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Strengthening school and community ties in Topeka
Onecia Mercer, a middle school technology teacher, brings students to the community and the community into the school By Heather Clopton SCR*TEC |
 necia Mercer, computer
teacher in the Topeka Public School District at Robinson Middle School,
hears about violence in schools, low test scores, lack of
funds, and minimal if any parental and community involvement in
education, just as most of us do. But this doesn't stop her from giving kids
a chance to contradict these sound bytes about schools in the U.S. She
knows what kids are capable of, and she is providing opportunities for her
students to actively help out in their community, demonstrating that when
schools and communities work together, everyone benefits.The Robinson Young Web Developers (YWDs), an after-school group formed under Onecia's guidance, work with the police to keep their parents, friends, and neighbors aware of the best ways to prevent crime. When police cars are parked in front of the building, no one is alarmed. In fact, the cars are a reassuring reminder that the kids who go to school here have a positive partnership with law enforcement. |
 Erin, Kris, and Eric, three of the Young Web Developers. |
necia's been doing
this job for three years, and has this past year
supported the establishment of the after-school YWDs group. HTML was
new to Onecia, but when she learned that one of the school's benefits from
the service provider was space for a homepage, she enrolled in a class at
Washburn University to learn how to get information onto the Web. The
district paid for the class, and she was impressed by the challenge
learning HTML could present to her students. Rather than use an HTML
editor, which would do the code for the kids, she wanted her kids to
understand the whole process, writing pages from scratch. Right now, there are four students who do the bulk of the work, Andrew, Eric, Erin, and Kris. With Onecia's leadership, these kids and a number of others began their journey onto the Web. Last fall, they assisted Onecia in the construction of the school's Web page. Onecia stayed one step ahead of the students, and when a problem was encountered or when they wanted to do something they didn't know how to do, they learned together. The homepage was completed in January, and when the kids showed up for their YWDs meeting the following Tuesday, they realized that they needed something new to work on. Onecia was eager to find another project for the kids, because, as she says, "Once they got through with the school's page . . . they were just then getting comfortable [with HTML]. And the project was over." The kids could really develop their newly-acquired skills if given the chance. |
 oincidentally, while the YWDs were putting the finishing touches on
the school homepage, Sergeant John Sidwell, the crime prevention officer
for the Topeka Police Department, was charged with developing a crime
prevention Web page. John heard about the YWDs, and he was soon talking
with Onecia. John would provide the students with brochures, from which
they could derive the content of the pages, and the kids would make the
design decisions and do the actual work of getting the pages onto the Web.Onecia was immediately receptive to the project--what a great idea! The kids would benefit in a number of ways. They would learn about the content, which could prove very useful to them throughout their lives. They would be providing a service to the community and interacting with the police often, so that anonymous law enforcement people would now be real people to them. Finally, they would be gaining real-world work experience. But could they deliver? |
 Eric shows the crime prevention site to friends, family, and a member of the Topeka Police Department, who also happens to be Kris's father. |
necia had no doubts from the beginning. To establish the
professional attitude needed, she presented this project to the students
as a business transaction. The police department was the client, the
students the Web design firm, and, in order to get the job, the kids would
have to make a proposal. John made an appointment with the YWDs to let
them know what he needed. "I came in," he says, "and explained to the kids what my crime prevention logo was, what the philosophy of crime prevention was, and what I hoped to accomplish on the Web page. I told them that I have no idea what a Web page even looks like, because I didn't at the time, and I asked them to develop something." Then Onecia showed the kids the Dallas Police Department's homepage as a starting point in formulating their plans. After finding and analyzing a number of other law enforcement Internet sites, the kids devised a strategy for their Web site, which they presented to John. He was very pleased and encouraging. Together, they decided that the deadline for the project would be the end of the school year. |
 he YWDs responded with eagerness and innovative ideas, but they
quickly realized that the work force needed to be expanded. The sixth
grade keyboarding classes were ideal candidates for the job, and since
Onecia taught these classes, it wasn't hard to bring them onto the project.
They needed to learn how to type, proofread, and use word processing
software, and Onecia knew that this would make their efforts relevant to
them."All of the sudden," observes Onecia, "everything that I'd been saying all along was now important. Because they were the ones that would look bad if something was misspelled or if there was some spacing problem or if the punctuation wasn't exactly right. So they would call me over, saying, 'Now is this how this is supposed to look?' And I thought, you know we haven't seen that before . . ." The keyboarding students did a great job getting the information into electronic form, and they learned about accountability and pride in their work along the way. Onecia had already decided that projects in her lab need to relate to work in another class or to be done for a practical purpose, and this project has strengthened her commitment to this way of teaching. Once the keyboarding was done, it was up to Andrew, Eric, Erin, and Kris to get the job done. They worked hard, sometimes putting in hours a day, to get the pages onto the Web. While Onecia was always in the background, guiding the kids, or, as Kris says, "getting them on track" (though he adds they didn't need to be put on track very often), they did all of the HTML and editing. |
 Onecia with Eric, Erin, and Kris with the certificates awarded to them by the Topeka police. |
 ow did they feel
about their project? Their pride is easy to see as
they talk about the crime prevention page. Eric says, "Mrs. Mercer gave us
a goal, and we flew to it." What do the kids think they learned? Erin says she learned about how to put the Internet to good use. She knows now how it works and how to find the information she needs. Eric says, "I just learned more about my community, where I live, and what's going on." He has also become very conscious of typos in his own and others' work, as have Erin and Kris. He "can't stand reading something with a typo in it." Onecia agrees that the kids learned quite a bit, not just about the Web, but about themselves and what they can accomplish. Both this Web site and the Robinson homepage have been shown to parents, and the reaction, according to Onecia, is pleased astonishment: "Wow, the kids, look what they're doing! . . . Once they see that, they're very impressed." When the YWDs finished their work, they now had to present it to the client. The kids were nervous, but it went well, and the police department was very pleased. "I'm just real impressed with the way the whole thing went." John said. "It saved me hours and hours of time. . . . The kids were great. There was never any question from them as to what they needed to do they just jumped in and did it." |
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he YWDs were awarded certificates
by the police department, and
all of the keyboarding students and the YWDs were recognized at the end
of the year promotion exercise. In addition to being a nice reward for the kids, this recognition
garnered the respect of their peers. When
students who hadn't participated heard about the project, they, too,
wanted to be part of the Young Web Developers. Onecia recalls that,
"Before they had left the building [that day], other kids were asking 'Can I
be part of the seventh grade group? I'd like to do some work.' Kids are very
willing to work when they see that it's for something worthwhile." |
 Onecia Mercer, the computer teacher at Robinson Middle School in the Topeka Public School District. |
necia doesn't see technology as a cure-all for education's ills. But
she does know from experience that it can make learning exciting and
accessible for students. Ownership of their projects is something Onecia
gives her students. She has the courage to say, "I don't always have the
answers," and to step back and let students learn on their own. While Onecia is enthusiastic about what technology can do, she recognizes that some teachers are intimidated by the new advances, and that the way to bring them in is not to force them. "I think . . . that for the people that aren't ready--that's fine. And just to be there and encourage them the first time they try [is enough]." |
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his project with the police worked to show some of the yet-to-be-
convinced what can be done. One of the things Onecia says to her students
is, "Never underestimate what we can do together." With teamwork,
technology, and encouragement from parents and administrators, Onecia
and the YWDs have succeeded in accomplishing what many educators work
for. She has helped the kids become recognized positive contributors to
the community, and she has helped parents and the community become
active in the school. Most importantly, she has also made a positive difference in the lives of
her students. |
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