After returning from an impactful trip to Zimbabwe, former BNI Select Business Source Chapter member Steve Sargent introduced his chapter to an opportunity they never expected. Steve used his presentation time, not to present on his business, but to present an opportunity for the chapter to literally save lives by giving two hours of volunteer time. Sargent found that in keeping with BNI’s Givers Gain® philosophy, chapter members were eager to help.
Damon speaks to the BNI members in New Orleans
Written by: Beth Misner
Damon Smothers with the students of John D Martyn Alternative School.
Ivan and I (Beth Misner) hosted the BNI regional Member Extravaganza winners at a breakfast on Saturday morning during our New Orleans trip in October 2014. We invited Damon Smothers, the school psychologist who had coordinated the school visits from the previous day which I have written about earlier on this blog site, to our BNI breakfast. We asked him to share with our guests the vision he has had for some time of the Smothers Academy, a public school for boys with a prep school focus. Here is a summary of what he told us:
Our new awareness campaign, Business Voices, has been inspiring members all around the world to do some pretty amazing things in their local communities. The impact our BNI members are having on children’s education is nothing short of awesome!
Here is a report from Business Voices Team Winston-Salem Coordinator and history maker – Glen Coleman:
The changes being initiated by the Business Voices® movement are so powerful! Yes, we’re changing the world – one Principal at a time, one Teacher at a time, one Child at a time.
This is a question we are hearing a lot now in the BNI Foundation, which means that the cat is out of the bag regarding the great things business owners are doing to support the schools and educational organizations in their communities.
Guess what? It’s so very simple and quick to launch Business Voices in your area. Here are three simple steps to help you get started:
The second school we visited in New Orleans was John McDonogh #35, a former charter school struggling to serve its students. McDonogh #35 used to serve students who have scored high enough on an entrance exam to be admitted as a college prep school. They are trying hard to maintain that focus and trajectory, but it’s more difficult now. And we encountered a metal detector at the front entrance through which everyone must pass before coming in.
I can tell you with confidence I have never been in a school that had a metal detector before. I knew they exist, but being up close and personal with that reality was sobering.
The Business Voices Team New Orleans
“We are going into the 9th Ward, Beth,” I was told two weeks ago while planning our first inner city school school visit to meet the students of some of our nations’ toughest schools in order to begin building relationships there. New Orleans was the destination and John H. Martyn Alternative School and John McDonogh #35 were our two schools. Yikes.
John H. Martyn Alternative School
I did not know what I did not know. I did not know that these kids have been moved to the John H. Martyn Alternative School as a last resort.
Recent events in Ferguson, MO, have really touched the core of my heart. Let me start with a little background.
I spent my junior high and high school years in rural East Tennessee, in Dayton. I rode the bus to high school that picked up the kids from the projects, as we called it, before it picked up me and my brother. Most of the students picked up from the projects were black students. I was one of the few white students who would sit with black students if there were a spot open on the bus. Most of my classmates stood, rather than take a seat beside one of them. You can just imagine the names I was called. I look back on my younger self and feel grateful that I was known even then for love.