Page 3 - 2024 October

GETTING THE DIRT RIGHT
Robert A. Krause
Ispent 35 years in the agricultural business. In all those years, I never developed a green thumb. However, the
skilled growers I worked with taught me an important lesson: their first priority was to “get the dirt right.”
I applied this lesson at home shortly after I retired from agriculture to pursue philanthropy full-time. With more time at home, I stepped up to help care for our potted plants. Like the shoes of the cobbler’s son, our plants were neglected. Like most people’s indoor plants, ours were badly underwatered. The soil was so light and dry that it had become hydrophobic and wasn’t absorbing water well. Some pots were so dry that critical nutrients in the soil had been depleted. I had a lot of work to do to get the dirt right.
Why am I telling you about my shortcomings as a plant dad? Because getting the dirt right is a great way to think about the work JSF must do if we want students to succeed.
Our most effective grantee partners focus on the preconditions for student success. In
other words, they recognize that students need more than just tuition assistance. They imbue their work with cultural sensitivity, offer mentoring, and help meet other financial needs. Do students need car repairs so they can get to and from school? Are they food insecure and distracted by worries about where they’re going to get their next meal? Do they have culturally sensitive mentoring available when they run into challenges? These issues must be addressed before the student can flourish in an academic environment.
Just as each student has distinct needs, so does each grantee partner. The “soil” at Weingarten Children’s Center has different characteristics than the soil at the Martin Family Initiative or Providence St. Mel School. By understanding the unique circumstances of students and the communities they come from, we can better support our partners in helping people prepare for and obtain a college degree.
Now that is something worth cultivating.
Education / A Powerful force for change Page 1