Meet Shurita Thomas-Tate: At a recent Ujima Family Literacy night, about two dozen children and their families shared a spaghetti dinner in the basement of Turning Point Church before Thomas-Tate, the nonprofit’s founder, asked them to recite its motto. It’s a statement that aligns with the lifelong beliefs held by Thomas-Tate, who is seeking a second term on the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education.
“Repeat after me: I'm part of the Ujima family,” she began, saying the name of her organization that began as a Missouri State University class project and now provides free monthly literacy and language experiences for children up to 11 years of age. “I am committed to literacy. I am a reader, a writer, a listener, a speaker and a thinker. I read daily. Reading is fun. And it helps me learn and grow.”
Children’s books line the windows of Thomas-Tate’s office at Missouri State Univerisity’s Ann Kampeter Health Sciences Building. A poster for Ujima takes up much of the wall behind her desk chair.
“As you see, literacy really is my thing,” said Thomas-Tate, who is seeking a second term in the April 4 election for the Springfield Public Schools board. “I don't just say it in board meetings. It really is who I am.”
As an associate professor in MSU’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Thomas-Tate is an educator of educators who she said have gone on to serve children with special needs throughout the region. She said she views education as a transformative tool, which is why she is a lifelong advocate for public education. Everyone deserves the opportunity to get an education, she said, and an education looks different for everybody.
Points of interest: Thomas-Tate highlights four themes on her campaign website: student safety, supporting and empowering teachers, parental involvement and healthy schools and communities.
Asked how parental involvement differs from parental rights movements that have been invoked in Republican-led, state-level legislation, Thomas-Tate said it’s about encouraging parents to get involved with their children's schools — through the PTA, volunteering or other avenues.
“Because I do believe that part of the solution, which I try to live out on a daily basis, is community helping community,” she said. “Being collaborative, working together. Teachers cannot do it all. And in our society, particularly when we have a student population that is at least 50 percent low income (based on free and reduced lunch qualification), they need support. Families need your help. That's why I have my Ujima program. I'm helping support those families. I support those families in the community. I'm not just yelling about the problem. I'm saying: ‘There's a problem. Let me help by making sure these kids have support, making sure they have advocates, making sure they have books and helping the parents to know what's going on in the schools.’ That's what we do.”
Thomas-Tate stresses education is a nuanced subject, as is measuring the success of a public school district or its students. A standardized test is but one way, she said. But it is not the only proof that a student, or a district, is failing or succeeding.
“There are layers to understanding student performance and student success,” she said. “Everyone's student success will not look the same, and so to have one measure of what student success is, is just unrealistic. Because student success will not look the same for all students. But we have to take a wider, more layered, multifaceted look at what our expectations are, instead of just saying that we're just wholesale failing. That's a narrative, again, that's just being pushed to undermine the validity of public education.”
Why did she decide to seek re-election?: Thomas-Tate said serving on the board aligns with her belief in community service and in community in general.
“Public education is for the good of the community — all of the community,” she said. “Public education has the potential to transform student lives and whole communities. Public education has the potential to really be a transformative tool for our community, both in a positive and negative way. And so when we spin the narrative of public education is being bad, it disrupts the health of a community. And a healthy public school system is going to end up with a healthier community, and an unhealthy public school system also equates to an unhealthy community.”
Find Shurita Thomas-Tate online at: voteshurita.com, Shurita Thomas-Tate for School Board on Facebook
