Battle Creek Community Education Town Hall Meeting

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A group of forty people from the Battle Creek area came together today to view the live Webcast of the National United Way Town Hall.  These are just forty of the people in our community who care about the education of our children and the impact education has on every aspect of our community.

The following documents represent local materials shared with participants during the Battle Creek viewing of the National Education Town Hall.  We invite you to look them over to see some of the work that is being done in Battle Creek to create a more educated, healthy and financially stable community.

Attendees also participated in facilitated table discussions around two questions:

1) Why is it important that every child and youth in Battle Creek has the opportunity to receive a good education?
2) What would it look like if in Battle Creek all people were truly engaged in the work of supporting youth and children to be positioned for success in education and in life?

In the coming weeks, we will share some of the thoughts from the table discussions.  We invite you to participate by visiting us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/United-Way-of-Greater-Battle-Creek/114556001904375 or by sending your comments via email to liveunited@uwgbc.org.

During the National Town Hall, United Way Worldwide released "Voices for the Common Good: America Speaks Out on Education." This report shares the aspirations and concerns of everyday people across America about their communities and what it will take for all children to succeed in life. It's based on a series of community conversations local United Ways hosted across the country last fall, as well as some focus groups and a national poll.

Above all, what we heard is that at a time when there is so much acrimony, divisiveness, and negativity in our debates, on the issue of education, everyday people are hungry to get past the posturing and get on to doing whatever it takes to set children up for success. And while so much attention lately has been placed on schools, the people we heard from said again and again that while the schools play an important role, communities, and individuals, have to step forward in a different way.

To read the full report click here: http://liveunited.org/blog/entry/voices-for-the-common-good-america-speaks-out-on-education/.

Please click here for handouts from the meeting.