Alex was amazing. She knew that she had the power to make change; it just took her time to figure out how. She was 10 years old, with a face that radiated kindness and a demeanor that exuded confidence and serenity. She wasn’t the most popular girl in her class but was accepted by all. This was her last year in elementary school and the community had been talking about closing the school, the following year. She had been thinking about the district’s problem ever since she started fifth grade.
Being good at research and math, she combed through newspaper articles about the school closing. She studied the population demographics and trends of families living there. She found similar data on neighboring districts.
She interviewed adults who had grown up in the town and had gone to her school. She even found information about historical events that happened at the school and because of the school.
Alex also looked into funding sources. She found Federal grant proposals and community resources that could increase the funding to keep the school open.
She arranged to meet with members of the school’s parent organization, where she shared all of the information that she had found. And went door to door with her parents to get a petition signed to keep the school open.
It was the last day of April and she knew that she had only one day left to submit her proposal to the town council and school board. So she put posters up all over town reminding everyone of the council and board meeting.
The members of both the board and the council were not prepared for what happened when the meeting started. There was not enough room to accommodate the 3,000+ people that wanted to get in. They promised to reschedule the meeting for a larger venue. The people would not leave until the council and board allowed Alex to present her plan. The only people allowed in with her at the council meeting were the president of the PTA and Alex’s parents.
It was quite clear from Alex’s presentation that she knew her stuff. The information shared was both impressive and compelling. When word of the follow-up meeting with the community was scheduled. The council was more than overwhelmed by the turnout which was twice as large as the original group. The council had no arguments that could counteract the points made by Alex at the meeting. The decision was made to not close the school as planned and to seriously consider Alex’s plan going forward.
The headlines in the newspaper the next day read, “AWESOME ALEX SAVES SCHOOL.”
Amazing indeed. We need Alex to fix certain things in the world asap
The things we can pull off if we set our mins to it. Great story. We need more people like Alex.
Agreed
I’m thinking of me at age ten. I certainly was not like Alex. My school closed down when I left for high school at age 11. There were only two students left so I don’t think a campaign would have worked. The town where I grew up has boomed since I left because of coal mines opened nearby and there would be enough children for a much larger school than mine. They are all bussed to other towns. The Education Department prefers consolidation. Maybe they need an Alex to stir things up there now.
I think we need more Alexs all around. Activists that do their research before taking action. Thanks for reading.