President's Perspective

Help us help Shortridge

September 2009

A 14-year-old girl named Jodeci Byrd was quoted in the Indianapolis Star last week, talking about her experiences thus far at the newly reopened Shortridge High School. "This has been a dramatic change," she said. "This is a whole new school."

This comment should be a point of pride for everyone at Butler University.

As you know, two years ago, Butler and the Indianapolis Public Schools entered into a partnership to turn Shortridge Middle School into the Shortridge Magnet High School for Law and Public Policy. After much planning and many meetings, the doors to the school reopened last month, beginning what I hope will become a model of what urban middle and high school education should be.

There is a longstanding concern that if Indianapolis has an Achilles heel, it is the quality of public education available in the city. We need to address that if we expect Indianapolis to continue to flourish as a destination for companies and employees. People may come here, but they often end up in the suburbs rather than the city proper if they have children.

Even in the Butler community, this issue is a conundrum for staff and faculty with families. They want to be guaranteed that their children can get a quality public education. If they can't, that constrains them regarding where they're going to live.

Our partnership can help take what has been a troubled school district and help turn it around. It can also help Butler understand what it really takes for young people to be prepared for and ready to succeed in college.

And that is my other message to you this month: if you live in the Indianapolis area, I would like you to please consider how you can help this partnership to thrive.

Already, Butler's College of Education, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Center for Urban Ecology, Learning Resource Center, Mock Trial team, Chemistry Department and others have begun to contribute their time and talent to work with Shortridge faculty and students. Now, volunteers are needed to staff the Shortridge Learning Center as tutors from 2:30-5 p.m. daily. Mentors are needed for individual students. Advisors are needed for ventures like the rowing club.

Whatever your niche might be, there can be a place for you. If you have time to give, please contact Mark Cosand, our Shortridge liaison with the College of Education.

One of the things we talk about with our students is how citizenship starts here and now. Efforts to be of service to other people must be modeled by what one says and does, not simply taught in the classroom. This is an opportunity for Butler faculty, staff, alumni and friends as well as students to see if service at Shortridge is a way they can express their connection to the larger community.

We talk about the Butler Way, and part of that philosophy is to aspire - every day - to improve ourselves and those around us. When you reach out and help someone, invariably you help yourself. You come to understand that you have many gifts to give.

There's a quote that's the motto of another Indianapolis Public School, School 37: "As you climb, you must also lift." We are in a position to help lift. We have this expectation of our students - that they'll make a life of purpose and give back. We need to show that lives of servant leadership are not just for students. They are for all Bulldogs.

If you can, please stop by Shortridge on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 1-3 p.m. for the rededication ceremony. You'll be able to tour the school and get a feel for what we are trying to accomplish.