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.
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
6WDQÀHOGOLEUDULDQ3HQQ\$QGHUVRQWDNHVSDUWLQWKHSRYHUW\
VLPXODWLRQ7KXUVGD\LQWKH6WDQÀHOG(OHPHQWDU\6FKRROJ\P
:KLOHJHWWLQJDSD\GD\ORDQVKHGLVFRYHUVWKHJX\EHKLQGWKH
FRXQWHUSOD\HGE\(FKR3ULQFLSDO.HLWK+ROPDQKDVVKRUWHGKHU
VRPHFDVK
Things we want you to know: New service and Retail Installment Contract required. Credit approval also required. A $25 Device Activation Fee applies. A Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee (currently $1.82) applies; this is
not a tax or gvmt. required charge. Additional fees, taxes, terms, conditions and coverage areas apply and may vary by plan, service and phone. Offers valid at participating locations only and cannot be combined.
See store or uscellular.com for details. Offer available with Apple ® iPhone ® 6 16GB only. Port-in and phone turn-in required. Plan not eligible for early upgrade programs. Available in-store only. Device Turn-In:
Customer must turn in all active devices from their former carrier’s plan. Customer is responsible for deleting all personal information from device and removing any storage cards from devices. Devices must power
on and cannot be pin locked. Device must be in fully functional working condition without any liquid damage or broken components, including, but not limited to, a cracked display or housing. Device will not be
returned. Not eligible for in-store or mail-in trade-in program of U.S. Cellular. ® To be eligible, customer must register for My Account. Kansas Customers: In areas in which U.S. Cellular receives support from the
Federal Universal Service Fund, all reasonable requests for service must be met. Unresolved questions concerning services availability can be directed to the Kansas Corporation Commission Office of Public Affairs
and Consumer Protection at 1-800-662-0027. Limited-time offer. Trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. ©2015 U.S. Cellular