Friday, August 19, 2016
YOUNGSTOWN
About 60 people fanned out Friday afternoon, knocking on doors at the homes of city schoolchildren to remind parents that school starts Monday.
Krish Mohip, chief executive officer of the school district, dubbed it a “Welcome Back to School Canvass of Our Neighborhoods.”
Mohip has set 98 percent as the attendance goal for the first day. The canvass was a push to start that effort.
“Safety is first,” Marcia Dinkins, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, told the volunteers.
She instructed volunteers in door-knocking etiquette, urging them to smile, be polite and leave a flier in the door if no one was home.
The group divided up by sides of town, and volunteers, including district administrators and staff, got maps of neighborhoods with students’ homes marked. Students live in 3,000 homes across the city, and volunteers planned to visit as many as they could.
Linda Hoey, parent liaison with the district’s Parent Pathways Institute, picked the South Side to canvass.
She drove and walked Kenmore, Cleveland and Chalmers avenues, knocking on doors.
People were receptive.
Vickie Adkins’ three grandchildren attend the city schools – two at Chaney Campus and one at Taft Elementary.
“This is the first time anyone has done this and I appreciate it,” she said. “Anything that’s for the kids is a good thing.”
Read more about the effort in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.