Celebrating 5 Years of Collective Impact5-Year Report to the Community

2010-2015

We believe in the inherent worth of

every child and in every individual’s ability to

make a difference with his or her time, talent,

and treasure.

We believe that every child’s basic

needs must be met in order for that child to

learn effectively.

Uniting our time, talent, and treasure to build relationships

and create pathways for the success of our

students.

We believe that our

community has the resources and ability to

meet the needs of every child through relationships

because all of us are better together than

any of us alone.

Core Values:

Mission:

• Students living in poverty miss school more

and are more likely to drop out because of

the need to work and provide for family members.4

• Students ages 16-24 from low-income families

are 7 times more likely to drop out than their

peers.5

• Less than 30% of students in the bottom quarter

of incomes enroll in a 4-year college or university.

Among that group, less than 50% graduate.6

• A high school dropout will earn $292,000 less than a high school graduate over his or her

lifetime and almost a million dollars less than a college graduate.7

• Each year’s class of dropouts will cost the

country over $154 billion during their lifetimes

in lost earnings and unrealized tax revenue.10

• Poverty is the single best predictor of child abuse and neglect. Children who live in

families with an annual income less than $15,000 are

22 times more likely to be abused or neglected.11

• In the U.S., high school dropouts commit about 80% of crimes.8

• Of children whose parents have less than a high

school diploma, 86% live in poverty.13

• 61.06% of students in Joplin Schools qualify for free or reduced lunches 1 – the 7th highest

rate in Missouri 2 with 9 of our buildings having rates

far exceeding that average. The building with the

highest rate of free and reduced lunches sits at a

staggering 88.7%.

• 22.8% of families with children in Jasper County

live at or below the poverty level – ranking

Jasper as the 8th highest poverty county in Missouri. 1

• 50% of 5-year olds come to kindergarten

without the basic literacy skills needed to

be successful, which puts them years behind their

peers.3

• In 2011, there were 141 substantiated cases of child abuse in Jasper County and 2,284

reports.12

• In the same year of 2011, the graduation rate in

Joplin was 73.6% – nearly 27% of our students weren’t graduating.9

• The 2011 Joplin High School class of students who

did not graduate have an estimated economic impact of $36.8 million over their lifetimes. This

does not account for all of the other students who

did not graduate throughout the years.8

1. Missouri DESE District Report Card 2015

2. Kidscount 2012

3. Joplin Schools’ kindergarten readiness screening

4. Currie, Janet. “Poverty Among Inner-City Children.” Princeton Publications. Accessed March 1, 2014.

5. KewalRamani, Angelina, Jennifer Laird, Nicole Ifill, and Chris Chapman. “Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2009.” National Center for Educational Statics. Accessed March 1, 2014.

6. Deparle, Jason. “For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall.” The New York Times. Accessed March 1, 2014.

7. Cheeseman Day, Jennifer, and Eric C. Newburger. “The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings.” United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 26, 2014.

8. Smiley, Travis. “Fact Sheet: Is the Dropout Problem Real?.” Travis Smiley Reports. Accessed February 26, 2014.

9. Missouri Department of Secondary Education

10. Jane Waldfogel, Irwin Garfinkel, and Brendan Kelly, “Public Assistance Programs: How Much Could Be Saved with Improved Education?” in The Price We Pay: The Economic and Political Consequences of Inadequate Education, edited by Clive Belfield and Henry M. Levin (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2007).

11. Children’s Defense Fund. (2005). The state of America’s children. Washington, DC.

12. Missouri Department of Social Services (2012). Children’s Division Child Abuse & Neglect Calendar Year 2011 Annual Report. Jefferson City, MO.

13. Sophia Addy, Will Engelhardt, and Curtis Skinner (2013) Basic Facts about Low-Income Children.

NATIONAL JOPLIN

The Challenge by the Numbers

We believe that together we can make a difference in spite of challenges in our community.

The mission of Bright Futures Joplin is “Uniting our time, talent, and treasure to build relationships and create pathways for the success of our students.”

• “Darla’s Room” Bright Futures Donation Center – We work to ensure that students’ basic necessities are met. Items like clothing, shoes, school supplies, coats, and food are provided to any child in need. We also help with other solutions such as transportation for high school kids living on their own and other material supports when needed.

• Community Partnerships – Bright Futures has created a network of supports throughout our community. We have over 150 partners who help us respond to student needs. These partnerships are the critical piece of our success.

• Snack Pack Program – In partnership with the Joplin Schools Foundation and a group of amazing volunteers, Bright Futures helps coordinate 350 Snack Packs to food-insecure children each weekend of the school year, helping to ensure that they have nutritious food to eat and aren’t coming to school hungry Monday morning.

1. Meet the immediate needs of

our students, ensuring they have the tools

they need to focus on school each day.

2. Build a leadership

infrastructure that educates and

empowers caring adults to make a

difference.

3. Foster a culture of service

before self through educational

service-learning opportunities.

...and this is why Bright Futures Joplin was born.

OUR APPROACH

How we achieve these goals:

1. Meeting Student Needs

• In the spring of 2015, a team was formed to help drive this initiative forward. The goal is to help students to graduate as service/civic-minded individuals who are problem solvers and have a desire to give back to their communities. This team is working to establish an awards program that honors students and schools that take service seriously, as well as a web-based infrastructure that will enable classrooms to connect with community needs.

• Many schools have already begun service projects on a regular basis. A few have already begun true service-learning projects as well (such as JHS’s Color

Estes Program and Royal Heights’ Curbside Recycling Program). We have been working hard with the curriculum team to help incorporate service learning into the classroom successfully and are eager to see this roll out more fully in months and years ahead.

• Families that receive assistance from Bright Futures are encouraged to give back to the District by way of volunteer time. The goal is for each of us to “pay it forward” to others in need as well.

• Bright Futures Councils – groups where business, faith-based, human service, and parent partners come together around a school to help meet the needs of that school. Councils meet regularly with building officials to help match partner time, talents, and treasure to school needs.

• Bright Futures Leadership Academy – this Academy is designed to inform and empower community individuals with information about what’s happening in Joplin Schools and how they can be a part of solutions. With six half-day sessions, this training program is an eye-opening look at the challenges and how we can, as a community, help find solutions for kids.

• Community Initiatives – Bright Futures Joplin has helped to engage the community in support of a variety of initiatives that are designed to help solve identified challenges in the district. These initiatives include:

º TREK & PALS mentoring programs – partner caring and devoted individuals with students in need of a positive adult role model.

º Operation College Bound – fosters a culture that normalizes college or trade school for every student through a host of college focused activities and lessons as well as visits to six college campuses before leaving elementary school.

º WEB & Fusion transitions programs – offer peer-to-peer mentoring and support at those critical transitions between elementary and middle school and then middle school to high school. With the support of our community, these students are helping each other get across the stage at graduation.

º Reading Matters – encourages parents to read to their children for 30 minutes every day to prepare them for kindergarten.

All of these initiatives are designed to bring leadership and engagement around the issues they identify. Working together, we can make a huge difference in our kids’ futures.

2. Leadership Infrastructure

3. Culture of Service

O Since 2010, over 10,631

immediate student needs have

been met.

O The graduation rate has

improved by nearly 10% in the

last 5 years.

O Five new schools in Joplin,

with thousands of volunteer hours to help make it possible.

O 350+ Snack Packs delivered

to food-insecure students each

weekend.

O Site councils meeting regularly at

every building consisting of 150+ Bright Futures Partners.

O Operation College Bound

has been implemented in 7 out of 11 elementary schools, with

the additional four coming into the

program in the fall of 2015.

O Fusion peer-to-peer mentoring program serves all freshmen

at JHS. In two years of programming,

the high school has seen a 42% increase in passing grades,

as well as a 49.5% reduction in discipline referrals among

freshmen.

O District mentors/tutors have increased 245%, up by 194

volunteers.

O We’re closing the achievement gap between students in poverty and those

not in poverty. Attendance and

graduation rates among our most

at-risk students are at or above the

level of their peers at the close of the

2014 school year.

O Elementary and preschool

parent/community involvement increased an

average of 824%.

O 6,829 Facebook followers.

5-Year Results

“Jill” was the poster child for “at

risk” in Joplin. Coming from an extreme situation

of poverty, Jill struggled all throughout her educational career. When she hit middle school, her behaviors and classroom performance plummeted. In and out of mental health facilities, Jill struggled to stay afloat. When she returned to Joplin Schools, she needed a lot of extra care. Nearly every at-risk intervention was in place for Jill, and Bright Futures was there to help with the resources she needed to stay on track. Just recently, we received the following message from her, “So I finished school, and I will walk the stage in May, I plan on going to MSSU. Thank you, and thank you for helping me have these tools to guide me.”

“Pedro” was a 7-year-old 2nd grader. His family moved to Joplin fleeing an abusive situation and

came with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Mom was working

hard to get established in a new community, but the school began to

realize that Pedro could use some extra supports. As they dug into the situation, they learned that Pedro had never had his own bed before. The BF team was able to purchase a bed and deliver it to their home. As they drove up to the house, little Pedro had his face pressed to the glass in excitement. Once the bed was all set up, he laid down on it, rubbing his hands across the new mattress. “I hope you sleep better than ever tonight!” the staff member said. His answer was quick, sweet, and innocent like only a child could answer, “Oh, I WILL! THANK YOU!” His eyes did the real talking as they welled with happy tears. He sniffed them away and laid down on his new treasured bed, running his hand back and forth on the uncovered mattress. The truth is, that mattress was not the biggest win of the night. It was that this beautiful little 7-year-old boy would go to bed knowing that his school and his community loved him.

Finances & Resources

$ DONATIONS EXPENSES

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

2010 – Present: 5,959 donors contributed

31% contributed by individuals

6% contributed by foundations & grants

54% contributed by corporate & civic groups

9% fundraising income

3% Administrative Costs & Supplies

12% Marketing & Development

• Fundraising expenses• Donor & volunteer

appreciation• Print materials• Website

85% Program Services

• School Supplies• Service Learning• Bright Futures Councils• Bright Futures

Leadership Academy• 2 Full-time Staff

Members

• Reading Matters• All Pro Dads• Meeting Student

Needs• Operation College

Bound• Mentoring Programs

provides a weekend

Snack Pack to a food-

insecure child for one week

allows one child to go through the Operation

College Bound Program

provides a backpack

full of school supplies to

a child who comes to

school without them

provides eight new baby Reading Matters

packets to new moms and their newborns

provides for one student in need of clothing, shoes, or

transportation to school

provides for a weekend Snack Pack for a food-

insecure child for one school

year

provides for a day of

programming and services

at Bright Futures

$5 $12 $20 $32 $100 $200 $650

www.brightfuturesjoplin.org