New Friday Feature: What to do on Monday

When we started the Smart Communities blog we had two ideas in mind: information and action. We wanted to share new ideas and new information but we also wanted to present issues in such a way as to call you and others to action. We have talked about a number of things in just that way over the last two years. But I am not getting any younger and I know that we need to quit talking sometimes and start doing. On Fridays, I am going to present ways that you and others can get involved in solving specific problems. I hope that you will be in touch with us as Dan Basselli was about a specific action that you would recommend. In response to our blog on "dropout factories," Dan wrote: "The stats show where the problem is most severe, but the places with the largest numbers are the big cities like New York, Chicago and LA.

I'm hosting the next Tutor/Mentor Leadership and Networking Conference in Chicago on November 15 and 16 (www.tutormentorconference.org ) and it's goal is to bring together the different groups of people who should be thinking of volunteerism, and non-school tutoring/mentoring, as a key part of a workforce development, or diversity strategy, as well as a drop out reduction and public health strategy.

Unless we get the business community, and health community, strategically involved in education and drop out prevention, we'll not have the resources or the manpower to reach into all of the neighborhoods where there are high drop-our schools, to develop non-school strategies that use the hours when kids are not in school, and when workplace volunteers are available, to expand the mentoring and learning and motivation network for these kids.

Such strategies should begin as early as first grade and say connected to kids all the way through high school if they are to compete with the negative influences in the neighborhoods where the drop out rates are the greatest.

Unless we can converge leaders on such thinking, we'll keep reporting the numbers, but not be doing much to change what's happening."

Comments

[Dan Bassill]

Thanks for pointing your network to the T/MC conference, and urging people into actions that can help kids throughout the country. I've started diagraming my ideas using concept maps. Here's one that illustrates the different groups/networks that I'd like to connect to the issues of drop outs, workforce development, and programs like tutor/mentor programs.
http://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/servlet/SBReadResourceServlet?rid=1189368290546_1415158112_15114&partName=actualhtmltext

My goal is to be able to put names of leaders/CEOs in each of these circles, and point to web sites, or blogs, like yours, so we can demonstrate who's turning words into actions, and learn from how they are connecting their peers, employees, friends and family, etc. with each other, and with places where they can become involved as a volunteer, leader, donor, partners, etc.

This is a research project better suited for a college, than for a small non profit like mine. I hope that by connecting on your blog, we might enlist one or more colleges to work with us on this network building project.