Bright Futures Gains Steam In Bentonville

BENTONVILLE -- A program intended to match needs of the School District's students with existing community resources made the first of those matches last weekend.

Bright Futures Bentonville recently established a Facebook site. The first post was made to that site Friday. It requested help finding a suit for a high school student to wear to a "very public event." The post also listed the sizes of coat, shirt, pants and shoes he needed.

The need had been filled by Monday morning, according to Amanda Musick, program coordinator for the district.

"We're getting the word out to the community about the needs of students," Musick said. "We've had a great response from people wanting to help, whether it's to provide (material) donations or monetary support."

The page has garnered more than 250 "likes." The first post was seen by 1,360 people, Musick said.

"That's pretty good for our first post," she said.

The School Board decided in June to adopt the Bright Futures program. The intent of Bright Futures is to meet any child's basic need within 24 hours of identifying the need. This is done through a rapid-response system using existing resources and/or social media. The school system acts as the liaison between the student and donor. Needs are identified by teachers, counselors and other school personnel.

The idea is to eliminate barriers students face in their personal lives so they are more easily able to focus on school.

Bright Futures originated in Joplin, Mo., in 2010 as a way to help boost the graduation rate in that district. Since then Joplin's graduation rate has soared from the mid-70 percent range to 86 percent, according to Kim Vann, Bright Futures USA's executive director.

Bentonville officials believe Bright Futures also could have a positive impact on their district's graduation rate of 86 percent.

An advisory committee for Bright Futures Bentonville has been created. It consists of 11 people including district administrators as well as other community members.

Dana Davis, president and chief executive officer of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, is among the committee's members. He was familiar with Bright Futures because Vann is a friend of his.

"I don't think there's any doubt it's had a positive impact on those kids in the Joplin system," Davis said. "A lot of people may ask why you need a similar program in Bentonville. But they don't realize the number of people who live in Bentonville who have challenges. Many have trouble putting food on the table."

The chamber always is interested in making sure area children are as successful as they can be, he said.

"It's important to the chamber because those are our employees of the future," Davis said. "They impact our quality of life."

Bright Futures Bentonville will be celebrated with a kickoff breakfast Oct. 9 at First Presbyterian Church on Northeast J Street. Invitations have been sent out for the event. The church was glad to assist by hosting the breakfast, said Barry Williams, church pastor.

"This community has extraordinary resources, but we also have some relatively hidden needs," Williams said. "Bright Futures is going to work to bring real resources in touch with real needs, and anything we can do to help that is a privilege for us and in keeping with the mission of this church."

A Bright Futures Bentonville website -- separate from the one on Facebook -- will go live soon. That website will provide more information about Bright Futures, Musick said.

Some schools in the district also have Gives Back programs that have missions similar to Bright Futures. In a post on the Bright Futures Facebook site Monday, Musick explained Bright Futures is dedicated to honoring the Gives Back programs.

"Gives Back programs will continue to be the primary source of meeting student needs within a school," the post stated. "However, if a school does not have a Gives Back program or Gives Back is unable to meet the student need, the counselor or principal will initiate a Bright Futures referral."