- 10/12/2023
United Parenting Coalition
Dear Subscriber,
Since my last article in the blog, the entire website at JAiME for SCHOOLS has moved over to a new hosting platform so I really hope this first article gets to you without any glitches. Also, I filed to run for District 833 School Board on August 1st, 2023, and the campaign is in full swing! If you live in MN School District 833, please VOTE Jaime Kokaisel for School Board on November 7th. Learn more about my campaign right here on the website and/or on social media at www.facebook.jaimeforschools.com
Human Suffering
This July I returned from a week-long Youth Works mission trip to Kansas City. My high school mission team tended to community gardens for the Meth Addicted homeless population, and we shipped medical supplies to Third World Countries like Chad and Niger. I learned that mission work is not just about the work you do, but more about the people you meet. Some of our team served in daycare facilities run by teenagers because the neighborhoods were so poor, the crime so high, and the families so broken. It was absolutely heart-breaking.
The kind of suffering and homelessness seen in the inner cities is not something we or our children are exposed to in South Washington County (though it is still there). For the past two years in Roseville, where my children attend private school, my daughter would often see homeless men and women outside her K-8 classroom windows. She would watch the alcoholics throwing up on the street corner of Rice and County Road C. This was something entirely new to her, and it was painful to witness, but she was protected from it too behind the safety of a brick wall where inside her teachers taught about love and forgiveness.
I think it is good for my children to see with their own eyes this human suffering that lives right next door to South Washington County … for them to spend time digging potatoes out of the ground for a nonprofit that serves their homeless community … for them to spend a week serving others through mission trips. Suffering is real, and it is a rapidly growing in America and beyond. By SEEING, we are able to grasp the BIG PICTURE and grow in our desire to do something about it that lasts.
A Network of Unity
Two years ago, as I began pursuing efforts to better advocate for strong families, I interacted with groups across the district and state at every level and every size. In so doing, I met a multitude of other parents who wanted similar things as me, and to this day many of them are still fine-tuning their approach at filling deep, dark gaps in the community – homelessness, drug addiction, victimization, fatherlessness, brokenness, illiteracy, poverty …
I have connected with and learned from groups I see doing GOOD in their communities. Some of these groups include TakeChargeMN, C.A.S.T. (Citizens Against Sex Trafficking), MPA (Minnesota Parents Alliance), FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism). The Lord puts these people who spread goodness before me, and as I pay attention, He keeps putting more good people in my path.
Just yesterday, for instance, as I was in the middle of writing this article, I met the owner of Source MN out of Minneapolis. The mission of Source MN is “Through URBAN OUTREACH and ANTI-TRAFFICKING efforts, SOURCE empowers the at-risk and unreached to make a break from the past and build foundations for the future.” In the blog, Peter shares the 25 year journey he and his wife have had with Source MN,
"Over the years, we have had to keep reminding ourselves that it is not our job to fix people or even save people – that’s God’s job. Our job is to serve and love others and to do what we need to stay focused on the Vine (John 5). We are the branches and we thrive when we stay connected and get nourished by the Vine. When we do that, fruit will be produced naturally."
The Parent-Centered Approach
We need solutions. We need people like you and me to do more heavy lifting. Big government is not the solution. Why, because the only way for government to remain big and grow bigger is for you and I to depend on it. No thank you! We need private enterprise inspired by the people for the people . We need stand-alone businesses and nonprofits that don’t take government money. We need to be there in the flesh helping our fellow neighbor.
We need school board members who serve their local community and beyond by advocating for parents, children, and teachers in education.
When I returned from my mission trip in July, there welled up in me a strong desire to UNITE the people and groups I have met over the years who remain dedicated in doing the heavy lifting for everyone else. Two very specific people came to my mind, and their names are Jenna Dicks and Kim Wilson. I immediately called Jenna, and when we met over coffee she miraculously described to me a vision that looked similar to mine. This new nonprofit would resemble the branches of a tree or vine. When Jenna and Mike invited myself and Kim Wilson to be on the Board, I didn’t hesitate. I said YES!
This is the beauty of the Body of Christ. We all have unique gifts that when used to the glory of our God will be made whole. United Parenting Coalition is the STRUCTURE for good parents to access parenting tools specific to their local needs while also spanning the state of Minnesota and growing out into states across the nation.
United Parenting Coalition
The values of United Parenting Coalition are
FAITH – EDUCATION – PROTECTING PUBLIC SAFETY – SMALLER BETTER GOVERNMENT – ECONOMIC PROSPERITY – PRO LIFE – CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPALS – EQUALITY – PARENTAL RIGHTS.
UPC believes that strong families are the bedrock of society. Parents are the solution to building strong families and strong communities, and UPC wants to unite us through this very important work.
As we continue to grow, keep an eye on the website. We are adding new Board Members, new Resources, and planning ahead for convention this Spring of 2024.
Learn and Support
Uniting our community starts in your home, and through you, it grows out into the world. I joined UPC because, while I focus my eyes on the local level, it is important to keep a peripheral view of the BIG PICTURE. Parents need options, and UPC can help by equipping parents with knowledge and resources to bridge the gap between home and the world their kids grow up in.
By JAiME for SCHOOLS, October 12th 2023
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Success! For Fortress Or Kingdom?
By worldly standards, success is achieved through the accumulation of money, power and fame. In this way, we might think of success with a capital “S” because it behaves like a human with a head, heart and hands. Worldly success is quite different from spiritual success. In this age of mass production and consumption, Success takes on the shape of a giant – a Goliath of sorts. Let’s name this worldly giant “Industry” and call his food “Consumer”. In his greed for wealth, Industry requires a workforce of slaves to perpetuate the materialist Consumer and feed his unending hunger for more. Since the head, heart and hands of Industry are fake, and since Fake can only tear down walls and destroy strongholds, Industry must trick Real into thinking she is free to grow her own success. But in reality she is starving for real bread and the sustenance Industry steals away from the womb of her harvest. Enter the Consumer crop of mass schooling. How is it that Real is blind to her own bondage? Why is it that Real is deaf to the Word? What is it that Real feels for the one who enslaves her in the clutches of worldly success?
This Little SCHOOL+HOUSE
In 2020, the Governor’s Education Roundtable put together A Roadmap for Transformational Change in Minnesota Education that says, “We need to mobilize all of us – not just teachers and students – to nurture assets and DISMANTLE BARRIERS so every student and their family has all Minnesotans supporting their academic and personal growth.” On the other hand, Kelly Smith, Founder of Prenda, says his micro-schools are “BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS that will make it easier for people to start their own schools.” Meanwhile, One Stone, a school with no teachers, no tests and no grades, says they are “BREAKING DOWN the one-size-fits-all nature of a conventional classroom.” As you can see, there are a lot of proverbial BARRIERS BEING BROKEN DOWN these days, and they appear to be at war with one another. G.K. Chesterton said, “Whenever you remove any fence, always pause long enough to ask why it was put there in the first place.” Wise advice from a wise man. My question is, which SCHOOL+HOUSE is able to BUILD UP? Anyone can break down in a world ruled by the laws of gravity. Good or evil, real or fake – anyone can destroy – but only REAL things can grow up under this sun … only REAL is granted authority to build upward … only REAL has the soft heart needed for love … only REAL is able to truly hear His story (history) spoken … and only REAL is able to truly see the Word written into the fabric of creation. “This Little School+House” and the “Borders and Boundaries” series of 2025 will explore “What is education, actually?”