Five Lies About CIS
Today is national Tell a Lie Day.
We aren’t sure where this zany day devoted to the dishonest originated but we’re jumping on the chance to bust the top five myths about Communities In Schools of Lexington/Davidson County, our students, and our programs.
1. Kids enrolled in CIS are habitual troublemakers and would be difficult for a volunteer without any special qualifications to deal with.
It’s true that we sometimes choose to enroll students who have displayed behavioral issues in the classroom, but we know that in most cases that behavior stems from a specific set of life circumstances. The young people who become part of CIS are carefully chosen because they have the potential to improve as students given the right kind of support – the kind of support that any adult can provide by simply being there and offering gentle guidance. No child is brought into the CIS program with a severe emotional or behavioral issue. Additionally, all of our mentors receive ongoing support from the site coordinator at the school in which they choose to volunteer; if problems arise between volunteer and student the site coordinator will respond immediately with a solution.
2. Kids enrolled in CIS have bad/lazy parents or caregivers.
While it’s easy to blame the heartbreaking issues that many of our kids face on abusive or neglectful parents who just don’t care about their wellbeing, this is simply not the reality in most cases. Our children come from many different backgrounds and their family structures vary widely. Some live with grandparents who aren’t physically able to handle the demands of energetic children. Some live with extended family members who may be struggling to divide their attention between biological and “adopted” children. Some live with parents who work multiple and/or night-shift jobs. Some live with non-English-speaking relatives who aren’t able to assist them with school matters. All of these situations create environments in which caregivers, through no fault of their own, are unable to give kids the support and attention they need and deserve.
3. CIS is part of the school system and is funded by tax revenue so community support isn’t entirely necessary.
CIS of Lexington/Davidson County is one of over 200 local affiliates of the national Communities In Schools network. We are a nonprofit agency operating independently of both the Lexington City and Davidson County school systems to serve as an outside resource to at-risk students in those school systems. We are wholly responsible for sustaining our programs financially via grants, fundraising events, and donations from generous local businesses and individuals. Because we are an independent nonprofit agency, we have the freedom to allocate our funds as efficiently as we see fit. That means we are able to direct over 80 cents of every dollar that comes to us toward sustaining CIS programs in 24 schools. By keeping our administrative costs as low as possible, we are able to support thousands of students in addition to those enrolled in CIS with everything from school supplies and clothes to hygiene items and medical copays.
4. CIS only serves Lexington City Schools.
CIS administers mentoring and student support programs in all six Lexington City schools as well as in 18 Davidson County schools. A complete list of schools with CIS programs can be found on CommunitiesInSchools.com under the “What We Do” tab.
5. You have to be retired or have a lot of free time on your hands to be a mentor.
Mentoring a young person means choosing to have a profound effect on that student personally, academically, and socially for the rest of their lives. And mentoring doesn’t just affect the individual – it leads our community as a whole in a positive direction. We know it’s hard to fathom how something so powerful can be accomplished without devoting long hours and lots of energy but the reality is that mentoring is as simple as having lunch. We ask our mentors to devote one lunch (or breakfast, or even after-school) hour a week during the school year to meeting and chatting with a student in need. That’s only four hours a month – one work week per school year.
Have you heard any other rumors about CIS that you’d like us to clarify?
Call us at 242-1520 or email ciscrc@triad.rr.com for an immediate response!
Or visit our convenient FAQ page to see if your question has already been answered.