Impact at school

Poverty has effects on all aspects of a child’s life, from getting enough food to having access to health care.

That also includes education.

Support from teachers and academic encouragement is vital for children living in poverty, said two area principals.

Around a quarter of the children 17 and younger in Jay County are living in poverty, according to the 2017 Factbook from Indiana Youth Institute. Mike Crull, principal of West Jay Middle School, said impoverished children may feel helpless about their situations in life.

“They look at themselves as being (in that situation) forever and there’s no chance to get out,” Crull said. “We have to kind of change that and encourage them, and give them encouragement, and let them know that they’re as important as anybody else and that they can make a change in their life and steer them in the right direction.”

One thing Crull has noticed is impoverished children sometimes don’t value education or know how it can help them in the future. He and the teachers at West Jay place an emphasis on encouraging students’ abilities, he said, helping them with homework and bringing in after-school programs to encourage hands-on learning. He’s seen an impact this year with several students who were underperforming in the sixth grade.

“Through encouragement, through praises, through programs we do here, rewards, (we showed) them that we value them, that we value their education and that they can make a difference in their life,” Crull said. “As seventh graders now they are excelling in their grades and they’re doing much better than they did behavior-wise and attitude-wise, and there’s not much praise needed in that because they see that value in their education.”

There are always those who care about their education, even with all the responsibilities they may have at home. Students who have to care for their families and households while their parents are at work might not have as much time to focus on school.

“We do have kids that are living in poverty that, they go home at night and they take care of their siblings, they cook supper, they do all that, they still do their homework and they still excel,” Crull said. “They still come to school and function in a way when they may not have a lot of rest.”

Aside from responsibilities at home, children who live in poverty may be disadvantaged coming into school.

Jeff Davis, principal of Westlawn Elementary School, said the young students who start at his school may be playing catch-up the whole time.

“It seems that children start school behind. They tend to have less experience … with words and communication,” Davis said. “They tend to, because they have lived in poverty, their parents are probably living a more stressful life, living paycheck to paycheck, being stressed … (the children) tend to be a little bit more on edge or stressed.”

Even though the children at his school are young, Davis makes sure they know about their possibilities later on in life. He talks to them about keeping their grades up, staying out of trouble and enrolling in state programs such as the CollegeChoice 529 direct savings plan and the 21st Century Scholars.

“One of the things that brings me to school every day is knowing we may have a kid … that’s going to be the child that finds a cure for cancer,” Davis said. “I talk to boys and girls alike about them, we could have the next president … No matter what your background, no matter where you come from, you’ve got to believe in yourself.”

Davis said teachers are aware of the problems some of their students may face, and work as hard as they can to help anyone who may be behind.

“The biggest thing for me and for my staff is it puts a little bit more pressure because you know the stakes are much bigger,” Davis said. “You know that this isn’t about just learning a concept, it’s about living, surviving, and helping kiddos reach their full potential.”

In his 31 years at West Jay — with 10 as principal — Crull said he’s seen the poverty levels rise. The free and reduced lunch eligibility was about 25 to 30 percent when he first started; now it’s at 55.3 percent corporation wide. He knows children and families in the community after his years in the school system, and the poverty he sees bothers him.

“I keep wanting to find ways to help them to meet their needs, to provide them with a great education and a better life and trying to find the resources to help them with a great education and a better life,” Crull said. “It challenges me to find better ways to help them and to meet their needs and make them have a better life.”