“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.”
— Marian Wright Edelman

A key component of truly supporting your community is doing the work to educate yourself about the communities you serve. This requires intentionality. It means going beyond surface-level understanding and investing time in learning the lived experiences, challenges, and strengths of the people around you. At the core of this work is remembering your why—the purpose that drives your efforts. Ideally, that purpose aligns with Marian Wright Edelman’s vision: leaving things better than you found them.

However, before you can improve a community or advocate on its behalf, you must first understand it. To represent others authentically, you need to know their stories—not just statistics, but real human experiences. One practice I implemented as a school administrator was designed to do exactly that. During teacher pre-planning week, we organized staff into carpool groups and intentionally drove through the different neighborhoods that fed into our school. The goal was simple but powerful: to better understand where our students and families come from.

This experience shifted perspectives. It encouraged empathy over sympathy. It reminded us to lead with grace and compassion. When educators can see firsthand the environments their students navigate daily, it deepens their understanding in ways data alone never could. It becomes clear that students do not always arrive at school ready to learn—and often, it has little to do with motivation or effort.

Many students carry invisible burdens. They may have experienced neighborhood conflicts the night before, faced unstable housing situations, or dealt with basic needs not being met, such as lack of running water or consistent access to food. Some may have been displaced or experienced trauma that disrupts their sense of security. While these hardships are significant for adults, they can be overwhelming for children, who have not yet developed the emotional tools or coping mechanisms to process such challenges. Truthfully, many adults struggle to manage these experiences, so we must approach students with understanding rather than judgment.

To effectively support students, educators and leaders must also engage in ongoing research. This includes studying trends over time in areas such as housing costs, local taxes, free and reduced lunch rates, and other demographic indicators. These data points provide valuable context and help paint a broader picture of the community’s needs and realities.

But numbers alone are not enough. It is equally important to step into classrooms and observe learning environments across the spectrum—general education, gifted programs, and Exceptional Student Education (ESE) settings. Each offers unique insights into student experiences. Engage directly with teachers and students in these spaces. Ask questions, but more importantly, listen. Listening with intention allows you to better understand individual perspectives, challenges, and successes.

The more you immerse yourself in these experiences, the clearer the story becomes. You begin to see not just groups of students, but individuals with distinct backgrounds, strengths, and needs. This understanding is critical, especially when seeking input through town halls, school forums, or community meetings. When you show up already informed and invested, you build trust. You demonstrate that you have taken the time to learn, rather than expecting others to carry the burden of educating you on information that is often publicly available.

Ultimately, supporting a community requires effort, humility, and accountability. Just as in childhood, where we were expected to complete chores and earn our keep, the same principle applies here. If we expect to lead, represent, and advocate for others, we must first do the work. We must earn the trust of the communities we serve by showing that we are willing to learn, to listen, and to act with empathy and purpose.

Only then can we begin to fulfill the true mission of education: improving lives and leaving the world better than we found it.