BY SHANZEH AHMAD | PHOTO FROM TOM HOLUB
Tom Holub, a professor in the School of Education at Edgewood College, is renewing a grant after 10 years working with his graduate students at schools across the state through his team and family empowerment course.
Holub’s grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, helps his students understand the nature of K-12 schools in regard to special education but also through the constructs of poverty, race, and gender identification.
“It’s wrapping up,” said Holub. “We could get renewed for another five years, we don’t know yet. We had five, and then I won a renewal for five more, so now it’s up for renewal again.”
The federal government has recognized Holub and his students. “We’ve gotten commendations,” said Holub. “We’ve been referenced as a best practice site at the Department of Education in Washington. We’ve been invited to replicate and teach people how we do it.”
Holub said although his course is about special education, other issues present themselves naturally. This, combined with content involving parents and caregivers, creates a specific learning environment designed to navigate the change in schools today.
“Schools are a very different place between social media and neighborhoods in conflict and the lives of a parent today,” said Holub.
Holub and his students studied all of these moving parts for a few years
and then decided that empowering parents and caregivers was the main idea.
Holub said the graduate students are all teachers and are working to add another license in special education.
“I teach my special education students how to become effective communicators and effective change makers,” said Holub. “We invite schools to participate, and we have 12 schools all over the state who have asked for our help.”
One goal is to be ready to listen to the administrations, teachers, and kids without any predeterminations. “We conduct focus groups and ask what’s missing and how can things be better,” said Holub.
According to Holub, the grant money is used to create resources, host events, and help them reach their goals overall.
Holub and his students go into the schools and provide parent training, resources, and presentations surrounding their rights and responsibilities. The team organizes events for the students so they can come in and play games while a group of graduate students makes a presentation to the parents and caregivers.
Holub said their work has been successful in locations like inner city Milwaukee schools, Madison, La Crosse, and more.
“I spend most of my time coordinating the work that my grad students are doing,” said Holub. “We’ll be ending with a really cool curriculum that we can pass on to other people and schools, so we’re really excited about it.”
The principal of Falk Elementary in Madison told a reporter that he had been trying for years to get parents to come into the school and see what they have to offer, and it never worked.
He said that Holub’s work brought the parents to the table and got them involved.
“For us, that’s what it’s all about,” said Holub. “Getting parents to come in and actually participate.”
Diana Frantz Anderson, one of Holub’s students, said that not only were they able to help out at Falk Elementary, they also learned from that community and had their own takeaways.
“We were able to meet parents from a wide variety of backgrounds who were all united in their interest in enhancing their children’s educational experience at home and at school,” said Anderson. “I was so grateful to be a part of the powerful, innovative, and community-building work going on right in our backyard.”
Holub uses the mantra, “Beyond the bake sale,” in his class. He says involvement should be more than delivering cookies and leaving. Parents should be a part of the structures and policies of education, according to Holub.
Holub’s graduate students say that this work is one of the most important parts of their degree, getting into the schools and working with parents.
Sarah Hoffman, graduate assistant in the School of Ed, said that the partnership with local schools and Holub’s work alongside his graduate classes is a great opportunity for collaboration. “As a graduate student, it was such a wonderful experience to bring the information we were learning in the classroom to help students, parents and caregivers,” said Hoffman.
“I love that my grad students love it and write in their course evaluations that they learned a lot,” said Holub.
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