Dawn Parker
Principal, Alonzo A. Crim Open Campus High School
Atlanta Public Schools
For 27 years, Dawn Parker, has effectively served students in Pre-K through 12th grades within urban, rural, suburban and private school settings, diverse in size and demographics. She holds degrees including a Bachelor of Arts from William and Mary, as well as a Masters of Education and a Certification in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University. Notable 2017 achievements include implementing a strong Career, Technical and Agricultural (CTAE) program at Crim; 20.8% student growth in end of course state standardized assessments since the previous year, a 3% increase in attendance; and a 3.9% increase in Crim’s graduation rate. Crim was recently named Georgia Association of Alternative Education’s 2017-2018 “Spotlight School".
Project:
A School based enterprise club (providing new, refurbished furniture for our families community wide)
The ‘School Based Enterprise Club’ will provide students the opportunity to learn new skills and acquire leadership experience while building a school enterprise around providing furniture for our families and community members in need. This project will give students the opportunity to refurbish old furniture and acquire the necessary skills to set up and run a business effectively, to develop marketing structures for the furniture to be sold and/or auctioned, and lastly, to write news releases to communicate our story. Revenue acquired through auction or sales of the furniture will be used to 1) eliminate barriers preventing our students from attending school regularly and performing at their best level (i.e. providing food for our food pantry), 2) serve as an ongoing source of funds to run the School Enterprise Club and eventually expand into a Schoolwide Business Enterprise for credit towards graduation, and 3) to provide incentives and scholarships for our students.
One of the first steps in creating a School Based Enterprise (Club) is to assess your community needs and their potential as customers. Our student data reminds us that we serve a population where 100% of our students receive free breakfast and lunch; 58% feel that they must work in order to support their families; and 32% are teen parents. Many of our own students have to share a bed with a sibling, while others do not have a bed at all. Providing nice, new, refurbished furniture at affordable prices for our families throughout the community can have a tremendous positive impact for our entire school community!