Pathfinders: A summer community school without walls

It is the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, in the middle of a sunny, seasonably mild summer’s day in Madison, Wisconsin. I’m the first to arrive for our weekly activity, bowling at the Bowl-A-Vard bowling alley near East Towne Mall. I park my orange gravel bike and pull my camera out of the black saddle bag perched on the bike’s rear rack, ready greet our students and families. The photos I take will help tell the story of Pathfinders, Natural Circles’ new program that offers summer support to students from East High School (EHS). Others begin to arrive; a mentor parks her car near the entrance and her child and two other young people climb out of the car, joyful and smiling as we greet each other.

Soon others begin to gather at the entrance of the bowling alley—mentors, students, and their family members, representing three generations of Black people, coming together to deepen connections and build our community. Black adults and children of various ages, genders, identities, and abilities. Some know each other well; others are meeting for the first time—everyone is welcome.

Pathfinders was seeded in May 2023, by two graduating black male students at East High School. They came to Cory Foster, the Multicultural Services Coordinator, deeply concerned about their future, one in which they could only envision prison or death if they did not receive support during the coming summer. Cory introduced me to the two young men and shared the situation and need for us to respond. I asked each young man about their interests, seeking to know a little bit more about them and looking for opportunities for how we might help. One of the young men readily spoke, enthusiastically describing his interests in barbering. When it was time for the other to respond, he paused, looked down and to the left, his face softening yet showing the effort of careful thought, said: “I don’t know how to say it but I know how it feels. “Wow, what insight”, I thought then said out loud: “That’s all we need. We can help you find the words to attach to the feeling.” ?And thus, Pathfinders was born as a summer project of Natural Circles of Support.

Supporting Black Students During the School Year and Reducing Disproportionality

Over the past year, Natural Circles has further developed and deepened our work at East High School. Last school year, we partnered with MMSD to support Black students identified for special education or considered at risk for identification. Our goal was to reduce the number of Black students inappropriately and disproportionately identified.

One key to our success is that we recognize and build on investments school districts make in non-credentialed educators, many of whom are African American and already possess relationships of trust and care with Black students and their families. Last year, our partnership included two elementary schools and EHS. We had seven district staff serve as mentors including an education assistant, a village builder, a behavior specialist, a family engagement coordinator, two student engagement specialists, and a multicultural services specialist.

In the four months that we worked directly with staff, our Natural Circles team walked alongside district mentors through regular visits to the school, weekly meetings with mentors, professional learning, modeling, and coaching. We got to see the everyday school lives of the mentors and their students which helped us surface, name, nurture, and build on the “treasure” that already existed in the students and staff at the school.

Mentor Voices

Mentors reported professional growth that included collaboration with and learning from other mentors. District mentors reported they worked more positively and effectively with Black students, “talking with them and not at them.” To a lesser degree, this extended to their relationships with staff and administrators at their schools.

As one Natural Circles mentor put it:

?“[Natural Circles] ?gives the intentional space to voices that have not been intentionally heard (because) the dynamics of the school quiets their voice and doesn’t validate them.” For example, this summer we had a ?“young lady who just let go of her whole life in front of circles….That’s what this space is for.” ?

?While the mentoring circles allow students to share their current challenges, as well as aspirations for their future selves, we affirm and emphasize that they already embody and express their talents and are already realizing their personal goals—maybe not according to the constructs of schools and other societal institutions, but in the essence of their self-knowledge, agency, and ways of acting and being in the world. Our job is to help students see who they already are and help others to see them in this light as well.?

“Natural Circles has helped me and my colleagues adopt a growth mindset by encouraging us to focus on the strengths of our Black students.” (MMSD Natural Circles Mentor).

High School Student Voices

At our final spring mentoring circle at East, we asked students to share their experiences with Natural Circles / Pathfinders and their primary mentor, Cory Foster.?

One student wrote about how much she enjoyed Mr. Foster’s support, saying “I’m happy that I met (you) when I did. You been real with me from the start and never judge(d) me.” She concluded by expressing her desire to participate in this summer’s Pathfinders program, saying “(you) inspired me to keep on going when I almost (gave) up on myself; (you) made me (into) this young powerful women that I(am) today….I would love to be in Pathfinders and keep on showing (you) my growth.”?

Another student, a graduating senior, expressed his thanks for “Natural Circles [and] for everything (Mr. Foster) has done for (him).”? He continued, saying, “just being able to have someone in my life that keeps it real and never sugar-coated anything [that] played such a huge part in helping me grow into the man [I] know I can be!”?

A third student observed that “(Mr. Cory) and Pathfinders has (had) a big impact on us students. And what I hear (from other students) just confirms what a wonderful group it is.” She concluded, “I’ve learned so much from you already, like leadership, resilience, kindness, Loving myself, POWER, and I? know that Pathfinders will be an amazing opportunity to continue? growing up as a woman. I’m excited about the chance to learn new skills, challenge myself, and connect with other students in a supportive and fun environment.”

Parent Participation in Natural Circles / Pathfinders

I will have more to say about this with a later post, but parents are now active participants of the Natural Circles / Pathfinders community. Parents appear comfortable in the space and look forward to participating and contributing. As one Natural Circles mentor put it:

“This space over the summer did a lot of redefining individuality; I got parents callin’ and textin’—it’s weird. Before Pathfinders and Natural Circles, it was all about what I need. Now we are seeing parents, including males, saying, ‘How can I help you?’ Parents are reaching out….When we say that these black fathers are not here, we’ve got to be careful; they want to play, they want to come to the table… Pathfinders has given a lot of male fathers a voice.”?

“Parents see us in our raw—no curtains”.?

Pathfinders allows students to discover things inside them that they need to “get out,” reflect on and share and give families a space to see their kids in a new light and supported by Black faces. It is an intentional space that is therapeutic.

?Pathfinders is also a space where parents are partners with agency—the parents assess us and Pathfinders, and it is they who ultimately give their permission for their children to participate. Circles and Pathfinders do not exist but for the consent of parents—and their active participation. Our parents know their children and what they “bring to the circle” and we welcome their eyes and thoughts about this work.

We thank MMSD for the giving opportunity to do this “work of the heart” with students and their families. We will build on and deepen our relationships with families in the coming school year and are particularly committed to finding ways to connect with more Black males (parents, partners, big brothers, uncles—however they show up as kinfolk or fictive kinfolk in Black families). We now have the foundation of relationships and trust to deepen, extend, and multiply this work in the district in partnership with our emerging, Natural Circles / Pathfinders community of students, staff, and parents.

Special thanks also to American Family and Madison Community Foundation for their generous financial support for this work.

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