Elementary school principal hopes students take Obama’s message to heart

The signs of hope at Quannah McCall Empowerment Elementary School are written on walls once marred with graffiti.

"Greet each new day as an opportunity to meet new challenges," one reads.

"Cooperate. Participate. Listen. Show respect," says another.

Inside those cinder block walls on Tuesday morning, students and teachers listened to President Barack Obama call for educational perseverance despite what for many American children are daunting odds and obstacles.

To say those McCall students could relate to the president's message merely acknowledges the achingly obvious. But with due respect to the man in the White House, these little ones face a life climb even steeper than his own.

At the corner of Donna Street and Carey Avenue in one of Southern Nevada's poorest neighborhoods, McCall's educational challenge transcends the instruction of reading, writing, arithmetic and good citizenship. This is a neighborhood known far more for its crime and poverty than its high school graduates. Around here, just getting enough food to eat is a daily challenge for many kids.

All of the school's 525 students live below the poverty level and are eligible for free and reduced-cost lunches. At McCall, the neighborhood's preschool children are cared for, and approximately 60 percent of the students are English Language Learners.

So it would be reasonable to think Principal Maria Chairez and her staff suffered from public school shell shock. No bookmaker in Las Vegas would set odds that those McCall students would make it, and it would be hard to fault those teachers if they put in for transfers.

In fact, just the opposite is true. When I met Chairez on Tuesday morning, I encountered an experienced, energetic, and most of all optimistic educator who was gifted with keen eyesight: She can see human potential where others see only the likelihood of failure.

She isn't from the touchy-feely end of the education system. As she discusses McCall's challenges and progress, she hands me a copy of the official "End of Year Report" from the 2008-2009 school year. If it hadn't been for the photos of the students, it would have closely resembled a typical annual corporate report.

"When I was starting out, a principal was more of a PR person," said Chairez, who helped found Horizon School. "He had his feet up on the table. It was, 'Come on in. How's it going?' It was social, social, social. Well, it's no more social. Now I'm an accountant.

"I've got a spreadsheet. I've got the numbers. If this group's not moving up, why? It's like I'm counting my pennies. But instead of pennies, it's test scores. We have to make sure we're making progress. Because by the time testing rolls around, I have to make sure that we will be able to score within the ballpark range."

Chairez and her staff are making progress. Reading and writing scores have gradually increased since she became principal in 2005. Then, just 11 students passed the fifth-grade writing proficiency test.

"It was horrific," Chairez said.

Last year, 40 percent of fifth-graders passed the writing test. It's a figure they're focused on improving. They know what's at stake in a neighborhood where failing in school can easily mean oblivion.

There have been setbacks at McCall, but even greater strides have been made.

Those gains have been made possible in part from a $300,000 donation from MGM Grand and the Lincy Foundation that helped McCall maintain its empowerment school status in the recession. Chairez used much of the money to hire reading specialists.

Advantages many schools take for granted are unheard of at McCall. In a poor neighborhood, there's no PTA fund to rely on, no ability for students to purchase uniforms or yearbooks. Some kids need clothing donations just to be able to get to school.

"We know we have the ability," the principal said. "It's just our challenges."

She cheered the president when he said, "But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. ... That's no excuse for not trying."

That message is especially important in poor neighborhoods, where an education is not only a life-changing experience, but often a life-saving one.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.