Community Education History

Community Education Concept
The basic concept of community education is designed to open the schools to segments of our community for many activities that meet the needs in our neighborhoods.

A major task of community education is to coordinate programs, extend services of existing programs and communicate regularly with area agencies for the purpose of coordination and avoiding duplication of services.

Community Education Background
Originally, schools were not just educational centers, but community activity centers as well. As communities grew, the concept was abandoned and the schools became K-12 learning centers only.

Now most school facilities sit idle about 50-60% of the time and are a tremendous tax burden. Statistics also show that only 28% of the tax payers have children attending public schools. A community school makes use of the 50-60% idle time with the tax payer getting more personal benefits for his dollar. Community Education provides programs for all ages - from children to senior adults, with activities in many areas of interest.

The school facitilites can now provide opportunities for education, enrichment, recreational, vocational and personal development for all community members.

How did Community Education Begin?
Although the concept is not new, Community Education as it exists today began in the mid 1930s in Flint, Michigan, as the result of two men, Frank J. Manley and Charles S. Mott. They questioned the logic of locking up well equipped schools to the very people who helped pay for them. As a consequence of their concern, the Mott Foundation helped start a pilot project which made better use of existing facilities after traditional school hours and served the public whose taxes helped build and maintain the facilities. Its success proved to be a model for other communities and other states.

Wisconsin's involvement in the Community Education Concept began in 1910 when Dorothy Enderis, the First Lady of Wisconsin Community Education, had cocerns for her students beyond the school day. She was concerned that her students had "no place to go" after school. She was also concerned that they were at risk for getting into trouble. She was puzzled that every day after school and on weekends the school properties were unavailable.

Ms. Enderis was convinced that proper use of these public facilities to provide "wholesome recreation" was not only a solution to her students' problems but a life enriching experience as well. This philosophy is exemplified is the words of Dorothy: "We ust be concerned with what the boy does with the basketball, what the man who came to join the orchestra does with the fiddle, what the woman does with the piece of cloth she brings to the sewing class, because we want to give skills; we want them to learn something. We must be far more concerned, however, about what the ball does to the boy, what the fiddle does to the man, and what the four yards of cloth and the membership in the dressmaking class is doing for the mother."

In 1912, Dorothy was selected by the leaders of Milwaukee to assist her elementary principal in starting the Municipal Recreation and Adult Education program. In 1920, Dorothy became the Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Milwaukee. Her final budget for 1949 totaled $900,000 and was for 32 social centers, 62 playgrounds, and a year round program for kids and adults. Dorothy always promoted close ties between education and recreation.

What is Community Education?
Community Education is a centered process in a community that attempts to balance and coordinate available resources which fulfill basic life-long human needs. It enables local residents to help themselves solve their own problems and help create their own opportunities for personal and collective growth.

Many people think of Community Education merely as the classes offered at the school, for adults, after the close of the regular school day. While this is an important part of it, Community Education is actually much more than this.

Community Education provides services, activities, and programs for:
* preschoolers
* schoolage children
* adults
* senior citizens

Community Education serves the needs of special groups:
* people with reading and math deficiencies
* people who need job skills
* high school drop outs
* people with disabilities
* people with social needs
* people with health needs
* people who need stimulation and enrichment
* people who seek leisure activities
* people who desire lifelong learning

Community Education can assist community organizations:
* Plymouth Police Department
* Girl and Boy Scouts
* 4H
* Jr. Woman's Club
* Red Cross
* Booster Clubs
* TV 14
* Sheboygan County Cancer Society
* Kettle Karvers
* Jump Rope for Heart
* PHS Alumni Association
* Plymouth Optimist