Teachers Engage Local Communities to Support School Community Support School
The school is an educational representation of the community. Its progress is proportional to the amount of support the community provides its children in the school to foster all round development. There are many ways school teachers can engage local communities to support schools. The possibilities are endless and there is no limit to the amount of influence a teacher may have on the communities around one's school.
Teachers of every grade have an important role to play in building the community’s confidence in a school to contribute towards voluntary, physical and monetary support. The enthusiasm of a teacher determines the result and a team effort by teachers can make a huge difference to this progress.
Support by local communities is in many forms; some of the more important ones are discussed below.
- Family Support
- Business and Institutional Support
- Voluntary Programs
- Career-oriented Programs
- Media
- 1. Family Support:
Parents, siblings or other members of the family like grandparents, uncles, aunts or cousins may be invited on behalf of a child to contribute physically and financially towards a school event. Contributions may also be towards actively taking part in such programs like sewing costumes, raising funds from the community at clubs and social gatherings, participating as musician in a play or suggesting ideas on how to organize a program.
- 2. Business and Institutional Support:
Many Businesses, Institutions and Industries may be approached for financial support, scholarships or sponsorship programs. Large businesses may endorse a program where schools may take their activities beyond the school walls, reaching out into the community for the benefit of the community. Some such programs are at fairs, exhibitions, event plays and skits, musicals, programs organized by schools in honor of a dignitary or celebrity from the community, etc. Expenses are huge for such events by the school and hence, financial contributions and sponsorships are always appreciated.
- 3. Voluntary Programs:
Many places encourage schools to accept voluntary help. This means that people who render their services are not expected to be paid and can make no claim upon the school for reimbursement of expenses. It is common for senior citizens and retired teachers to volunteer for after-school teaching hours to help children who are from low income families and are poor in their studies. This goes a long way in supporting the community and many families in the community in turn benefit from its results by children being able to pursue further and ongoing education as a result of improved grades.
Community members could also volunteer to help with the maintenance, plumbing and decorating work for the school. Some could also volunteer to help assist the school library as in covering and stacking books.
- 4. Career-oriented Programs:
Parents at school can make a huge impact upon a class through the career orientation programs they are invited to conduct. A police officer, who is a parent, may address a class about the defense system of the community encouraging like-minded children to set themselves upon a career dream. A doctor may share valuable insight into how one may work towards being a doctor and what the life of a doctor is like, the amount of sickness and suffering that one has to deal with and the joy experienced when a patient is cured of ailments and illnesses. A janitor may share what life is like for one who rarely receives gratitude for work done and how children take advantage of all the resources around them to litter and dirty the place. Such programs are designed to create an awareness of the various professions a student may decide to venture into in course of time and helps build solid careers in the long run. Most often, people who are successful in their careers in later years look back at some inspirational moment from their school years.
- 5. Media
The media can play a major role in highlighting a school's event for fund raising or for getting a program or message across to the community. It could help bring in sponsorship and be as a means of advertisement on behalf of the school.
Just like the saying goes, teachers make all professions possible; likewise teachers have the power to get all professions involved too in the making of newer professionals. For best school output and all round development, a school is dependent on the community and the future of the community is in turn dependent on the school for brighter, more educated and promising community members.
