U.S. Education Secretary Cardona: 'This is community coming together for children'
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, center, watches with Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II as children engage in a science experiment with LINC partner Urban TEC and teacher Camille Wilcox during Cardona’s “Raise the Bar” bus tour stop at the Mattie Rhodes Center Sept. 5 in Kansas City.
When it comes to throwing a party for education, Kansas City has all the goods, says U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
Secretary Cardona kicks a soccer ball with children and KC Current members.
He’d just stepped aside from the festivities gathered by the U.S. Department of Education, the Mattie Rhodes Center and LINC at Mattie Rhodes in Northeast Kansas City Sept. 5 to help get Cardona’s “Raise the Bar” bus tour off to an impressive start.
“I saw community engagement,” Cardona said. “I heard parents talk about how much they value the school community . . . how much they care about safety . . .”
Cardona had kicked soccer balls with children and members of the Kansas City Current soccer team. He’d applauded the performance of a band of Kansas City high school students. He’d sat with parent leaders along with U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II and Missouri Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven.
He’d leaned in with children who were engaged in a science experiment with LINC partner Urban TEC and checked out another group of children building thinking skills with LINC Chess.
Mattie Rhodes had gathered many parents and community leaders who shared their educational hopes and fears in intimate conversations.
“This is a prime example,” Cardona said, looking back at the afternoon’s events, “of a community coming together to serve children . . . The African proverb says it takes a village, and this is what it means.”
To set the scene for a community educational experience, Mattie Rhodes hosted the event with Rep. Cleaver and brought in local ethnic food, then rallied parents who were joined by many state education leaders and policy makers.
Cardona, center, and Vandeven and Cleaver, foreground, discuss education and community concerns with parents at the Mattie Rhodes Center.
LINC and partners Mad Science, Urban TEC and the chess program provided educational fun that was accompanied by members of the KC Current women’s soccer team, the teenaged band SouLuna and the Chiefs mascot, KC Wolf.
After the sessions with parent leaders, Cardona and Cleaver spoke with reporters, talking about the challenges waiting back in Washington, D.C.
“This lifts up the work we’re doing in D.C. and what we’re going to continue to advocate for,” Cardona said. “We know public schools are the great equalizer. We need to support our public schools. We need to support our parents, our educators.”
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