91Festival on the Mall, lngham County. (Photo courtesy of Theodore Haskell.)Community Education and Recreation in MichiganLinda PowellAs early as 1902 and 1903, proceedings from the National Education Association show speakers such as John Dewey, an earlydominant thinker in American education, and Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, supporting the neighborhood school as asocial center, not only in theory, but in practice. The National Educational Association proposed a resolution in 1911 to approve the use ofschool buildings as social centers. In 1918 it formally91119191adopted its list of cardinal principles, one of which was the education for the worthy use of leisure as a goal ofeducation.In 1948, Fitzgerald supported the school’s role in education for leisure and offered a list of suggestions thatincluded: providing leadership in the practice of recreation skills during after school hours; providing adulteducation opportunities; making school areas and facilities available for community recreation use; participating inarea and facility planning with parks; recreation and library boards to assure maximum use of public properties;serving community recreation needs through a program administered by the school, or in cooperation with otherlocal governing bodies; providing leadership resources; and providing professional stimulation in communityorganization for recreation and trained personnel for research, surveys, and studies.In 1989, Larry E. Decker, as guest editor for the Community Education Journal, stated:“Using schools as community centers is a cost effective, practical way to get maximum use out of a community’slargest investment, its school buildings. Schools that operate as full-service community support centers actuallybecome places where learning and living meet” (Decker and Romney, 1993/94, p. 7).It is important to recognize that the interrelationship between a community and its schools and the ideasproposed by and pursued through modern community education are not new. Centuries of educational thought anddevelopment have evolved into a conceptual framework. There were many variations and new combinations ofpast ideas, before the current community education movement began.What Is Community Education?Recent literature suggests that Community Education is an opportunity for local citizens and communityschools, agencies and institutions to become active partners in addressing education and community concerns.Community Education brings community members together to identify and link community needs and resources ina manner that helps people to help themselves raise the quality of life in their communities.Community Education is a unique education concept that embraces the beliefs that: education is a lifelongprocess; everyone in the community—individuals, businesses, public and private agencies—shares responsibilityfor the mission of educating all members of the community. Citizens have a right and a responsibility to beinvolved in determining community needs, identifying community resources, and linking those needs andresources to improve their community.Community Education is characterized by: citizen involvement in community problem-solving and decision-making, usually through community councils; development and implementation of lifelong learning opportunitiesfor learners of all ages, backgrounds and needs; use of community resources in the schooling/educationcurriculum; opportunities for parents to become involved in the learning process of their children and the life ofthe school; optimum use of public education facilities by people of all ages in the community; coordination andcollaboration among agencies and institutions to deliver educational, social, economic, recreation, and culturalservices to all members of the community; partnerships with business industry and schools to enhance the learningclimate; and utilization of volunteers to enhance the delivery of community services.Community Education results in: a responsive education system and an improved learning climate in theschools; efficient and cost-effective ways of delivering education and community92 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional Opportunities92 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional Opportunities92 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional Opportunitiesservices; broad-based community support for schools and other community agencies; an emphasis on specialpopulations, such as at-risk youth and minorities; and collective action among educational and communityagencies to address quality of life issues.History of Community Education in MichiganThe community was an important part of the early schools in Michigan. The school often represented thecenter of the community. As a publicly owned facility, it was used as the meeting place for civic projects, workbees, and other community activities. Citizens often used the schools as a gathering place where many of thedecisions affecting the community were decided. Early in Michigan’s history, the school was available for citizenuse, regardless of age.As Michigan developed through the years into an industrial and urbanized society, the schools became largeinstitutions operated primarily for youth. Gradually, the community’s involvement with the schools wasminimized. Two steps were taken to rekindle the concept of “community” in Michigan Education during the1930s and 1940s. The first, sponsored by the Flint Public Schools and the C.S. Mott Foundation, was thebeginning of community activities programs in Flint. The second, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation,was the implementation of the Michigan Community School Service Program in eight small communities.The initial intent of these programs was to utilize existing public school facilities for recreational purposes.In fact, the Flint community education program began with a partnership between Frank J. Manley, then physicaleducation director for the Flint public schools and a city recreation leader, and Charles Stewart Mott, a wealthy,local industrialist. The concept they started with was simple: open the schools for young people’s recreationprograms after school, on weekends and during the summer to help reduce juvenile delinquency and improvesafety. A pilot program began with opening