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Bester Community of Hope

Cultivating Hope & Well-Being in Children, Families & Communities, Hagerstown MD.

The Citizen Blog

Kindred Spirits Celebrate the Season

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows, LIKE A LIGHT BULB!” This past Wednesday students and parents on the Walking School Bus wrapped up the month of December singing Christmas carols and drinking hot chocolate served by leaders from local houses of faith in the Bester neighborhood. Members of Emmanuel United Methodist Church, New Life World Ministries, St. John’s Lutheran, Hagerstown Church of the Brethren and Cumberland Valley Baptist Church all came together to support kids and families. As the students arrived to their “bus stop”, a Bluetooth speaker played classic holiday songs, and one of the students arrived and said, “I had to come today because of the hot chocolate!” There were also smaller connections between community members and parents. We heard, “If you like to volunteer, swing by the church sometime, we’re right up the road.”

With the arrival of winter, the month of December saw a significant change in temperatures during the Walking School Bus, especially on December 13th when the wind chill hovered around zero degrees. Fortunately, it was the same date that we distributed hand warmers as well as new hats and mittens to all participants, made possible thanks to grant funding and local donations from the Young family and handmade offerings from The Quilt Shop at Traditions at White Swan. As we arrived at the school entrance several other kids were huddled up and shivering in the cold so kids turned to the neighborhood ambassadors and asked, “Do you have more?” Luckily there was an abundance so all who needed them were able to receive them.

Throughout the month of December kids couldn’t contain their excitement for the upcoming holiday and the activities reflected the season with a Christmas tree cup stacking speed challenge and Cookie Face, where you place a Christmas cookie on your forehead and attempt to eat it hands free! One of the kids at Frederick Manor shouted, “This is hard! You try it!” This month we had four raffle prize winners of select sporting goods items to encourage healthy play: Kaydence Plummer, Ayden Robey, Josiah Davis and Maleana McDaniel. Way to go!  Next month we’re excited to be able to give away two new fitness trackers and have activities themed around the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the more you walk the more chances to win on the Walking School Bus!

The Walking School Bus is a monthly parent-led effort managed by Bester Community of Hope (BCOH) and sponsored by a generous grant funded by the Washington County Health Department. BCOH is an initiative of San Mar Family & Community Services and is possible due to the generosity of many partners, including the Fletcher Foundation, the Washington County Department of Social Services and Casey Family Programs. If you have interest in helping, we’d still like to hear from you and find ways we can partner to help kids and families get connected! Email us at connect@besterhope.org or call 240-513-6370! 

Looking Back: My Year of Service with BCOH


By Rafi Hoq

I just did an AmeriCorps VISTA service year with Bester Community of Hope, a non-profit trying to better life in Bester Elementary School and in the surrounding community in Hagerstown, MD. I supported a free school-based health center that sent for a nurse from the Community Free Clinic down the street to come treat for asthma attacks, bad scrapes and other medical needs too acute to be treated by the school nurse, and that would otherwise cause students to miss class and parents to miss work going to the doctor. The program began last year because Bester Community of Hope suggested that the Community Free Clinic allocate resources to the school. Many meetings and signatures later, they became another partner in a school-wide initiative to improve student wellbeing.

Behind “collective impact” is the idea that with relatively little extra work, we can achieve a lot with what already exists if we concentrate effort from different sectors around a goal. The school’s health office demonstrates this idea. All last year I watched nurses, teachers, therapists, social workers, counselors and more work together to tackle chronic disease, hunger, emotional crises, communal violence, child removal and other non-academic obstacles to being ready to learn. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: the in-school location of these service providers makes them more accessible, lets them more easily work together, and lets them holistically handle anything a kid might face in the world, from every angle. The assumption is that students are likelier to succeed academically and climb out of poverty when there exists a network of supports meeting their basic needs.

Bester Community of Hope is advancing collective impact in other aspects of school and in the school’s catchment area. My old supervisors started a free afterschool program last year almost entirely out of donated time and energy from the community, using tutoring, sports, gardening, robotics, mindfulness and other types of clubs to more directly influence habits and test scores. They also started a case management program funded by the local Department of Social Services to ease overburdened caseloads in other agencies and to help keep families together, connecting them to even more support. Additionally, over only three years of operations, my old supervisors have worked with the school board, the city, churches, neighborhoods, businesses and other groups and institutions across many types of initiatives to change the system to better serve those who need it most.

If collective impact can end poverty – which may never end – loosely defining the term risks it being too low of a standard of what it takes to end poverty. Though collective impact can look like anything, doing it well is firstly about getting others to do something, or do something differently, about a problem. Bester Community of Hope does collective impact well, and I used to wonder why until the director of the case management program, a therapist, explained how she approaches children who don’t want to talk. Rather than think through the perfect things to say, she would just try to be herself and find common interest for casual conversation. Everything after was easier. I realized that Bester Community of Hope similarly builds trust first, doing the grunt work up front before asking others to join the cause, collectively applying to grants and pushing to start programs answering to actual needs without expectation for credit. I believe in them because it’s not about one person or organization defeating poverty. It’s a movement.

Bester Teachers Blitz the Neighborhood!

 

The school year is set to begin this Tuesday in Washington County, and Bester Elementary teachers took the opportunity to walk their entire district to connect with their students in the neighborhoods where they live. Inspired by other community outreach work, including similar efforts at nearby Salem Elementary, the staff decided this summer to get out in the neighborhood to continue to deepen their connection to their students.

Groups of teachers gathered at five hubs in the district located at Frederick Manor, Elgin Station, the cultural trail, and centralized parking lots near the Shriver Center and former Corner Pub site. Parent volunteers worked with school family liaison BJ Lushbaugh to pre-package school supplies, books and other goodies for the teachers to distribute in drawstring bags. The event was much more than the giveaways, it was about emphasizing the importance of the teacher and student relationship, and engaging families.  Kids could be seen running down the sidewalk to hug their teacher because they were so excited to see a familiar face in the neighborhood. A former Bester student now in middle school brought their younger sibling to the Corner Pub lot and said, “You’re lucky. You get to go to orientation at Bester.”

Bester Elementary social worker Jocelyn Summerour worked the Frederick Manor neighborhood and commented, “The great gain from today’s outreach was a proactive hand offered to students and families to cement the bond between school and community.” Bester Community of Hope staff supported the effort at each hub as well, where Director Keith Fanjoy said, “We’re excited to see this effort become a reality because we believe it will pay dividends during the school year. The more we listen and are present in the communities we serve, the more we understand kids and parents and can respond in more meaningful ways. Relationships make the difference.”

Staff at Frederick Manor connect with local kids
Near the Elgin site staff toured Elizabeth, Madison and nearby W. Washington St.
At the cultural trail entrance staff roamed Summit, Prospect and Potomac
From the Corner Pub lot, staff canvassed Frederick, Hager, Locust and Baltimore streets
Teachers explored the South end neighborhood surrounding the Shriver Center

Walking School Bus drives community connections


The Walking School Bus officially wrapped its first year of programming for Bester Elementary students who walk to school. During the 2016-2017 school year a variety of community partners came together monthly to join children and families on their journey to Bester. Congressman John Delaney and his team made a special visit to the G&G Grill meeting location today and had breakfast with children and families.

A couple months ago, Bester student Ornella Provard was at a public forum with her mother Kay Papeskov and asked Congressman Delaney “Will you walk to school with me?” He followed up and scheduled a time to join all of Bester’s students during their journey and made sure all participants received a special commemorative coin from the U.S. House of Representatives to go along with their juice box and Teddy Grahams. Today students arrived at various meeting locations and filled out a Bester paw print to describe their favorite thing about going to school. They also wrote words of encouragement on large posters for graduating South Hagerstown High School seniors set to visit Bester for their annual senior walk on May 31st.

As the group was leaving the Triple Coin Laundromat meeting location, a first grade girl sprinted to catch up the group and said, “Thanks for waiting for me! I never want to miss this!” Kids were joined by other special guests including Congregation B’nai Abraham Rabbi Ari Plost, Health Department officials, and members of the local fire department and EMT’s, some of which who were beginning the first hour of a 24 hour shift.  Young children were enamored with the fire truck at Frederick Manor, while 5th graders who filled out positive statements about Bester struggled with the idea of leaving to go to middle school next year.  “What’s your favorite thing about Bester?” an EMT asked a child at Memorial Park. “Mrs. Henline,” the two children at Memorial Park responded about their teacher, “She makes class fun by playing games and she’s really nice.” As all four groups arrived at Bester a row of community partners cheered and celebrated as children ran into the school entrance getting hi-fives, a great start to the school day!

Bester Elementary’s Walking School Bus is a monthly parent-led effort focused on attendance and social connections, supported by community partners including the Bester Community of Hope. We hope to continue to support this effort in the 2017-2018 school year; interested in participating or have great ideas for a fun theme? Let us know at 240-513-6370 or by e-mail at connect@besterhope.org.  Join us!

 

Suns Shine on Walking School Bus

The April edition of the Walking School Bus brought together the staff of the Hagerstown Suns minor league baseball team (Class A, Nationals) and the children and families of Bester Elementary. At the four corners of the district children met volunteers, members of the Hagerstown Suns staff and Bester Community of Hope team members. At each location children received Hagerstown Suns calendars and official playing cards of their popular mascot Woolie, along with drinks, and cookies donated by the Girl Scout Troop #81757. There was plenty of fun at the Frederick Manor station, where Suns staff pumped up the kids with a chant of “We want cookies! We want cookies!”

The rain in the forecast held off and kids enjoyed a fun journey to school together with their friends, family and community partners. Upon arriving at the entrance to the school they were welcomed by none other than the Suns mascot Woolie, who along with greeting walkers, went car to car and gave hi-fives to parents who couldn’t help but smile at the unexpected visitor at their window. Parents took photos as their child received hugs from Woolie and Suns staff encouraged students as they entered the building to have a fantastic Friday.

When a student at the Memorial Park station was asked why they continue to participate in these monthly activities their response was, “I come every time when you do this stuff because its fun!” At the G&G grill station, participants were overflowing out the front door. A volunteer asked a student, “Did you grow up here?” He responded that he was born in Hagerstown and briefly moved out of state, where his younger sibling was born. They moved back to Hagerstown to his big relief because “this is home because my friends are here and I like Bester Elementary a lot more than the school where I used to live.”

Bester Elementary’s Walking School Bus is a monthly parent-led effort focused on attendance, supported by community partners including the Bester Community of Hope. Interested in participating or have great ideas for a fun theme? Let us know at 240-513-6370 or by e-mail at connect@besterhope.org.  Join us!

Capturing the Moment at Family Day

Bester Community of Hope hosted twelve local families with their children on Wednesday April 12th, as our Mill Street office filled with fifty five individuals for a fun free day of activities and family photos. The day was designed around the five protective factors that strengthen and support families: social connections, concrete supports, social and emotional competence of children, knowledge of parenting and child development and parental resilience.

For many years, San Mar has benefited from a partnership with Lanie Kinze and her team at Crystal Lenz Photography, who donated free photography services for all families on Wednesday. Each family will receive an assortment of photos in the coming weeks as well as a larger family photograph during the week of Mother’s day. This activity emphasized the power of family and the importance of social connections.

The parenting knowledge and child development station provided supportive information on individual milestones and internet safety and empowered parents to identify their child’s milestones and how to prepare them for upcoming tasks. Parents shared ideas such as: What kinds of things make your child happy? What does your child do best? What do you like about being a parent? Kids were nearby and perked up with pride when parents had positive things to say about them.

To demonstrate characteristics of strong families, each person designed their own flower to represent themselves and their own unique role in supporting their strong family. To demonstrate parental resiliency each parent made a wheel of coping mechanisms for stress reduction. They enjoyed each other’s company and conversed about their different experiences.

Volunteer Terri Siefert read the story of “Tucker the Turtle” who learns coping skills to demonstrate the value of social & emotional competence of children. Families were given information on local activities, a basket of household supplies and a bag of pizza-making supplies emphasizing concrete supports. Kids also received Easter baskets coordinated by an exchange student named Janet and her host parent George Phillippi.

Each family was given a family activity book to promote continued growth focused on strengths and many of the families expressed sincere appreciation for the fun day. One parent said, “I moved here six years ago and it’s been okay other than drugs on my street. I’ve been keeping my kids away from it but it makes it hard for them to not have fun outside. It’s great to be able to go outside and take pictures and have fun together.”

Do you live in the Bester neighborhood and want to get involved in helping build a stronger community for families? Stop by 370 Mill St or give us a call at 240-513-6370!

 

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