Elementary Teachers Learn a Valuable Lesson in Poverty

Published August 17, 2006

Some Williamson County educators recently got an up close and personal view of what it’s like to experience the grip of poverty. In a program put on by the UT Extension Service, educators from Westwood and Fairview elementary schools participated in a poverty simulation at the Williamson County Rec Center on August 9.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 5.1 percent of people in Williamson County live in poverty. That’s compared to 13.5 percent statewide.

"One of the things that makes Fairview Elementary School such a great place is the diversity of the community," says Fairview Elementary principal Ann Lewis. "Part of this is due to the poverty level and the needs that sometimes come along with that."

The poverty simulation breaks participants up into family units. Each participant is then assigned an age and identity. The families get a budget, a limited number of transportation passes, and various other resources they need to get through each day. Throughout the room, stations are set up representing different agencies and places people can utilize. These include a bank, grocery, and food pantry. There is also a school, jail, and even a pawnshop.

A 15 minute timeframe represents one week. Participants have to take what they are given in their packet, and essentially, live their lives on the poverty level for one month.

"The scenarios really cause you to change your priorities, and its easy to see how families can discount the importance of education when they are desperately trying to pay rent and bills," said Fairview Elementary teacher Cassidy Lovelace. "It caused me to stop and think about the struggles that our students carry on their shoulders when they walk into my classroom and I expect attendance and academic performance from them."

Although the activity is just a simulation, it’s not a game. Those acting as children must attend school, those acting as parents must feed their families, and bills must be paid. Participants get frustrated. For instance, no transportation pass means no trip to the food pantry. That means a hungry and cranky child. People are told to act the part. "Children" throw tantrums. "Parents" lash out at agencies that are unable to help. Sometimes bad judgment takes over.

“A lot of people don’t seem to realize how quickly they found they resorted to doing something not positive,” says Patsy Watkins of the UT Extension Service, who helped facilitate the event. “You get desperate.”

“You become so frustrated and helpless,” said Alisha Erickson of Westwood Elementary. “What really hit home was how much your values change because you are in survival mode.”

“As an educator, many may think ‘why don’t the kids get their homework to school, why don’t their parents get involved,’” says Watkins. “I think maybe by having gone through this, educators just might understand a little bit more that often it’s a reason. It’s not that they don’t want to get out of poverty, its just that they’re caught and its really hard to get out.”

The intended goal of providing a better sense of what those in living in poverty conditions face seems to have gotten through to participants.

“I feel we walked away with a better understanding of how poverty can impact a child’s learning,” said Fairview and Westwood assistant principal Chad Walker, “It was a humbling experience.”

Westwood Elementary principal Nancy Simpkins says, “I realized our school community must find ways to access help for our families in need, such as food, clothes, and supplies. The result is that we can better serve the students by helping the families.”

Lewis echoes that sentiment. "The simulation we experienced allows teachers to feel, to some extent, the frustration some of our families go through on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Hopefully, this will make us wiser in the way we work with families in our school community."