Poverty affects more students

Sarah Campbell / Salisbury Post Bob Foreman, Communities in Schools site coordinator at Knox Middle School, folds donated uniform shirt for his "Khaki Shack."

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Sarah Campbell / Salisbury Post The "Khaki Shack" at Knox Middle School provides school uniforms for needy students.

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Sarah Campbell / Salisbury Post Bob Foreman, Communities in Schools site coordinator at Knox Middle School, unpacks donated clothing for his "Khaki Shack."

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Curtis Morgan

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By Sarah Campbell

scampbell@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Bob Foreman has seen what the Great Recession has done to families.

More children are coming to school hungry, more parents are looking for assistance with rent and utility bills and more agencies are running out of resources to help.

“I think the biggest frustration is that we have so many families who have needs, but we’re not able to meet those needs,” Foreman said.

When he became the Communities In School site coordinator at Knox Middle School in 2003, things weren’t quite as bad.

The percentage of economically disadvantaged students in the Rowan-Salisbury School System rose from about 49 percent in 2007 to 61 percent this year. At Knox the percentage of students living in poverty has climbed from 72 to nearly 80 percent.

School officials gauge poverty levels based on federal guidelines for free and reduced-price lunches.

Foreman said when he started nine years ago, most of the poverty he encountered was generational, meaning the cycle carried over from one generation to the next.

“Now, it’s more situational poverty where people have lost their jobs due to cutbacks or are unable to work because of health problems,” he said. “People are going from middle or upper class settings to basically not having anything.”

And he’s also seeing a few other unexpected populations sinking into poverty.

“A lot of disabled veterans who can’t find jobs come here with their families because of the VA hospital,” he said. “The other challenge that we are seeing is more and more grandparents and great-grandparents who are raising children on a fixed income.”

Living in poverty

Foreman said when he tries to explain poverty to others people he tells them to think about what it’s like to wait in line for tickets to a concert or Carolina Panthers game. Then, imagine what it’s like to stand in line for hours waiting for free food or clothing.

“If you don’t live in poverty, you don’t know what it’s like,” he said.

When Foreman began his gig with Communities in Schools, he would take families to Rowan Helping Ministries or the Salvation Army to receive assistance and they would get what they needed within half an hour. Now the wait has grown to hours.

Foreman said a major hurdle he sees many poor families facing is lack of transportation.

“We constantly here there is a lot of work out there, but if you don’t have a car and you don’t have a ride to get there, that’s very limiting,” he said. “I’ve seen moms lose their jobs because they were dependent on a relative or friend who could no longer take them to work.”

Curtis Morgan, a third-grade teacher at Koontz Elementary, said he talks with many parents who would like to be more involved at the school, but don’t have a way to get there.

And Morgan said parents who do have transportation are sometimes working two or three jobs and are simply too busy to be active.

“As teachers we need to be aware of their situation and we need to work with them” he said.

Adjusting to needs

Morgan said teachers have to be cognizant of their students’ experiences.

“Most of our students have never been to the beach or the mountains, even though we live so close to both,” he said. “So, you have to go in with the approach that none of your students have been there and build from there.”

About 89 percent of the students who attend Koontz live in poverty.

Morgan said that just means teachers have to work harder to make connections for their students.

“We come in every day knowing the type of school that we teach in and we’re familiar that we need to adjust our lesson delivery and our lesson planning to reach each individual child,” he said.

Foreman said since youths who live in poverty are oftentimes drawn toward involvement in gangs as a way to belong, he spends time looking for activities for students to participate in after school.

“One thing I see is that there are a lot of programs, but there are not a lot of programs that don’t cost money,” he said.

Students in poverty can also begin acting out at school, Foreman said.

“There is a lot of stress that takes place when a child’s family had been doing OK and then they lose their jobs or their health,” he said.

But Foreman said teachers are stepping up to help students deal with the change by giving them school supplies and other essentials they might need at home. And that helps form a bond, Foreman said.

“When they can build that relationship with that teacher, it’s a bonding that holds for a long time and they love coming to school.”

Helping out

As a liaison for Communities in Schools, Foreman works to support and advocate for families and students. He makes sure students have the school supplies and uniforms they need for class.

At the end of every year, he collects donated uniforms that students have either outgrown or no longer need, to stock his “Khaki Shack.”

In June, he received nearly 500 pounds of clothes, which were sent to a laundry mat to be washed and then hung up in a mobile unit at Knox. Khakis pants line the back wall and a corner of the room is filled with T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweaters.

Foreman said the uniform system has been a great equalizer for students at the school.

“One reason Knox Middle adopted a uniform policy is because they were trying to discourage that whole peer pressure of the have and the have nots,” he said.

If Foreman finds his organization doesn’t have what families need, he helps to find agencies who do.

But even those resources are tapped out.

Morgan said one way he tries to help his students is by giving them enrichment opportunities in the classroom.

Utilizing technology is one way he makes that happen.

“A lot of these students don’t have these resources at home, so I try to get these kids into the computer lab so they can have as much exposure to technology as possible,” he said.

Morgan said he also helps parents by connecting them with resources like Communities in Schools.

Foreman said one of his primary goals as a Communities in Schools coordinator is to help students address ways to climb out of poverty.

“We try to let them know that if you finish high school you can go to college and achieve this goal,” he said. “But in order to do that, I stress that they have to do well in school.”

Communities In Schools provides tutoring for students to help them get to graduation.

But Traci Fleming, the Communities in Schools site coordinator at North Rowan High School, said tutors and mentors can be scarce at the high school level.

“At elementary and middle schools, you have a lot of people who want to volunteer and want to help, but by the time students get to high school the aren’t the cute and cuddly anymore,” she said. “We still need people.”

Foreman said people can take advantage of a number of ways to help out including donating things like food and clothes.

“Anytime we see the opportunity to give, I think it’s really important to do so,” he said.

Ditching the stigma

Foreman said people living in poverty are often stigmatized, sometimes perceived as lazy, but that is usually not the case, he said.

“I’ve found that one of the most important things we can do is to listen and understand and not judge because we can do so, so easily,” he said. “Hard times fall in many different ways.”

Poverty is also a subject that makes many uncomfortable and less understanding, Foreman said.

“To be honest, people don’t want to think about what it’s like to be in poverty, they are afraid of what it looks like,” he said. “We put it in the back of our minds because we don’t want to deal with it because it’s easier not to, that’s just human nature.”

Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.

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