THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170544
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 187 lines
Until recently, Madeline Nevala had few good things to say about schoolteachers.
She felt they cared more about their paychecks than the education of students like her grandson, who dropped out of high school.
Then Nevala took part in a seven-week series of community discussions about education, meeting in a small group of six to 12 people that included teachers as well as parents.
``I found out that teachers are human, too, that there are good ones and bad ones . . . and some of them really cared,'' said Nevala, who lives in Virginia Beach. ``I even kissed them. I was so happy.''
Besides having a chance to talk with teachers outside the classroom, Nevala came away with ideas about how she might help students learn. They include volunteering to read to younger children or working with them in the school library, she said.
Something else happened in the discussion group: Nevala emerged more confident about the ability of average people to solve community problems.
The springboard for Nevala's new hopes was the ``Citizen Challenge: Education'' project, sponsored by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Community Networking Association with financial support from The Virginian-Pilot.
Nevala was among 228 people from across South Hampton Roads and Hampton who participated. They included parents, students, current and former educators, and others interested in education issues.
While education was its first official project, the aim of Community Networking Association is more fundamental.
``Our mission,'' said Stephanie P. Stetson, founder and president, ``is to help people be more effective citizens in our democracy,'' even reversing the deepening cynicism and helplessness felt by many Americans.
Nevala, a seasoned activist on youth and senior-citizen issues, said she enjoyed how her group talked about issues. She not only discovered other viewpoints but found that people can debate without becoming antagonistic.
``It was just a different atmosphere,'' Nevala said. ``I've gone to the School Board but always felt that I was wasting my time.
``With this group, we were able to go over the pros and cons of something together. Everybody had something to say, even the introverts. . . . Many times we disagreed with each other, but nobody ever insulted anyone else. Everybody respected each other, and by the end of each evening we usually made some sort of compromise.''
Although she didn't agree with all aspects of the compromises, Nevala said she felt good about being able to contribute.
``If you talk in a little group like this, you feel important. Your words are heard. You feel you belong. You feel you belong to the whole city,'' she said. ``It gives you that little spark of inspiration. And you feel that we can change things if we try.''
Often, participants found they shared the same ideas but only were expressing them differently or coming from unusual angles.
David Ollison, of Chesapeake, a 39-year-old father, said he and another man disagreed on whether teachers should be held to specific standards.
``I was saying that it's not so much how teachers teach but that students be held to certain standards of learning,'' Ollison recalled. ``But the bottom line was the same. We both wanted students to leave schools knowing the same things.''
Ollison said he now tries to listen better at his job as employment director for the Urban League of Hampton Roads Inc. ``As opposed to making statements all the time, I'm asking people why they think something, or `Did you consider this?,' or `How is that going to effect people?' '' he said.
Some Citizen Challenge participants likened the discussion groups to a ``safe zone'' for exchanging opinions and trying to better understand someone else's ideas.
``It's a non-threatening environment,'' said Lisa Kensler, a 30-year-old mother and resident of Norfolk's Colonial Heights neighborhood. ``I have pretty strong opinions. This gave me a chance to try to listen better. It forced me to reexamine my ideas, to think more critically why I have the ideas I do.''
Open-minded discussions, brainstorming solutions to problems, weighing alternatives, making compromises - ``this is a great format for practicing those skills,'' said Kensler, who hopes to become a teacher after completing her master's degree in biology at Old Dominion University.
Also, there's little direct pressure.
No one has to stand in front of a row of government officials. Participants don't have to possess expert information and reams of facts. They discuss attitudes, often based on personal experiences. Trained moderators work to keep discussions open and flowing, trying to steer the conversations away from fingerpointing and name calling.
Still, it's not easy.
Not all participants abided by the ground rules. Kensler said her group included a woman who continued to engage in personal attacks on other members.
Participants also can shy from the toughest choices. ``People didn't grapple well enough with the trade-offs. People wanted too many things,'' Beverly Hill, 42, of Chesapeake said of the group she moderated.
It's also difficult to master the art of respecting a fellow participant while also challenging the perceived inconsistencies in someone's opinions, Hill said.
``We didn't come up with some of the conclusions we thought we could . . . because we didn't grapple enough with the differences,'' she said.
Another problem was impatience for action among some participants.
``I didn't learn any new skills. The only things I would want to know are: How do you lobby the legislature? How do you lobby the education office?'' said Billie Cook, 44, of Portsmouth, a former college counselor and academic adviser. ``I just hope that after all the talking is done, there will be some specific ways to go to the next step.''
Stetson said she understands Cook's concerns, but she believes that most action-oriented projects still need a greater buy-in from the broader community to be effective. ``This is just an effort to move people forward, to start a dialogue,'' she said.
On Jan. 25, the Community Networking Association will hold a meeting to begin helping people who want to move towards implementation. But Stetson said some advice will remain the same: the most successful activists will be those who continue talking with and listening to a wide array of citizens.
That makes Madeline Nevala think of her daughter's wedding day.
The groom's father took the new couple aside, Nevala said, and told them: ``One of the rules of a happy marriage is that you have to learn to listen to one another and talk things out.''
``That's what's needed in society. You have to learn to live with other people,'' Nevala said. ``The only way to bring that closeness back together is to sit down and talk things out.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot
``Our mission is to help people be more effective citizens in our
democracy,'' even reversing the deepening cynicism and helplessness
felt by many Americans, said Stephanie P. Stetson, Community
Networking Association's founder.
Graphics
WHAT'S NEXT
The ``Citizen Challenge: Education'' project continues:
From 9 to 10 p.m. today on WHRO television, Channel 15. A panel
including educators, parents, community activists and business
people respond to some issues discussed by participants in the
Citizen Challenge project.
Discussion points include the roles of parents and of the larger
community, and the relevance of education to real-life issues for
students.
The broadcast is part of WHRO's ``The Class of 2000'' series on
education. It will be repeated at 4:30 a.m. Thursday on television
and at 1 p.m. Thursday on WHRV radio 89.5. A written summary will be
accessible on the WHRO web page at www.whro.org.
``Getting to Action'' meeting, 7 p.m. Jan. 25, in the WHRO
conference center, 5200 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk. Seating is limited,
so participants should register by Jan. 21 by calling 495-8301.
The meeting primarily will be for those who already have
participated in the ``Citizen Challenge: Education'' project, said
Stephanie P. Stetson, president of the Community Networking
Association.
She said it also will be open ``to anyone who has a burning
desire to help improve education as long as he or she is willing to
be open to other viewpoints and willing to work in an inclusive
situation.''
The session will focus on identifying key questions that citizens
need to answer before taking action on education issues and on how
to link up with other people and resources, Stetson said.
ABOUT THE NETWORKING ASSOCIATION
The Community Networking Association, a nonprofit, nonpartisan
group based in Virginia Beach, is modeled after the National Issues
Forum program, which creates opportunities for citizens to meet
together and deliberate on important public questions, become better
informed and weigh the trade-offs in various policy implications.
Besides organizing discussion groups, the association hopes to
offer other services for participants who want to go beyond
discussion groups.
It is seeking volunteers to help research resource information
for ``Community Connections,'' a computer data base to help citizens
match their interests with other people and community groups already
involved in similar issues.
The association itself will not take sides or advocate any public
policies, said Stephanie P. Stetson, founder and president.
Stetson said the association was created to improve the level of
public participation in American democracy.
Too often, she said, people abandon their roles as citizens -
turned off or intimidated by the tone of political bickering,
feeling helpless about making changes or too burdened by family and
job demands.
People also often are reluctant to talk with others who may seem
to have different points of view, she said.
``People are basically cynical these days and afraid of who might
walk in the door. We're trying to alleviate some of those fears and
show people that really a lot of our disenchantment with the way
things are have to do with our misunderstandings,'' Stetson said.
For information, call 495-8301.
BY MIKE KNEPLER
by CNB