Alva James-Johnson: Fixing our schools takes a team effort

Last week, I wrote about my fear that it might rain on my daughter’s graduation party.

Well, it turns out I really had nothing to worry about. The weather held up just fine, and everyone had a great time.

I'm sure it helped that I prayed incessantly that the clouds would stay at bay.

Now that it's all over and we're recuperating from all the excitement, I've been reflecting on what made everything come together. The weather was one factor but executing the party also took a lot of teamwork.

My mother-in-law and two of her sisters cooked most of the food, and my mother made a special Caribbean dessert and drinks for the occasion. My younger daughter was responsible for the decorations. My husband and father-in-law handled the yard work while the girls and I focused on the inside.

On the morning of the graduation, we had several relatives staying at our home. So it was all hands on deck as we scrambled to get the house back in order. My sister finished a video about the graduate while my brother-in-law hooked up the technology.

The burden didn't fall on one person; everyone contributed. And when it was over, we were all proud.

That experience reminds me of a book I've been reading, titled "Schools Cannot Do It Alone." It's a book Muscogee County School District Superintendent David Lewis has been recommending that we all read since he arrived in Columbus. So I checked out a copy from the Columbus Library.

The book is written by Jamie Vollmer, a former ice cream company executive. Vollmer has done a lot of research about what it will take to improve public schools across the nation and has reached some interesting conclusions. He shared a few when he visited Columbus in 2014.

For one, Vollmer believes our public school system is outdated and built for an industrial age that has long passed. We're now in a knowledge age, he argues, where our most valuable resource is no longer machines or the assembly line - but people.

If we're going to compete in the global economy, then our schools will have to be restructured to produce thinkers and problem-solvers, he says. And that will mean ensuring that each child reaches his or her full potential.

Vollmer says it will take all hands on deck to make real change - not just students, educators and parents.

Now that the school year is practically over, it might be a good time to reflect on the contributions we all can make to improve our educational system.

Just like my daughter's graduation party, fixing our schools will take a team effort. So maybe it's time we all get on board.

This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Alva James-Johnson: Fixing our schools takes a team effort."