We actually started at another school and because of the participation at that school,
somebody said wow, you should really be at APPLE.
And I said, well, what's APPLE?
And they explained to me that that was a school option within the Spokane school district
that you could be more involved in the classroom and be of service to the teachers and the
administration at the school as a whole.
Apple is the Alternative Parent Participation Learning Experience.
It was a group of parents in the late seventies that got together and wanted to be involved
in their kids' education.
They had a coop parent involved preschool and they wanted to have that be something
that they could do all through their students' elementary school.
Every year, parents apply and it's a lottery system.
And then every family pledges to do 90 hours of volunteer hours, and it can be in their
kids' classroom, it can be stuff they take home in either Franklin or Garfield, depending
on which program that they get into.
At APPLE you can kind of volunteer wherever it is that you're needed, not just be a part
of the APPLE community, but be able to be a part of the larger Garfield community as well.
I love spending a couple hours a week in the classroom.
That doesn't work for every parent, so um there's extracurricular things that parents
can do, committees that parents can be a part of, there's endless opportunities to earn hours.
I feel like its pushed us to be the kind of parents that we want to be, with the 90 hour requirement.
This kind of just holds us accountable.
Sometimes the school and the curriculum are kind of ambiguous to families and the ability
to have the families be present and in the classroom and learning alongside but also
to bring their wealth of knowledge and their own specialities in, to add to what we're
doing in the school, is really a fantastic opportunity.
I think for the families, it really shows their students how valuable education is to
them, and makes a statement just because of their presence.
My own kids are in APPLE at Garfield and so it's something that both as a parent and as
an educator has been valuable to see parents come in and give of their time and their energy.
And probably one of my favorite things about APPLE is that it varies, what they do every
year, based on the group of parents.
Every year in the APPLE program we get to pick our own theme and decide what we want to do.
We've done everything from community service to music, and each parent's able to kind of
bring their own passions into it.
It allows students to kind of get a wider feel of the whole educational experience and
they walk away being a well rounded, better student.
We've also been able to offer things like Spanish, sign language, in addition to reading
tutors and math tutors and a variety of ways that I feel like the kids in the APPLE program
really get kind of an enriched education.
I've been teaching in APPLE about 8 years and it's dream teaching, I love it.
It's wonderful because it's a multi-age program.
We have often, you know, sixth graders working with first graders and kindergarteners, helping
each other out, working on common projects, common goals.
So that's one of my favorite pieces of APPLE, is the relationships that they build with
those older kids, and they get to kind of grow up together a little bit and see them
year after year.
They adore it, even with the older kids, I mean they've talked about it as being their
favorite part of the week is coming down to help and it's just huge for their self-esteem
and for that mentor time.
They can learn a lot from others in their community.
You don't just have to be a teacher to be able to teach someone, you could have a job
as a lawyer or as a baker, or whatever it is that your occupation is, when you bring
that expertise into the classroom.
A big pro for me personally, uh, has been just the relationships that I've built school-wide.
I love that kids know me because I show up, and not all parents have that opportunity,
but I feel like I've been kind of pushed to do that with this program and I really appreciate that.
You know, I think every school strives to build a stronger community and a stronger
neighborhood.
I think that Garfield's done a great job doing that with APPLE, with the regular parents
and community members coming in to do things with us and the extra opportunities we have
to go out in the community.
I think that piece for me as a parent and as a teacher is invaluable.
I don't know that you would find the community that we have any place else.
It's unique in the way that we have parents, teachers and students all working together.
The community makes a difference.
Especially in a world that has become isolated by technology, to be in the classroom with
other parents that are like-minded, to expand on the opportunities that are in the classroom,
that really makes APPLE special.