The anonymous Eugene Advocates offered a sharp critique of the Eugene City Council’s decision to lease the former public works building at 858 Pearl St. to the Network Charter School.
“The kids who attend hang around outside, as do those who want to prey on the young girls attending, etc. … (I)t creates a very undesirable environment. … What kind of message does that send to others who may make the investment in downtown?”
The message I believe it sends is about two values that are important to every community’s development. One value is taking collective responsibility for our young people. The other is recognition of the wealth created by good will.
Network Charter School kids benefit in real ways from the downtown community.
Tom Kamis at Davis’ shared his restaurant for a fundraiser that allowed two vans full of teens to travel to the Navajo reservation to learn about spring chores in a sheep camp.
Jeff Fields and Dave Kraehbiel at The ’Wich House figured out how to serve tasty meals with a side order of friendship at the low subsidized rates of the federal meals program, in addition to their regular menu.
The Saturday Market and Farmers’ Market and local restaurants provide internships. Jean Tate helped us shop for a new building, and Solarc followed up with evaluations of the feasibility of transforming sites into schools.
These are just a few of those who have found ways consistent with their primary missions to connect Network Charter School kids with the work of downtown. Their kindness inspires reciprocity and nurtures better student behavior. Some neighbors even make a little profit.
The wealth of good will is evident in the Network Charter School’s acquisition of the building, a miracle so far funded by widows’ mites. Churchgoers may remember a recent Sunday’s readings, which were about the extraordinary value of a tiny contribution made from the heart by someone with no surplus to spare.
The Network Charter School has to be downtown, an easy walk to Eugene station, because our hands-on, community-based instruction draws students from all over the region, and we all commute by bus.
Our satellite classes are at 25th Avenue and Harris Street, Sixth Avenue and Wilson Street, Fourth Avenue and Willamette Street, and in Alton Baker Park. Students must be able to get around by bus. We had found no other building in any part of town that we could afford to buy and improve to meet school codes.
Then our neighbors stepped in. The Downtown Guides made sure we knew that 858 Pearl St. was available. A Eugene Police Department bike patrol officer offered to give us a glowing reference. Current neighbors let Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz know that they approved of our staying downtown.
The city planners and facilities managers answered every question promptly. They made sure that we knew about the building’s significant limitations — steam heat, a cranky and elderly elevator.
All these people were simply doing their jobs, but their work was marked by generosity as well as competence; their hope for our success animated every conversation. This wealth of good will is allowing us to move to a decent building on a street that’s already safe.
An empty building will be filled. Our own hard-earned savings will fund more than $100,000 of code compliance work for a contractor. Our rent will keep building ownership from being a cost to the city until we can buy it ourselves.
Our wish to share this largesse assures that eight or 10 organizations that contribute to our city will have downtown offices they can afford on the upper floors of the building. Network Charter School students can play in the park, designed for this use, off the sidewalk and out of the way of foot traffic.
And at last, we have a facility worthy of housing a small public school organized around the principle that learning can, and for some students must, be about finding your place in the community.
Working at this downtown school has given me a keen awareness of how much the development of a community depends on people’s willingness to take some small part in solving a collective problem.
The Network Charter School has been able to help many young people graduate because neighbors give of their store — they offer encouraging words, good advice, gentle redirection, understanding, humor and, occasionally, material things.
As importantly, our daily life in the heart of this city gives endless examples of how expressions of good will can lead to the realization of big dreams.
In the city’s decision to let the Network Charter School lease 858 Pearl St. — and someday to buy it — we believe prospective developers should see evidence of core values: We all share responsibility for the common good and our willingness to help each other is essential for progress.
Mary Leighton is the executive director of the Network Charter School in Eugene.
