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At Anzar High School’s April 9 town hall meeting, participants in a recent series of five “Dinner for Eight” events sponsored by the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District gathered to give feedback on superintendent Barbara Dill-Varga’s experiment in creating a dialogue between parents and community members.
Dill-Varga selected eight participants for each dinner, four from San Juan Bautista and four from Aromas—residents, teachers and community leaders who had expressed an interest in the program. The hosts who offered their homes for the dinner acted as moderators. They were given a list of four talking points along with suggested icebreakers. Sarah Griss of Lolla supplied dinner.
Dill-Varga told BenitoLink on April 19 that she first became aware of the “Dinner for Eight” concept while in Chicago, where her career in education began.
“There were some issues that people in the city felt should be discussed in a smaller setting,” she said. “A man invited eight random people to his house and took notes as they talked. He presented that information to city hall, and the idea caught on.”
Dill-Varga said that she wanted to make residents of the two towns the district serves feel more unified and allow them to provide input into the equitable sharing of available resources.
Noting that hers is the county’s only unified school district—pre-K to grade 12—Dill-Varga said that a mutual understanding was critical because both Aromas and San Juan School students will eventually attend Anzar High School.
“I’m trying to mix the energy of both places,” she said, “just as I’m trying to get the school teachers at Aromas to talk to the school teachers at San Juan Bautista.”
Dill-Varga asked each group to discuss four different issues:
Engagement: What can the district do to engage families and the community? What community partnerships can be established or built upon? What does it mean to be engaged in the schools, and how can improvements be measured?
Suggestions included holding a Community Day at Anzar, perhaps with a carnival, bringing in business for support, using space the district owns, such as the soccer field, for more community engagement; starting afterschool activities for K-6 students; a music program; and encouraging students and parents to take greater ownership of the schools.
Equity: What can our schools do to create more equitable student outcomes?
Participants suggested better after school support for children who do not have enough help at home; implementing multiple measures to assess a student’s progress; offering more communication in Spanish; centralized access to school and student information; creating a partnership with El Teatro Campesino; and equal access to digital resources.
Signatures: What is unique about your child’s school? What are the areas we can develop in the future? Why do some parents send their children to schools outside the district?
Responses included countering myths about Anzar High, such as the school’s supposed lack of AP classes; introducing students to sports at an earlier age; promoting the dual enrollment and Hawk Academy programs; improving preparatory programs for college and career; and doing a better job of telling of the school’s story in the community.
Major Priorities: Participants were asked to select priorities from a list of possible improvements to the Aromas and Anzar campuses as well as additions to the curriculum. (San Juan School was not included in this discussion, as there are plans to completely rebuild.)
The popular choices for Aromas included replacing portable classrooms with permanent structures; replacing the metal ramp near the main office; adding shade structures; improving outdoor learning spaces; and adding bi-level drinking fountains. The most popular choices were a robotics program, football field lighting, shade structures, a cafeteria, a swimming pool and additional security.
Jennifer Hankemeier of the Aromas Home and School Club hosted one of the dinners. She said Dill-Varga contacted her about three weeks before the dinner was scheduled.
“I got a little bit of the jitters,” she said. “I’m glad I did not know too much going into it besides that we are all individuals from the community who want the best for our district.”
Like the rest of the hosts, Hankemeier received a packet of talking points, some suggestions for ice-breakers and a “Dinner for Eight” sign to use in a group photograph.
“It seemed like a whim, to begin with,” she said, “just something Barbara was putting together. But there was a logic to it. Aromas and San Juan talked to each other. It changed the vibe between us, and now I’m excited about the district.”
Dill-Varga said she and her staff would review all suggestions to see what can be accomplished with available funds. She told BenitoLink that she was pleased with the results of the first dinners and hoped to have more in the future.
“It was well organized, and they were all people who wanted to be there,” she said. “I knew this had the potential to be really good.”
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