Educate Local: Thriving Schools, Thriving Community

There is a growing localist movement across the world which emphasizes promoting and supporting local businesses and communities. Just this past Saturday American Express promoted Small Business Saturday which encourages people to shop small and shop local. Supporting local businesses builds up the local economy with dollars remaining in the community instead of going to a multi-national company.

What if we were as committed to educate local as we were shop local?

In a rapidly changing community, Edgewater Collective is committed to continuing the movement to create local, thriving schools in the Edgewater area. For our local schools to thrive, they need to be connected to our thriving Edgewater community.

What are some of the benefits of educate local?

Greater Sense of Community

As children attend their neighborhood school, they have a greater connection with the kids and adults in their neighborhood. Their friends from school live close and they can see them as they walk to school. After school playdates are much easier when children live in the same neighborhood. Children also see volunteers and community members at school who live in their same neighborhood.

Diversity

Children are increasingly growing up in a world that is diverse and multi-ethnic. Edgewater schools are blessed to be so diverse and children in the schools develop cultural proficiency as they interact with children from cultures different than their own. Children have a greater awareness of those who are from a different culture and are better citizens because of it. Community volunteers hear the stories of children who are working hard every day to overcome the roadblocks of poverty.

Stronger Schools, Stronger Communities

Our Edgewater schools are improving and they need help from those in the community to continue this upward trend. As we enroll our children in our neighborhood school and invest in its success, our community becomes stronger. When we volunteer at one of our Edgewater schools, we build relationships with teachers and school staff and experience first hand the great work that goes on every day.

Save Gas Money, Get Exercise

Enrolling your children in your neighborhood Edgewater school means you can walk your children to school. This saves gas money, helps the environment and you and your children get exercise.

As we look to 2017, Edgewater Collective is focusing on three areas:

What if we truly believed and lived out the African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child?”