Something to Think About - A More Level Playing Field

When computers started making their way into schools, the vast majority were in junior and senior high schools. Often these computers were donated.  As teachers began working them into the curriculum, they were generally in labs rather than in classrooms. Students had opportunities to use those labs during the school day, most eagerly engaged, and the impact on learning was noticeable. The move was soon on to expand student access to the computer age and all it had to offer. During this move, one superintendent spotted a clear opportunity to expand access, and he seized it.

He was the superintendent of a geographically large school district, that had a rather small student population. Their typical graduating class was between 90 and 110. Most of the students lived in or very near the small town where one of the two elementary buildings and the junior-senior high was located. The majority of those students were walkers, or had a very short ride to school.  Most of the other students lived in or near another small town where the other elementary building was located.

To expand access to computers this forward-thinking superintendent suggested staffing the lab after school for an hour each day and for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The board approved, and the program was well received.  Word of the district’s effort to increase computer access spread, and as a result, a major computer company offered to donate a dozen more computers.  There was an extra room beside the current lab, so expanding was going to be no problem. The maintenance staff made plans for the additional wiring that was needed, and some lab-style tables were purchased.

The office of the superintendent was located in the junior-senior high school. One Tuesday evening while waiting for a board meeting, he saw students coming and going from the computer lab.  He noticed that most of them were walking.  The next day after school, as he watched the students from the other town boarding busses to go home, he again saw students from the town where the junior-senior high was located heading to the computer lab.

The next morning he made a visit to the other elementary building and pitched an idea to the building principal.  Rather than expanding the lab at the junior-senior high, he suggested setting up a lab in the that elementary building. He wanted to expand after-school and evening access for the students from that town. The principal was totally in support of the idea, and the plan was carried out with the full support of the board. The 12 donated computers became the lab in that building, creating computer access for the students living in and around that small town.

When asked to comment, the superintendent said, “Opportunities in life are more often than not about access.  When you increase accessibility, you expand availability, and when you expand availability, you level the playing field for everyone seeking opportunities.”

For some it’s a matter of fairness. For others it a matter of simple right and wrong, at least in accord with their judgment of what constitutes right and wrong.  Then there are those who see inconsistencies. And finally, some people see a disadvantage and want to right it.  Regardless of why, they’re all field levelers. 

Most of these people understand they can’t make things perfect, but they can make them a little better. They see a situation or a circumstance, and they see a path for easing a burden, lightening a load, addressing a disparity, or simply providing a needed boost. In some cases, they see an individual, and in other instances they see a group on whose behalf they want to act.  Such people often become difference makers!

Field levelers realize that what they do may not be a game changer since certain situations and circumstances are just baked right into the reality of life. Nonetheless, they find contentment and purpose in making what are often small and incremental changes.  Even if just slightly, they’re driven to change the terrain of the field on which a particular game is being played. They’re happy if they can provide a boost.  And because they do, they send a clear and welcome you’re-not-in-this-alone message to those involved.  Such a message can become the motivation that someone or some group needs to step up their game and commit to new or renewed action on their own behalf. 

Regardless of what motivates you, be a difference-maker when and where you can. Consider the impact you can have on others by leveling the playing field on which they engage in the game of life.  Do so knowing that you need not work a miracle to make a difference in someone’s life.