As our nation prepares for Fourth of July celebrations, many will reflect on our national history and identity. This is the nature of birthdays, after all: to consider how all the individual experiences have accumulated to define a current character. 

Since the foundation of America, our national character has been described as a blending of many different ethnicities, cultures and traditions coming together to forge a cohesive identity, with shared values and common aspirations, both individually and collectively. Our nickname, the Melting Pot, reflects this notion. 

The ability to achieve the American Dream — to live with dignity and enjoy freedoms in a connected community — requires a collaborative will to protect our most vulnerable neighbors, propel those in need and support people during difficult times gives America a richness. 

In upholding our commitment to the vision of creating a community where everyone can thrive, June has been a busy month for the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. We’ve announced $1.3 million in grants to a wide variety of programs, with an additional $720,000 earmarked for future assistance. The programs supported are as diverse as the people who will benefit from them, but all bring us closer to our common goals of prosperity, dignity, stability and hope for achieving our dreams. 

Healing from a Hurricane

After months of fundraising, embracing best-practices guidance from disaster recovery experts, and listening to community stakeholders, the first round of Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund grants were announced in early June, appropriately at the start of another hurricane season.

Nearly $1 million was granted to support ongoing issues stemming from last year’s Hurricane Ian, with funding priority given to hurricane survivor advocacy, mental and behavioral health support, and restoring educational programming to affected youth in hardest hit communities.

What we’ve learned in the months of seeking input is that disasters typically exacerbate existing disparities. The most disenfranchised citizens often are the ones for whom recovery takes longest, and these dollars support programming that will go far in helping our most vulnerable and affected neighbors.

Nurturing Neurological Health

In recognition of June as International Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, our Community Foundation has granted nearly $150,000 to support brain research, early diagnosis medical services, facilities serving residents with Alzheimer’s and adult day programs to provide respite for family caregivers.

As our Baby Boomer generation ages, the need for committed efforts to mitigate the impacts of Alzheimer’s and dementia grows. Ensuring that our aging citizens can continue to participate as fully as possible in society and retain their dignity is a national priority. 

Bolstering Nonprofit Capacity

Also last month, our Community Foundation also awarded $120,000 towards capacity-building projects for nonprofits. Recipients of these dollars will use funding towards strengthening their operations, whether that be in enhancing communications and marketing capabilities, providing professional development opportunities for staff and leadership, or expanding programmatic reach.

Nonprofits who benefited from these grants range in mission from ending hunger (Mayor’s Feed the Hungry Program) to inspiring artists (SaraSolo Productions). Still, while they support a range of experiences, they are united by the thread of empowering people to achieve their version of fulfillment. 

When we can nurture individuals and give them tools to accomplish their aspirations, we provide a path to achieving the American Dream. The more of us who can participate in our national welfare with lives characterized by dignity, accomplishments, and independence, the more contributors our nation will have to its exceptionalism today, and for generations to come.

Roxie Jerde is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. 

Image courtesy Pixabay.

Dialogue is essential in uniting a community and addressing the most pressing issues in our society today. Education, one such issue, profoundly shapes our world, and dialogue is a crucial component in driving progress forward. 

I’ve always believed that a thriving community and a high-quality education are inextricably linked. Public education fosters a more informed and empathetic society. 

To address challenges that students and teachers face today, the Education Foundation of Sarasota County recently held a creative problem-solving workshop, inviting youth-serving organizations, licensed mental health professionals, district student support staff, teachers, students and volunteer community members to identify solutions in strengthening resiliency in students through a collaborative approach. The community conducted extensive research and interviews and problem-solved collectively and creatively, helping to guide the Education Foundation’s work to support students and teachers. 

What most inspired me from this three-month initiative was the power of dialogue, the power of many voices, opinions and perspectives. The dialogue dramatically increased engagement as varied stakeholders addressed complex problems and developed solutions. 

This experience highlighted just how much people in our community care about education. Our community, no matter the deep political rifts, is invested in students and teachers. As the president and CEO of an organization dedicated to supporting those students and teachers, we have a responsibility as a community to provide an environment where dialogue creates connection and leads to a desire for change and progress.   

Author and innovator Seth Godin said that “a dialogue leads to connection, which leads to trust which leads to engagement.” In our daily work at the Education Foundation, we are constantly looking to engage with students, families, teachers and the community. Without dialogue and the trust and engagement it inspires, we would be unable to extend beyond surface-level interactions. 

The challenges students face and those affecting education today are too complicated to go it alone. They demand more than the current tug of war as those on both sides of the education debates strain to hold their position, to not give an inch. Problem-solving will require the collective energy of all the stakeholders to develop a vision that can be advanced together, one that holds as its guiding light students and the remarkable teachers who do so much to inspire them. And that begins with dialogue.  

The power of dialogue cannot be overstated. 

To develop a shared vision and unify around students and teachers won’t be easy, but it is possible. It becomes possible when thoughtful, engaged stakeholders sit down together and listen to one another. It becomes possible with an openness to learn new perspectives, seek understanding, consider bold ideas, hear new voices and meet one another with respect and kindness. 

The next generation deserves an exceptional education. It deserves a thriving ecosystem in which each and every student can reach their full potential. Making sure our system adapts to a fast-changing world will be no easy feat, but I can think of nothing more pressing. It is why I am so excited to fuel more dialogue.

Jennifer Vigne is president and CEO of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County. 

Image courtesy Pixabay.

The major purpose of education in our country is to prepare our children to be active and knowledgeable citizens, fully engaged in our economic, social and political processes. 

We believe that important components of preparing students for such engagement are that:

• All students must be able to read, write, perform mathematical functions and understand science at the appropriate grade level. 

• All students need to be exposed to our basic economic, societal and political institutions so that they understand how our country and world operate.

• All students need to develop thinking skills to collect and verify information, analyze different points of view, identify bias and draw and evaluate conclusions.

• All students must develop dispositions that enable and motivate them to engage in thinking independently, listening with understanding to the points of view of others, working in groups and being able to discuss, debate and solve problems.

• All students need to be taught in a physically, intellectually and emotionally safe environment that encourages listening to different perspectives, enabling them to solve real-life problems in a cooperative fashion within their local institutions, including family, friends, clubs, teams and communities.

• A successful education is a collaborative product of teachers, school boards, administrators and parents, all with important roles.

We acknowledge that there are different points of view about educational issues; conversations about these issues should respect these differences and all participants should be treated with respect and dignity.

We believe that different options should exist for educating students and parents have the right to choose what they think is best for their children.

How does our Report Card look?

• In Sarasota, 66% of the students score level 3 and above in reading (meaning ready for the next grade level, likely to excel at the next grade level or highly likely to excel at the next grade level) and 71% in math. (Niche.com using Florida State Assessment data)

• Statewide in Florida students in grades 3-8 score 52% in reading and 55% in math. (Florida State Assessment data)

• Nationally, 33% of our 4^th grade students are considered at grade level or above in reading and 31% of our 8^th grade students are at or above, 37% of our High School seniors across the country read at grade level, and 24% of our seniors nationally are proficient in math. (NAEP Nation Report Card 2019)

• Internationally, our 8^th graders rank 12^th out of 29 other countries around the world and our 4^th graders rank 15th out of 58 countries in math.  (2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science)

What can we as responsible citizens do?

As Parents: Support our children and grandchildren in their educational process.  It starts with the Family! Get involved in your local parent association. Stay abreast of the most current information about our students’ performance, i.e., test scores, graduation rates, post-secondary placements, etc.

As citizens: Elect responsible, high quality School Board Members who reflect the characteristics stated earlier.

Robert Gary, Nancy Greenhouse, Scott Gray, Paul Hylbert, Lucie Lapovsky, Lynn Larson, Ed Sabol, Herb Soroca, Becky van der Bogert and Shawna West are part of Miracle on the Key, a group of five Democrats and five Republicans devoted to civil dialogue as a means to address our country’s opportunities and problems. 

Image courtesy Pixabay.