego robotics teams. Lego robots are programmed to complete missions and teams compete on four levels: a research project, robot performance assessment, robot design, and teamwork. I am new to the FLL domain, but the children really get excited over the technology. They learn to build and program their robot by themselves and their coach is there for support. Finding people to commit time to coaching is a difficult task, but the technology seems to be scaring off a lot of potential coaches.
FLL website
From your experience, teaching in K-12, going through K-12, and/or having children in K-12, do you believe that FLL will promote science and technology for students? How do you propose we help potential coaches ease their technology fears?
Also, from your experience, teaching in K-12, going through K-12, and/or having children in K-12, do you believe that working with elementary (and/or middle and high) school students to show them that “college is possible” will decrease future drop-out rates and increase their interest in education? Why do you believe so and what are your personal experiences?
I have not had any personal experiences with the FLL team. I do know of schools who have participated in similar events throughout the state of Georgia during my undergraduate studies. I believe that any time a child can participate in extracurricular activities the child will benefit in some way. Whether the child learns to be a member of a team or finds out that he/she is passionate about something new. During a student's K-12 education the more than can become involved the better. If they see themselves succeed individually and as a member of the team, then their overall self-esteem will improve. If teachers continue to build on this self-esteem then students will believe more in themselves and will hopefully see that opportunities such as a college education is possible!
ReplyDeleteBy having students believe in themselves at an early age, I think this will decrease the drop-out rate. If the Lego challenge will provide an avenue for children, then I think it would be very beneficial to any grade level. If the technology is the hindering factor for coaches, one could provide a mini-training session to interested individuals. By hosting the training session, their fear of the technology could be eased and more would volunteer for the coaching opportunities.
Overall, I believe that projects and activities such as the FIRST Lego League are very beneficial in the educational world.
I was the FIRST Lego League coach at my school last year. I had a team of 8 fifth graders who competed in last year’s competition. It was an awesome experience! I worked with the kids once a week after school for about an hour for a few months. The children were extremely engaged in the project and it definitely promoted science, math, and technology for the students. It was kind of scary at first taking on this responsibility, but the FIRST Lego League provides the software you need to make it happen. It basically walks the students right through the process and has an awesome manual to help! I think as Monica said, getting students involved is the best thing you can do for them. The students on my team were handpicked by their teachers. A lot of them were the extremely smart kids who loved technology. This was perfect for them! They found a great match! I also had a few other kids who were really creative and innovative. I had a great group of kids excited about the same topic! They did a lot of research and did not mind any of it! It is important to find what makes kids tick and focus on their interests. FIRST Lego League reaches out to a different crowd of students, they may not be in the football club, or talented music… they need an outlet too!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have never taught K-12, had children in K-12, or can even remember my K-12 years it sounds that the PIR program is a good place to start and it definitly needs to focus on middle school students. By the time a student reaches high school, many have already "mapped" out their future and might have a hard time seeing it as something else. Middle school is all about making decisions; minds are expanding and it is a great time to introduce a program such as PIR.
ReplyDeleteFor the FLL - I have heard about the program and I think it's wonderful, but something Lauren said concerns me a bit. Now this might not be the typical situation, but Lauren said the team was hand picked by the teacher and they were all smart students. If the teams are hand picked by the teacher/coach whatever, it is a normal tendency to pick the brighest/strongest/fastest, etc to be on your team. Like I said, this might have been just that team which Lauren coached, but if this happens more than once in a while, how does the program assist "less than average" students to feel confiden that they can compete and make it against someone who is a level up?
Jessica provided an accurate description of the work conducted by the faculty and graduate assistants for the PIR program. She has done a phenomenal job in creating the “Purple & Gold Connection” mentoring program this year for the Waynesboro high school students. She has quickly become an asset to PIR.
ReplyDeleteThe PIR program is one of the many programs that I support in the Diversity office here at JMU. It has grown expeditiously over the past two years to include 9 high schools and 5 middle schools. Unfortunately due to the budget cuts and difficulty of obtaining committed faculty, we are not able to expand the program further at this time.
One of the greatest findings since the beginning of this program is the need to reach the underprivileged students at a much younger age than the junior or senior in high school. Thus, the initiation of the middle school programs.
Yes, I fully believe that there are many children who are extremely capable of going to college that do not have the support or encouragement needed to reach out toward that goal. It is quite evident when meeting these students through this program. The excitement and ability to set the goals for themselves comes easily through the encouragement they receive from this program.
I, too, would love to see this program expand into the elementary schools as I think these children still have the ability to dream and believe in themselves. By teaching them how to plan and set goals, they will be able to learn what they need to know to by conducting research and asking questions about how get into college.
I think that the FIRST Lego League program is a great way to stimulate the creative process in young people. Although it may be intimidating for some coaches to become involved, I know that FLL provides resources to help people through their experience. I saw on the FLL website that the program has prepared handbooks and guides that walk coaches and students through the process, so a background in technology really is not necessary. The important thing is that people start to think outside the box and conceptualize at a young age. The teamwork aspect is also crucial.
ReplyDeleteI think it is imperative that students be told that "college is possible" as soon as they are old enough to understand those words. My goal was always to get to college, even though my parents didn't make it very easy. My parents home-schooled me for religious reasons until my junior year of high school, which is when I left home and started going to a public school. I was actually very fortunate because neither my parents nor my legal guardians were able to support me financially in college, so JMU declared me an independent student and I qualified for a lot of financial aid. It wasn't easy getting to JMU, but I never gave up because I always assumed I could find a way to go to college. I can't imagine living in an unsupportive environment AND not knowing that it was possible to get a degree. If the difference between someone giving up on their own education or having the hope to press on is just the knowledge about college possibilities, which is easy to impart then, I say, do whatever it takes to get that message to children as early as possible.
I agree with Monica that perhaps the solution is as simple as creating a short training for coaches to help them get over their fears of the new technology. I don't see where this would be hard to implement considering that FLL provides the materials necessary to direct coaches through the process. These materials can just be reviewed in training so that coaches will know how and when to use them.
ReplyDeleteWhere convincing students that college is possible is concerned, with the information given it seems highly likely that this program can be successful in driving home this idea. I think the benefit would be totally with the students because not only do they receive the support through PIR they also get the extra challenge of learning new technology and the ability to see coaches overcome their insecurities and doubts where this technology is concerned. Leaving them with the "if they can do it, so can I" thought. I think it would be beneficial to the students to know that their coaches have doubts and insecurities as well because there is always something to be learned through other's experiences.
I also think that PIR should be extended to elementary schools because it is important to get through to students as early as possible.
Even with a limited involvement in FLL I have seen first-hand what an engaging instructional tool it can be for children ages 9-14. FLL does promote science, math and technology skills in students. The great part about FLL is that it is learning by doing. I have heard kids involved in the program comment on how they like FLL because it gets them away from homework; however, they do not realize that their involvement in FLL has greatly improved their science grade and given them a better over-all appreciate how things work (promotes an engineering mind).
ReplyDeleteFLL does provide resources for coaches. At the beginning of the season (July/August) there are coaching workshops available to coaches, there is more information here: http://www.vadcfll.org/coaching.html. Additionally, attending an FLL tournament (Nov-Dec timeframe) is another way to see FLL in action.
One thing FLL does not do is match kids with teams. Teams are created around schools, churches or other groups involving kids. FLL coaches are volunteers. The important thing to remember is there is funding available through grants and sponsors. So, limited funds should not discourage teams from getting involved with FLL.
Additionally, there is a fairly new FLL program called Junior FLL. Jr. FLL is intended to be a low-cost, low-stress opportunity for kids ages 6-9. For more information about Jr. FLL please visit: http://www.vadcfll.org/junior_league.html#jrFAQ.
From presentations and articles throughout my education graduate work, I have heard evidence that starting early (kindergarten, even) with children can help decrease drop-out rates. I think extending the PIR program to the lower grades is an important, worthwhile goal that will lead to improved results in making college attainable to more students, especially those in low-income situations.
I work with Nick Swayne on the FLL Grant. Before that I was in the HRD 245 class that organized the first FLL State tournament at JMU. To be honest I used to think that FLL was just for really smart kids that had the money to participate. After working on the grant with Nick I realized that there are so many opportunities for kids that don't have much money to participate in FLL. There are hardship applications that a coach can fill out for his/her team. I have reimbursed many teams this year.
ReplyDeleteI think that FLL is a great way to get kids involved in learning because they are going to have fun doing it. You can tell the kids have a great time too.
I don't know how effective it will be to try to reach out to elementary school children and talk to them about college. I didn't really even think about college till I was in high school. However, if someone had come in a spoke about college earlier I might have tried to get better grades. Maybe 5th grade students would listen and retain information about college. For the most part when you're in elementary school college seems so far away. However, I feel like any encouragement can't hurt, it can only help.
I really hope that you are able to implement the PIR programs in more elementary schools if the budget improves. I was involved with Destination Imagination and Odyssey of the Mind when I was in elementary school and I think I benefited greatly from both programs.
ReplyDeleteI just feel that anytime children are participating in extracurricular educational programs there will be major benefits for them in the long run. I believe that it keeps children busy (and out of trouble) and I also believe it broadens their intellectual capabilities because they are gaining more than they do by just attending school.
I would like to thank everyone that commented on my thread. Each one of you added a new perspective that will help me improve my perspective and possibly also the process and/or programs.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware that Lauren had coached an FLL team or that Kelly works with Nick Swayne until she responded to this thread. And it was nice to hear from someone who participated in Destination Imagination.
The Destination Imagination Program has been cut, due to the budget, at the elementary school where my mother works. I will be organizing a team at the school next Fall, no matter what it takes, i.e., corporate sponsors, grants, etc.
I am so shocked to hear about this going in still, I hope that this program works out. To go along with what Courtney said this program initially reminded me of Destination Imagination and Odyssey of the Mind which I didn't participate in, but my brother did for most of his elementary school experience. So I had a chance to go with him to tournaments and to them and the others that were competing it was really a big deal. For the most part they spent most of their after-school hours working on I guess you would call these structures and preparing for competition. The kids that were in the programs had a real interest and did very well in school. Even though they had support from home in his group I know that this program kept them really interested in school. I think that this program is like this so I think that if you can get these students attention with the program you can get there attention also with the opportunity/possibility of going to college.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that the students might need to hear is from those that have been in their same position or situation, preferable someone that has graduated from there same school or city that has gone off to college.