Even “the 20/20 Vision Guy” has to Practice what he Preaches

Posted on February 7, 2010

20/20 Vision executive director Jeremy Del Rio confesses on his personal blog how he wasn’t practicing what he preached until this fall, when his son enrolled in PS 102.

It’s time for a confession. Even before launching 20/20 in 2008, despite being known is some circles as the 20/20 Vision guy, my work on education reform was mostly theoretical. My passion was real, but day to day, aside from designing and architecting 20/20, my personal involvement actually living 20/20’s engagement paradigm was non-existent.

Why? I haven’t run a community group or helped lead a congregation in almost four years, which means I couldn’t commit an organization to adopt a school for service and advocacy. Nor have I been involved in direct youth work since 2005, so I couldn’t directly empower student leaders to become change agents within their schools. Finally, until this year, my son attended private schools, so engaging a school as a volunteer was difficult.

Then this fall everything changed.

Within weeks, he was tutoring ESL students in his son’s classroom, and before the Christmas break he helped start a journalism club with the parent coordinator and another volunteer parent. They launched a student blog last week, and fourth graders are discovering their voice as they learn to live life out loud.

Jeremy is just one parent (of potentially 2 million) who was activated by 20/20’s Vocational Calling to use his talents and access as a parent to add value to a local public school. What’s your story?

» Filed Under case studies, jeremy del rio, matrix, parents, vocational calling