Bright Futures to expand with affiliates in Greenland, Springdale

SPRINGDALE -- A nonprofit group focused on using social media to help students will expand into two more school districts in Northwest Arkansas for the 2015-16 school year.

Four districts from Benton and Washington counties are affiliated with the Joplin, Mo.-based Bright Futures USA. Greenland School District and Springdale School District will become affiliates this fall.

"What interested me was the concept of bringing the community together and forming a network that would meet the needs of students regardless of what those needs may be -- financial, clothing, food, school supplies," Greenland Superintendent Larry Ben said. "There's probably somebody in our community who has what we need."

Springdale will pilot the Bright Futures program at Central Junior High School, Principal Paul Griep said.

The nonprofit began as a project of officials with Joplin, Mo., schools who worked through Bright Futures Joplin to make sure students' basic needs were met as a strategy for raising graduation rates, according to the Bright Futures website. The effort grew into the Bright Futures USA nonprofit, founded in February 2011. Bright Futures affiliates are now in seven states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Virginia.

Bright Futures affiliates have an individual Facebook pages and a Bright Futures coordinator, said Ralph Nesson, Arkansas regional coordinator for Bright Futures USA. The coordinator will post needs of students without identifying them on Facebook. The coordinator assists those who respond in fulfilling the need, often within 24 hours.

"Bright Futures has this wonderful way of bringing new blood into the school -- people who want to help," Nesson said.

Lincoln School District joined Bright Futures in April and kicked off the program with a community event in May, Superintendent Mary Ann Spears said. More than 70 percent of children in the district are from low-income families.

"It was a way to meet the needs of our students," Spears said. "Oftentimes, teachers spend their own money to help students by buying shoes, clothes and school supplies. Bright Futures will bring the community together to meet those needs."

The needs can be for one child or for many children, Nesson said. In Lincoln, a post on the Bright Futures Lincoln page asked for new underwear for elementary age children. Within 15 minutes, a woman responded that she was on her way to Walmart to purchase underwear and would bring it to the School District within the hour.

"People come out of the woodwork to help if they are asked to help," Nesson said.

Central Junior High School in Springdale is working to assemble an advisory team with about a dozen community members for Bright Futures Springdale, Griep said. Teachers and organizations, such as the school booster club and Parent Teacher Organization, often work to meet students' needs, whether it's clothing or money to pay for participation in athletics.

But the use of a Facebook page provides for rapid communication that can reach people who may not be directly connected with Central Junior High. They can respond in a timely manner when students lack clothing, money for a dental procedure or dresses for a special occasion.

"You never know when someone might be cleaning out their daughter's closet," Griep said.

Some districts have used Bright Futures to create mentoring and tutoring programs, food closets and weekend feeding programs, Nesson said.

"It all hinges on the openness of the school to bring people from the community in who offer their time, talents and their treasure," Nesson said.

School districts pay a one-time fee of $2,500 to become affiliates of Bright Futures USA, Nesson said. Nesson has assisted school districts in finding money from other sources to cover the cost.

The fee for Springdale was paid with $1,250 from the Ray Family Charitable Fund of the Endeavor Foundation and with $1,250 from Endeavor Foundation Charitable Support.

Arvest Bank in West Fork paid the fee for Greenland, Nesson said.

The fee pays for Bright Futures USA to provide training and to assist school districts in getting started, Nesson said. The organization also provides training on the barriers low-income and at-risk children face in finishing their education.

NW News on 07/19/2015