Giving Tuesday at Archway Arete

Cultivating the Hearts and Minds of Parents 

It’s a crisp October morning at Archway Arete Classical Academy. Beth Goulden walks through the front office doors with a smile and a wave to the staff. The rest of the school begins the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

GIVE TO ARCHWAY ARETE

Beth’s smiling face is a common site on campus, whether she is in the teacher’s lounge setting up an appreciation lunch, the library for a PSO meeting, or in the halls reading with scholars.

However, she didn’t always have the time to be so involved at the school.

“When my oldest started Kindergarten, I had a career in law-enforcement that demanded most of my time during the day,” she remembers.

“But then I found out that volunteering for reading groups only takes 20 minutes! I started coming in once a week in the morning before I went to the office.”

Archway Arete relies on parent volunteers like Beth to provide extra support for budding readers in the lower grades, but the benefits of time spent reading with a kindergartener are much more far-reaching than improved reading fluency, Beth takes a breath and explains.

“I was spending my days arresting people, with searches, seizures… really heavy work. And these were offenders who were on probation for hurting children in the worst ways. I loved my work, but it could be emotionally taxing.”

She pauses and takes a deep breath, remembering. A moment later, a smile finds her lips and she says, “The reading groups were my peace. It was a perfect way to start my day and gave me the strength to go to work and deal with all the heavy stuff.”

Then a group of Prep students walked past the window outside, extending her smile. “Plus, now I get to see Jack (her oldest) and his peers in the 6th-grade, and I think, Mrs. Howard taught them to read, but I was also a part of that.”

Great Hearts’ mission is to cultivate the hearts and minds of students. However, as parents get involved in their student’s education, they inevitably come to see the cultivation of their own mind, and, more so, their heart.

And you do not have to become a fixture at the school like Beth to enjoy the benefits. Remember what she discovered that first year at Arete, “Reading groups only take 20 minutes!”

As she prepares to leave, Beth turns and says, “Look, we could all easily send our kids to walk to the neighborhood school, but we choose to send our kids to Arete. There’s an investment and a sacrifice that we all make to be a part of this community. Why do we choose to do that?”

She pauses, as if waiting for an answer. Hearing none, she says, “Because we see the payoff! We see it in the love of the teachers and staff for our kids, in the quality of the education they receive, and in the community of other parents who care enough to make that investment as well. That is why we choose Arete.”

Remember, Arete means Excellence. We choose, we own, and we grow.

Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts? Please contact jason.moore@greathearts.org.