Lindsay: Developing strategies to end intergenerational poverty

A 97% BIPOC Central Valley district serving kids from immigrant farm worker families, which has won major awards for their highly effective use of technology for personalized learning systems. 

Project profile: One of our greatest challenges is the impact of intergenerational poverty on our learning communities. 100% of our learners receive Free or Reduced Lunch. We need to continue to shift the mindset of learners, their parents, and our school community towards a growth mindset. We organized a team of volunteer staff, community members, and a learner to address poverty in Lindsay. We began our work to become poverty informed and deepen our stakeholder understanding of poverty,  and shaped a vision for the work.

Our three primary pilot initiatives include:  

  • Establish LUSD Parent Academy to develop a lifelong learning community of practice involving 50 families and including financial literacy. 

  • Pilot a project-based financial literacy program and curriculum at our high school. 

  • Create a Youth Entrepreneurship Program for 50 learners and their families, providing coaching and $1,000 each to invest.

“We have advanced plans that are more considered, intentional, responsive, and likely to bring the desired outcomes using the structures we learned and practiced in the sprint. The impact of these considerations is massive as our team focuses its efforts on reducing intergenerational poverty in the Lindsay school/community. This could be a game changer for our community.”

— Barry Sommer, Director of Advancement, Lindsay Unified School District

Design is an iterative process where we share work in progress. Over the course of two months, Lindsay Unified School District practiced design thinking and created a prototype. See below for a video of this early prototype.

Year 1 Update

This year we had 59 parents complete the LUSD Parent Academy. This was a 10-week course where we reviewed the district's Lifelong Learning Spheres and Financial Literacy. The goal of this academy is to empower parents and families to understand and engage in their children's academic and social emotional development. We also encouraged families to advance their own education or work skills and empower them to seek opportunities to benefit their families. We talked about the many resources available to help families overcome challenges and issues of poverty.

Meanwhile, 15 High School learners participated in the Youth Entrepreneurs Program. These learners went through a Financial Literacy program with the head of the Business Department Learning Facilitator. These learners developed a business plan, made a presentation and received up to $1,000 in funding to begin their small business. One of their final culminating activities was to set up a booth at the LHS Market Day event where they sold their finished product or took orders for personalized items. At the Alternative High School we implemented a Financial Literacy Awareness campaign and learners received Financial Literacy instruction from their learning facilitators during their advisory period. We purchased Financial Literacy books and supplies that were utilized as part of the activities.

Graduates of LUSD Parent Academy

"Esta academia me a inspirado a continuar con la profesión que empeze en Mexico"

“This academy has inspired me to continue with the career I started in Mexico”

- Parent who is now working as a Medical Assistant.

To learn more about this project contact Barry Sommer at barrysommer.lindsayleads@gmail.com