Twice a year — once in the spring and again in October — COSILoveYou hosts CityServe Day. About 2,000 people across our city show up for over 100 projects in a single day. In the School Connect world, this is a huge win — 40 of those projects happen on school campuses, and many of them at schools that have been through our CAFE process.
Jack Swigert Middle School sits on the south side of Colorado Springs — an often under-resourced part of the city. Last fall, Swigert approached us and asked to be part of our CAFE process in partnership with the district. They opted in a little late, so instead of joining a group training, we did personalized coaching at the school with them. That turned out to be one of the best parts — we connected on a personal level, they could state things plainly, and we workshopped their specific needs.
In February, they participated in our district-wide CAFE (community roundtable) with 19 other schools. Multiple partners joined them around the Swigert table — invited by the district, the school, and us.
This May at CityServe Day, I walked into Swigert and connected with Adrianne, the assistant principal. She, her husband, and about a dozen others were working on projects around campus: painting a rusty bike rack a beautiful white, cleaning the community garden that Adrianne said hadn’t been utilized in over two years, writing notes of teacher appreciation to coincide with Teacher Appreciation Week, and setting up a balloon arch for students to walk through as they entered for end-of-year testing.
What stood out was Adrianne saying: this wouldn’t have happened without the dinner.
The dinner was their CAFE in February.
Adrianne went on to elaborate on some of the happenings since the CAFE in addition to the day’s tasks. Raising Cane’s had lunch with the seven most-improved 7th graders. They talked about the future and offered the students a behind-the-scenes tour of the inner working of a restaurant. A shoe closet was started at Swigert when a local leader gathered new shoes from the community — including a stack of Jordans — so students can select what they need. The garden, untouched for two years, was being cleared and planted for a fall harvest: sunflowers, pumpkins, squash.
One of the goals that came out of the Swigert CAFE was “establish parent support of school community” — families who trust the staff, come to the school first for resources, believe their child will get a strong education, know the school cares for the whole child, hear from teachers regularly, and show up when invited to school events. Adrianne told me about one way they’re going after that goal: They are hosting a family movie night at the school. They printed flyers, invited students and families, and the invitation extended to the greater community made up of many apartment complexes.
The village
We could host workday projects at schools and they’d be successful on their own — work would get done, people would be encouraged, schools would be served. That matters, and we’d keep doing it — it aims us all toward a flourishing city.
But what if it could be richer?
The ultimate goal is relationships. The CAFE process is how School Connect helps schools get there — bringing principals and partners around a table before anyone shows up with a paintbrush. The village forms around clear goals, brainstorms projects and invites more partners into the work. A few months later, here’s what it looks like: CityServe Day, a rusty bike rack painted white, seven kids at a Raising Cane’s lunch, a Thursday movie night, new shoes, and staff saying we have community partners.
In isolation, perhaps these are small wins. But when you zoom out a bit, you see the making of a village.