A Southern Colorado town's perspective on
what we have, what we need and our hope for the future
By Sarah Beisner, MA ECSE, South Eastern Colorado, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher and EI provider
Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program Fellow 11th Cohort
Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program Fellow 11th Cohort
As I sit with a group of kindergarten through second grade students, we talk about community and what it means to them. I ask what they want for their community. A young boy answers “I want to see lots of trees and flowers in my community. I want there to be really nice skies, but it would still be raining and I just want it to be really pretty.” My heart filled with hope.
I just want it to be really pretty |
|
Several months ago, I set out on an adventure to begin an Action Research project as part of the Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program (BECLP) offered at the University of Colorado Denver in partnership with Clayton Early Learning. I wanted to find out how children and families in Pueblo West experienced community support to build resilience and to cope with adverse childhood experiences. As a mom and a teacher this topic was intriguing to me. I provide support to children and families, but I myself feel a lack thereof within our small town. To hear diverse perspectives, I interviewed children, parents, teachers, administrators and other support personnel within our community. I posted questions on Facebook group pages to reach out and give a voice to everyone. I read books and articles on the subject and held a community engagement conversation to examine the data with others.
|
As we dug through the data, some common themes emerged. We saw that the children overall have positive views of “community”, no matter how they interpreted it. Some spoke of family, friends, and neighbors while others spoke about sports, schools and rainbows. The children feel connected to their community and feel that their voice is important and impactful.
|
Parents and support personnel shared that many supports can be accessed, but most are based in our neighboring town of Pueblo. The biggest issue is a stigma in our community especially when it comes to mental health or social-emotional support. Some parents worry about being reported to Child Protective Services if they open up about their struggles. One parent shared, “I’m not embarrassed to say that I need help. It doesn’t mean I’m failing”. Support personnel want to help, but are limited in their resources and don’t always understand the dynamics within the families that they serve.
|
I'm not embarrassed to say I need help. It doesn't mean I'm failing.
Pueblo West has some work to do to build stronger community resources to support children and families. One support personnel summed it up by stating, “Building relationships is the most important thing.” We can start with open communication and creating bonds with others. We need to be invested in our children, our community and our future!
Building relationships is the most important thing. |
Through my BECLP journey and this research project, my ideas of leadership have changed. I once thought of leadership as a hierarchical structure flowing down to the rest of us. Now I see we are all leaders and it’s our job to lead if we want to make a difference in this world. Get involved. Spread awareness. Build relationships. This is my leadership journey unfolding. Stay tuned….