Colfax school staff becomes poverty stricken for a month

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  Frustration. Stress. Confusion. Anger.

Those were some of the emotions that Colfax school district staff members said they felt during a poverty simulation August 25 at Colfax High School.

Barney Slowey, an instructor in the graduate program at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, facilitated the poverty simulation as one of the in-service activities for school staff prior to the first day of classes September 1.

The number of families in a school district who qualify for free or reduced lunch is sometimes as high as 50 or 60 percent in some of the rural school districts in Wisconsin, Slowey said.

The number of families who qualify for free or reduced lunch in Colfax is 41 percent.

Many of the families that qualify for free or reduced lunch have a parent or parents who are employed but are not making a living wage and do not have enough money to pay all of their bills, Slowey said.

During the poverty simulation, staff members were assigned to a family and were given a particular set of circumstances.

The poverty simulation workshop was divided up into four 15-minute weeks when family members were required to be at work, if they had a job, and the children were required to be in school.

A variety of “stations” were set up around the perimeter of the high school cafeteria, such as a bank, an employer, a school, a police station, community resources, a payday loan office, and “Dave’s Pawn Shop.”

When employees went to work, they were required to stay at the “job site” for seven of the 15 minutes and had to present five transportation passes for each week of work.

The remaining eight minutes of the week were devoted to cashing checks, obtaining more transportation passes, buying groceries, finding health care and paying bills, such as utilities and mortgages.

At each station, workshop participants were required to present a transportation pass before they could conduct any business. The passes were either available from community resources or could be purchased at certain locations.

After the four 15-minute weeks were completed, some workshop participants said they had not purchased groceries for their families in three weeks because they simply did not have the time to get to the grocery store.

Some workshop participants said they were frustrated by long lines and that the place where they cashed their paychecks or conducted other business would close just as they arrived.

Along the way, participants received cards outlining a calamity that had befallen the family: eviction, stolen paychecks, a house robbery, a sick child.

Experiences

When the four 15-minute weeks were finished, workshop participants talked about their experiences.

“It was exhausting for the parents who were trying to do everything when they were not at work. They spent all of their time at work and there was no time to go to the grocery store, to the bank, or for healthcare,” said one person.

“I felt frustrated. I felt that things were unfair. There was no time to pay our bills. We had money but could not get everywhere to pay bills,” said another.

“I felt frustrated, too. I would go to the bank with one teller and stand there forever. Then I found out I didn’t have an account there. We don’t eat for a week because we can’t get to the grocery store. We get an eviction notice. Our utilities are shut off. The school sends my kid home because she needs glasses. I go to the health service, only to find out you needed to go to the bank to get glasses. We were frustrated. But we were resilient and resourceful too. I stole two payroll checks. And my daughter — I’m so proud of her — she stole transportation passes! The last week I spent all of my money at Dave’s [Pawn Shop],” said another workshop participant.

“We made one mistake at the beginning of the month. We had no transportation passes. But then it carried over into the rest of the month. I was the kid in the family. I had paranoia at school. I flew under the radar so I did not draw attention to myself. I was not sure who might steal my field trip money,” said one participant.

“It was hard to get into the system. I was angry. I felt the most belittled in school, trying to think if I could go on a field trip or if I should stay home sick again because we had no money for the field trip. The teacher wouldn’t hug me because she thought I had lice. The other kids would not sit next to because they thought I had lice,” said another participant.

“I felt frustrated. Angry. Stressed. I was impatient with the long lines at the places we went to. It was a tight timeframe. Eight people in line, and the line was not moving fast. I was an unemployed wife. I got bored with no transportation passes. I had no way to leave the house to take care of things. Then I wasted time standing in line. I would go places and didn’t get a lot of help. People didn’t seem to offer any sympathy for the situations I was in. No ‘I’m sorry’ or if they did say they were sorry, it did not feel genuine,” said one participant.

“I felt stress and frustration. You find yourself trying to cheat the system to get what you need. How can I leave work early to get my bills paid? How can I get more money? We need more empathy and to not be so judgmental about people who do those things because we can quickly fall into that role,” said another participant.

“I felt overwhelmed and helpless as a kid. I can’t contribute. Being a kid going to school, the first week I got suspended for cheating. We didn’t get food that week. I went to school the second week because I was hungry. The teacher told me I can’t come to school because I am suspended. I was told to go home. The last week at school, the teacher wanted to talk to us about our feelings and about what was going on. We were all talking about being hungry. She let us share things. But that’s all the farther that went. Then it was time to go home. No follow up. No asking how to help you,” said one participant.

Vendors

The “vendors” — which included bankers, health care workers, a payday loan person, a pawn shop owner, a police officer and an employer — also talked about their experiences during the poverty simulation.

“Seriously people? The check is in the mail? Dad is at the bank trying to cash his paycheck? How many excuses can you give? Come up with some new ones,” said the person in charge of utilities and shutting off utilities.

“People were angry there was a fee to cash checks. I felt bad sending people away with less money than they needed. People started asking if they owed me money before they could cash their check. I was also taking payments on loans. I noticed people started buying transportation passes from me, and I assume they were selling them for more money than I was charging,” said the person in charge of loans.

“I only had three patients. And I was robbed,” said the health care worker.

“Health care is always like that in all (poverty) simulations. People don’t have the money. They don’t get health care,” said Slowey, the workshop facilitator.

“The tone was different from the beginning and at the end.  At the end, I’m taking whatever you have. The desperation of people got so much greater. They got rid of things for far less than what they were worth, knowing I would sell it for triple for what I gave you. It was interesting to see repeat people coming back. They would resell the same things over and over again,” said the pawn shop owner.

“It was a peaceful community for the most part. But I did see people trying to decide if they should bail dad out of jail or if they should get the kids from the juvenile detention center,” said the police officer.

“You would only get so much per month to hand out. I had a sheet that had other referrals. But it wasn’t until the end of the month that people started coming. I thought I would run out of money. But I started giving people more to get rid of it by the end. It was interesting that people are afraid to ask if they need it,” said the community resources person.

Either people were afraid to ask — or they didn’t know where to go, Slowey commented.

“People were anxious to not stay the allotted seven minutes (at work). As professionals, you don’t punch a clock. But in factory work, punching the time clock is a big deal. And you don’t leave until it is time to go,” said the employer

“I would not be a good banker. I wanted to give people an extra $5 for giving their transportation passes without me asking (for the pass). People behind the desk do have compassion but are forced to follow the rules. You recognize that families are in troubled situations but you still have to follow the rules. It’s hard,” said the banker.

“Daycare was relatively slow. I don’t think people can afford it. I had no waiting list,” said the daycare provider.

“It was hard to see kids coming in bringing their family dynamics. It got worse by the fourth week. It was hard to be in that classroom when they haven’t eaten or someone is in jail. It’s hard to be sweet and caring with limited resources,” said the teacher.

One of the vendors spoke Spanish only.

The instructions in Spanish were to simulate what it is like for the Hispanic population — what it is like when they cannot understand the language, Slowey explained.

Burdens

Slowey asked workshop participants to brainstorm activities or events or situations that take place in the school district which can put burdens on families in poverty.

Here are some of the items on the list:

• School fees for physical education, field trips or sporting events can be a burden for families. Maybe ask the community for donations and have a fund set aside. The money could be used for clothing or any other need.

• Seasonal changes of clothing or clothing for athletic participation

• The geographic area. Traveling to Menomonie or Eau Claire is difficult for some families when services are needed. School district staff often have a lack of knowledge for what is available. The school district should be more proactive in sending information home.

• Recognizing that laundry can be a problem for some families.  One staff member did a major remodel at home over the summer and had no washer or dryer. She said she got $100 in cash in quarters from the bank and thought that would last all summer at the Laundromat. With two children and her husband, she spent $20 per week at the Laundromat, which was not air conditioned. By the end of the summer, she said she had easily spent $150 to $200. “Every time my son slid into a base, I cringed,” she said.

• School supply lists. For families with two, three, four, or five kids, the money can add up in a hurry.

• Fees for all of the different school activities.

• Transportation after school for sports or other activities or to get supplies for school or for projects or even for classroom snacks.

• No computers at home. Some kids come in and teachers think they did not do the assignment because they did not want to, but maybe there was no computer available to do the assignment.

• Homework. If you send students home to do a project on the Internet or to use glitter or felt, some families do not have the resources. Or maybe mom or dad is not home to help. Doing extra homework might not always be possible.

• Starting an after school program for parents who are working and cannot be home earlier when kids get off school.

Classrooms

Slowey also asked participants to talk about what they learned from the poverty simulation and what they could take back to their classrooms.

Here are a few of their answers:

• Recognize that kids come from different environments and may not be doing their best every day because of outside influences.

• Become more proactive and help people get to the resources they need.

• Know your students and what they are going through and be supportive.

• Get technology into the hands of students. Education can help people out of poverty. The kids sometimes do not have role models at home, but they have the public school.

• Develop awareness of who the children are and where they come from.

• Stay open minded and listen to what the students are telling you.

• Create a classroom that is safe and comfortable.

• Take extra effort to contact parents even if they do not respond. You cannot assume that parents have not read what you sent out.

• Develop good activities for students that are affordable.

• Teach students how to prioritize and how to organize.