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A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 EDUCATION A mile in a poor student’s shoes Poverty simulation helps educators understand impact of economic hardships By SEAN HART Staff Writer Students who live in poverty face a number of challenges that can nega- tively impact their educa- tional performance. To better understand what these students and their families experience, Stan¿ eld and (cho school district staff participated in a poverty simulation Thurs- day provided by CoActive Connections. Lori Beamer, director of operations and outreach for the Salem-based organiza- tion, said many of the bar- riers impoverished students encounter are not immedi- ately apparent to people who have not experienced them. For example, a student who fails to turn in home- work may not have a room or another quiet place to study, she said, or may have to care SCHOOLS f o t o h e r r s i b - lings while parents are working. A parent who misses a conference with a teacher may lack money for child care or transportation or may be unable to attend because of work hours, she said. After a previous simu- lation at a middle school in the state, Beamer said teachers there began offer- ing home visits for parents who missed conferences when they realized what these students and families face. “The goal is that the edu- cators and the staff are able to move forward and im- prove outcomes for those students and, therefore, improve outcomes for the community as a whole,” she said. “When students feel respected, when they feel understood, when bar- riers that exist are broken down because they’re iden- ti¿ ed and discussed, then students have a much great- er chance at achievement.” Stan¿ eld School 'istrict Superintendent Shelley Liscom said that because so many of the district’s students live in poverty, she wanted her staff to “walk a mile in their shoes.” According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data from 2013, 16.5 percent of Umatilla County residents live in poverty. Students who experience econom- ic hardship without tech- nically being below the poverty level are reÀ ected by the percentage that re- ceives free or reduced-price meals at school, which are offered to students whose families earn less than 185 percent of the poverty lev- el. According to the Oregon 'epartment of (ducation, 63.4 percent of students in Umatilla County quali¿ ed in the 2014-15 school year, including 49.4 percent in the 3endleton School 'is- trict, 65.6 in the Hermiston School 'istrict, 0.8 per- cent in the Stan¿ eld School 'istrict and 80 percent in the Umatilla School 'is- trict. Any way you slice it, a good percentage of students in any class in Umatilla County have ¿ nancial chal- lenges outside the classroom. “There are certain strat- egies and things that we do that really don’t help (stu- dents in poverty),” Liscom said. “Part of it is because I think we don’t really un- derstand what that feels like, what that means. The idea is, by having this sim- ulation, we have a better understanding.” Beamer said the simu- lation was based on actual experiences of people in poverty. The participants were assigned speci¿ c fam- ily roles and incomes and tried to ful¿ ll their basic needs over the course of a simulated month. The ex- ercise took about an hour. Through interactions with people representing social service agencies, schools, mortgage companies, homeless shelters, police, businesses and other orga- nizations, some of the staff members in the simulation experienced poverty for the ¿ rst time. “I thought it was good to let us see the perspective of people in poverty, the things they have to deal with on a regular basis,” Stan¿ eld High School social studies teacher Brad Rogers said. “I guess I kind of under- stood some of the things that they went through, but I’ve never really thought to the extent of how dif¿ cult it is.” Rogers said he plans to be more empathetic this year when students request additional time to complete an assignment when they had to care for siblings while parents were work- ing. Laura (ddy, who teach- es fourth and ¿ fth grades at Stan¿ eld (lementary School, said she doesn’t of- ten think about poverty. Af- ter the simulation, however, she said she could pinpoint students who were in her class last year that strug- gled because of economic issues. She said she plans to evaluate her classroom structure and homework policies. “Last year, I had a lot of students who didn’t turn in homework,” she said. “Is there any way that I can do homework that’ll meet the needs of those students who that isn’t a priority for be- cause they just want to get through" How can I ¿ nd a way to compromise with them so they’re getting this skill while recognizing that STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY 7LQD:LOOLDPVDQG'DUF\*DEULHOSUHWHQGOLNHWKH\DUHDFRXSOH GLVFXVVLQJWKHLUWLJKWÀQDQFLDOVLWXDWLRQGXULQJDSRYHUW\ VLPXODWLRQ7KXUVGD\DWWKH6WDQÀHOG(OHPHQWDU\6FKRRO there is a challenge?” At the conclusion of the simulation, the partic- ipants were provided with information from CoAct- ive Connections about re- sources available in the community. A packet from the organization also rec- ommended that the educa- tors continue to learn about and address student barriers STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY .DUD0DF.HQ]LHDÀUVWJUDGHWHDFKHULQ(FKRVWDQGVLQOLQHDWWKH IDX[KRVSLWDOHPSOR\PHQWGHSDUWPHQWDQGOHDUQVKHUHPSOR\PHQW VWDWXVIURPDKXPDQUHVRXUFHVSHUVRQSOD\HGE\'U3KLO0LOOV RIWKH,QWHU0RXQWDLQ(GXFDWLRQ6HUYLFH'LVWULFW7KHSRYHUW\ VLPXODWLRQWRRNSODFHLQWKH6WDQÀHOG(OHPHQWDU\6FKRROJ\P created by poverty through activities such as sched- uling monthly staff meet- ings, exploring mentoring programs and developing student strengths, relation- iPhone 6 on U.S. Cellular. ® Together, you can do more. Now get iPhone 6 with 2GB of data and Unlimited Talk and Text for an exclusive, all-in price of just $ 60 a month. iPhone 6 isn’t just bigger — it’s better in every way. Larger, yet thinner. More powerful, yet power-efficient. It’s a new generation of iPhone. 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