At Catholic Central in Springfield, Ohio, City Connects Coordinators Shannon Baker and Rosie Bond help students with basic needs like food and clothes, and they are also passionate about exposing students to a wide array of enrichment activities.
“We see what interests our students,” Bond says. “And we’re lucky that our community is very interested in responding and supporting our students.”
At the heart of Baker’s and Bond’s work is the joy of creating opportunities for students. This is essential because we know that students need non-academic resources like food and clothes. They need academic resources. And they need access to the enrichment activities that let them try new things and learn about the larger world.
To do this, Baker and Bond connect teachers to community partners, help organize field trips, and go on some field trips to provide support.
The result: Springfield has become a treasure chest for students. The school’s art club has gone to see the Springfield Museum of Art. Other students have visited the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. And there will be a trip to Gammon House, a stop on the Underground Railroad.
“My favorite activity has been the garden,” Baker says. “We have a community garden through Springfield Neighborhood Promise, and they have volunteers who work on the garden and plant food. Then the community is invited to come and reap the harvest of the garden.”
Springfield Neighborhood Promise supports local schools. And thanks to the garden project, Baker and the students raked, planted seeds and flowers, and painted murals.
Another community partner is Step Afrika, an arts organization that runs in-school and summer programs for students. Baker facilitated this partnership, working with Springfield Promise Neighborhood, and the KINGZ and GEMS mentoring programs. For students, it’s a cultural opportunity that they might not otherwise experience.
One of Bond’s favorite activities is accompanying students to the Springfield-Clark Community Technical Center, where students can explore their futures by signing up for classes in a wide range of areas, including nursing, technology, and construction.
“I’ve really enjoyed seeing them get excited about the classes that they get to take that they can’t take here. This can still be their home school, but they get to specialize like they would in college in areas like criminology or electrical engineering. That excites them, which makes me excited for them.”
Students have also written letters of support and gratitude to veterans who participate in the Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit organization that honors United States veterans “by bringing them to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials built to commemorate their service and sacrifice.” Veterans read students’ letters on their flights to D.C.
Catholic Central also partners with the University of Cincinnati to offer a college course in engineering. The class is taught by a Catholic Central teacher, and students are working with a team in Honduras on a water system project.
These experiences are exciting and important. Research is beginning to show that these kinds of high-quality opportunities close opportunity gaps and encourage long-term success.
And Baker and Bond are proving that a student support program like City Connects can bring exciting, enriching opportunities directly to students to help them thrive.
