History of the Work Colleges Consortium/ David School Partnership

In the fall of 1996, the Coordinating Council determined that Work Colleges Consortium should work to build an opportunity for joint service for students at the work colleges.  At that time, the consortium director, Dennis Jacobs, talked extensively with both the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.  The director even visited the corporate office of the American Red Cross outside Washington, DC in an attempt to find ways of partnering with that organization.

It became clear that conflicting schedules and difficult academic calendars and programs would not allow the work colleges to form partnerships with these agencies at that time.  While individual campuses might respond in emergencies, the costs of participation and the threat to academic concerns were too great for a partnership with the American Red Cross.  At that time the Berea College chapter of Habitat viewed joint activity with other members of the consortium as a move that would dilute their efforts.  Currently, the Berea College chapter views that differently.

Other, more specific partners for service were not recommended, and utilizing Work Colleges' funds to support individual institutional service efforts did not seem to the council to provide an adequate response to our joint commitment to service, work and learning.  In most cases, the colleges had long term service partnerships of their own.

Our first service trip to the David School evolved from a visit by the director in late fall 1996, initiated by Gary Perry, former Director of Work/ Study at Alice Lloyd College.  Gary pointed out the advantage in terms of travel for at least 3 of the Colleges.  The David School had another unique feature appealing to the work colleges: all students were required to work while they attended.

In the fall of 1996, the David School was in the midst of tremendous change and upheaval.  Classes were held in a building originally used as a company store by the mining company.  The building had been condemned for use as a school.  A new school was being built, primarily on faith as resources were inadequate to the task, and volunteer staff was short.  A new principal, a graduate of Alice Lloyd College, Missy Crisp, had just been hired.

The David School has hosted service groups throughout its history.  (Saint Ambrose College and Virginia Tech have been bringing a yearly group for 16 and 18 years respectively.)  But hosting additional colleges had become difficult.  The school was short of facilities and staff.  Supplies for projects and supervisors for work cost money.  There was little.  Cabins had been constructed to house volunteers, however, in order to finance their construction, it had been necessary for the school to enter into an agreement with Jenny Wiley Theatre, leasing the use of the cabins through the summer months for five years.

Even though facilities were not conducive to inviting new partners, Danny Green, the program's director, encouraged our visit.  The primary reason for creating this particular linkage was obvious: we shared and understood the David Schools' appreciation for the importance of work.  Beyond that, Mr. Green believed that success for their graduates relied upon their understanding that a person could both work and develop themselves in other ways at the same time.  Our identity was and remains a significant feature of our relationship with and contribution to the David School.

It was against this backdrop, that students, faculty, and staff from the work colleges made their first service trip to the David School.  A great deal of hard work needed to be done to complete the new facility, to prepare for the move, and to transform the rock yard into a green field.  Maintenance of other buildings and grounds had been deferred due to scarce resources.  The first year, summer 1997, seven students participated for the whole week, two from Alice Lloyd College and five from Berea. Gary Perry came over from Alice Lloyd most days and brought a couple of other students with him some days.  Additionally, five students and staff came up from Berea College for one day with Charly Schindler, Associate Dean of Labor.

During this visit, we slept in the old David School.  The building was in bad condition, as all non-emergency maintenance had been deferred.  It was hard to believe that students had been in class there only a month before.  The building was literally falling apart.  Meals were prepared, cautiously, in the cafeteria, which had been condemned as a school food preparation site.  The cafeteria in the new school was incomplete.  There was real concern that it would not be approved before students came in the fall.

Other features of our first visit are still vivid.  The culverts needed cleaning as drainage from the site of the new school was evolving.  Let it suffice to say that the effort required to remove the debris from those culverts was heroic and no work detail since can match it.  Students played basketball throughout the night, as the gym was located in the center of school.  The director was awakened to "come on old man" for numerous 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. games of "war".

For the first couple of service visits our numbers remained small.  We continued to sleep in common areas, usually classroom floors in the new building.  A few exceptions were made for those needing beds for medical reasons.  Participants purchased their own supplies and did all of their own cooking in the domestic science classroom.  The work colleges were privileged to contribute at this key juncture in the development of the David School.

As the program developed, so did our understanding of the partnership.  Even in the beginning, David School personnel hosted nightly reflections, and Mr. Green provided education during meals and in the evenings.  Participation grew as a result of the enthusiasm of the initial group and thanks to leadership and support from our campuses.  Gary Perry, Bob Braden, and Dora Hall, all Work/ Study directors at Alice Lloyd College provided invaluable support over time, increasing their student participation each year.  Lisa Woodall, from Warren Wilson made a tremendous contribution to this effort.

Lisa, recruited, drove, and supervised volunteers for two years running, sleeping on the floor beside them and staying the entire week.  Blackburn students reported positive experiences during their summer service visits, encouraging others to come.

Contributing to this new paradigm, Brenda Richardson, a faculty member in the education department at Berea College, has helped to create a new program to support both Berea College's efforts and our partnership.  Students from Berea College visit the David School.  David School students prepare instruction on things that they know and understand.  Berea College students attend these classes.  Later, Berea College students return the favor by doing the same for David School students who visit Berea College.

While many other colleges and service groups do service at the David School, it is of a different nature, part of a social justice venture.  The work colleges serve a unique role.  Together we have formed an interactive learning community, a partnership.  We are engaged visibly, intellectually, and philosophically in partnership with the faculty, staff and students at the David School.  Our understanding of democratic participation in work, of the value of perseverance, and our rejection of the artificial boundaries between work and education are valued by the David School.  We are called on to share our understanding, to learn from the students, and to gain and share insights into the ways that culture influences our understanding of work and education.

Further evidence of this unique partnership is that the WCC director has been called on to provide workshops and consulting for the David School as a part of that service partnership.  Personnel from the work colleges helped to design features of the new building and have been consulted for recommendations on purchases, computers, and curriculum.  For the second time in the summer of 2001, Berea College has created an off campus service position, providing a summer worker to assist them in their summer program.

In the fall of 1999, the work colleges came together for their fall conference at the David School.  Under the leadership of Ian Robertson and utilizing a great deal of equipment from Warren Wilson College and from Alice Lloyd College, the work colleges contributed a whole day of service.  The amount of work that was produced in that one day was phenomenal.  An annex was removed from the old school.  Drainage across campus was improved.  A future building site was cleared.

In the spring of 2000, the David School awarded the director of the Work Colleges Consortium the Frank S. Clark Memorial Service Award in recognition of the contribution that students, faculty, and staff from the work colleges had made to the school.  This honor attests to the development of a true partnership.  As this service partnership continues to grow, many lessons can be learned.  While some of these lessons are learned once and remembered, many of them have to be learned in new ways at different times.  Reflection remains the cornerstone of our efforts to work, learn, and serve.