Angels in the classroom

Last school year, administrators at Chico’s Citrus Elementary School expected their students to post at best only modest gains on Academic Performance Index (API) testing, as they had done in the past. Much to their surprise, the kids racked up an unprecedented 44-point gain.

There’s no way of knowing exactly why that happened, but a look at what was different at the school in 2007-08 is revealing. That was the year Bidwell Presbyterian Church “adopted” it and began sending volunteers and resources to the school.

“Our initial goal was to have one person in every class,” said Pam Wear, coordinator of Citrus School volunteers from the church. “Our motto for volunteers is one hour a week. By January 2008, there was a volunteer or two or three in every classroom.”

The school also “coincidentally … had very high gains” in the other major performance measurement, STAR testing, done last spring, said Cherie McGuire, Citrus’ principal.

“Did one have to do with the other? I can’t help but feel they did,” she said, “although it’s not the only piece. It is hard to pinpoint the magic touch. … The effect of the volunteers is certainly tremendous.”

Wear hastened to say that the volunteers don’t want to take all the credit: “There is a marvelous dedicated staff at Citrus.”

The partnership began when Bidwell Presbyterian began looking for ways to reach out to the community.

“We were working on the vision for our church,” said Steve Schibsted, the church’s head pastor. “We did a demographic study and were shocked at the amount of poverty in Butte County and within a couple of miles of our church. We started looking for opportunities to serve the community.”

Once church members decided to adopt a school, someone at the district office recommended they talk to McGuire.

In October 2007, six or seven church members met with the principal and told her their idea. “We asked her, ‘What are your needs?’ ” Wear recalled. “She responded, ‘When can you start?’ We started the next week.”

“The volunteers have made a difference,” McGuire said. “The church is passionate about serving the community and having a local mission. We were brought together.”

At first, the teachers were skeptical about what to expect. They wanted to know how long the volunteers were going to be around. “We are here for the long haul,” the volunteers responded.

“When they said that, it changed how the teachers were embracing and growing in the partnership,” McGuire explained. “Nothing else has had that sustainability. This is a new relationship. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

“One of our biggest goals,” recounted Wear, “was not to start unless we could sustain it. Teachers now have hope. … They are not alone. They can teach better as a result.”

The teachers agree. Cynthia Zwald, who teaches kindergarten, beamed when asked about the church volunteers. “I am so happy they are here. They are here to give that extra help when a child needs support, so the teachers can still teach. I am totally sold on the program.”

Altogether there are nearly 200 volunteers, and each week about half that number show up at the school. In the classrooms they are mentoring, reading, working on center tables, doing prep work for teachers and acting as room moms and dads.

The volunteers also provide supplies for the teachers and Christmas presents for kids who would not have a Christmas otherwise. And they bought all of the boards and supplies the students needed for their Science Fair projects.

“In May we built a supply closet,” Wear said. “School supplies for the kids and the classrooms are there. The donations for all of this come privately from the congregation.”

Thanks to the volunteers, the fourth- through sixth-grade special-education class is set up as a bike clinic. “The kids are learning to repair bikes,” Wear said. “Two hundred bike helmets were donated. We participate in Bike Week. We held a bike rodeo to teach them to be safe. And we made sure that every sixth-grader has a bike to ride to junior high.”

“The volunteers do everything,” said Liz Barrett, a third-grade teacher. “They have won the heart and souls of the kids and teachers.”

The demographics of Citrus can be discouraging. Eighty-five percent of the kids live below the poverty line. Twenty-five percent are English-language learners.

“Our children have a lot of physical, daily needs,” McGuire said. “A child who’s hungry, who doesn’t have a jacket … Bidwell helps us fill those first needs. They are very generous and thoughtful in the classroom. They take extra time to hug, give warm, loving support to the kids. It is huge. There are more hands, laps, arms.”

“The students at Citrus never got to go on field trips,” Wear noted. “We use the church bus to take them. We have paid to take them to Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding. The kids in every class get to go to Laxson Auditorium to see three performances. And we bought blue T-shirts for every student that they wear on field trips.”

“They help us read,” said Josh Oropeza, a third-grade student. “They make cookies for us. They help with spelling and math.”

At the outset, though, McGuire faced skepticism among her peers: “Other principals weren’t sure about the idea. At every meeting, questions about [the separation of] church and state came up. But the church said, ‘We are not here to grow our membership or evangelize. We want to be of service to you.’ ”

Wear confirmed, “The first rule for the volunteers is no evangelizing.”

The teachers and students are not the only ones benefiting from this partnership. “We’re getting as much out of this as the kids,” Wear said. “We have 450 kids to love.”

“The volunteers get to experience the joy of giving and making a difference,” agreed Schibsted. “A lot of older people don’t feel useful. One older volunteer told me, ‘I got my life back.’ It’s a win-win situation, for sure. A lot of these folks are finding purpose. It’s a great thing.”

The idea is spreading. Two other Chico churches are planning to adopt local schools. Grace Community Church is teaming up with McManus Elementary, while the Evangelical Free Church is adopting Sierra View School. And, on March 28, Wear spoke about the program to representatives of more than 100 churches at a conference in Sacramento.

As she explained: “There are three churches for every public school in this country.”

“It is great knowing we can have an impact,” said Wayne Edwards, a volunteer who helps in the after-school program. “This is a way to give back to our community. It is not just going to church, but taking church out and living it in the community.”

“My heart swells every day, since I’m able to do something so tangible,” Wear said. “Teachers have hope. The kids have hope. They know they are loved. With that foundation they can do anything. We want them to know that their community cares about them.”