“They love having the opportunity to give”: How generosity powers the homeschooling community in Atlanta
The author of this article is a director of multiple homeschooling non-profit organizations and a leader in the homeschooling community in Atlanta, Georgia.
I have had the privilege of leading several organizations within the homeschooling arena — a homeschool support group, a hybrid homeschool and a homeschool accrediting organization. What I have learned and loved most about running these organizations is that effective leadership in this space looks more like serving as a coordinator than as a director. I have found that both parents and students are eager to contribute to the success of the community — my role is to empower them to use their God-given talents and skills to the benefit of our learners.
Over the years, I have seen that homeschool parents find great joy in offering resources and experiences not only to their own children, but also to the homeschooling community in which they find themselves. But they often don’t know how much they will get out of contributing until they are offered the opportunity. So, I make it my goal to include parents in any way that I can. They will often come to me with ideas of events, clubs and activities that they think will be beneficial to the group. But anyone who knows me knows that when you come to me with an idea, you have to be willing to help make it happen. To the credit of our parents, that has rarely been a problem. Parents have run speech and debate clubs, robotics clubs, Science Olympiad teams, spelling bees, science and social studies fairs, community talent shows, Christmas dinners, formal dances and graduation ceremonies. They have planned field trips for the group to the science museum, the symphony, the zoo, the aquarium, the history museum, the civil rights museum, the art museum and the botanical gardens to name a few.
There are also homeschool parents who have knowledge and skills that they would love to use to develop the minds of young people other than just their own children. Oftentimes, there are homeschool mothers who have been trained in various fields such as writing, the sciences, law, communication, or business, but who have set aside their careers in order to homeschool. When they come to realize that they can use those skills within the homeschool environment — by teaching or by helping to run a homeschool organization — it is as if an old lightbulb switches back on inside of them. All of a sudden, they and their unique skills matter in a new and impactful way. They teach science classes, accounting classes, government and economics classes, writing classes, math classes, art classes, foreign language classes, physical education and health classes. They also serve as bookkeepers, program planners, and in other administrative services. As most of these organizations have minimal budgets and are volunteer-led, many of them serve for little to no compensation. Their generosity is fulfilling for them — and it is also what powers our community.
And there are, of course, students who are full of gifts, talents and ideas that they would like to share with other students. When I became the director of the hybrid school, one thing that we wanted to do was to foster a sense of community amongst the students. Previously, students would attend one or several once-a-week classes in a church building, but they would not do much more outside of the class times. They socialized during lunch, but there wasn’t much more interaction than that. As I discussed this with my husband one night, he gave me the idea to start a Student Council. That was, in my opinion, the perfect way to foster the sense of community that we were looking for. When we did this, we essentially empowered the students to be not just recipients of giving, but participatory contributors to their community. And they immediately took the ball and ran with it. Students came up with all sorts of ideas for clubs. My requirement for them was similar to what I asked of their parents: they had to be willing to run the clubs, and to find a committed parent/adult to supervise the club’s activities. Since parents love to support their children’s initiatives, finding supervisors has not been a problem. Students have started cooking, chess, writing, book, DIY, foodie, movie appreciation, art, board games, math, film/video and detective mystery clubs. The students have also organized monthly game nights and various community service projects.
I see my role as providing the spaces and resources to enable parents and students to build and strengthen our community of learning by giving to one another. I truly believe that people are not just looking to get something out of these organizations but that they love having the opportunity to give of themselves and their talents. I see the joy that parents experience when they see the students enjoying themselves at the various activities they have helped implement and when they see students learning new ideas and concepts. I see the sense of satisfaction that the students get when they have successfully run an event or activity and when they see other students having a good time.
We are able to offer a remarkable variety of classes, activities, and resources because parents and students feel comfortable presenting their ideas to me and I am able to help and empower them to bring those ideas to life. Although I play a leadership role, it is clear to me that none of this would be possible if it were dependent on me and my initiatives.
It is my belief that every community is rich with talented people who can provide opportunities that will benefit not only their own families but the community of families around them. It gives me a profound pleasure to be able to offer spaces and resources to facilitate this type of community. That is why I consider it a privilege to lead these organizations. Just as the students and parents find fulfillment and strengthen their community through their participatory contribution, I am grateful every day for my role as a coordinator of givers.