The fall issue of Blue Magazine is out this month, and with it comes a wide array of exclusive online content, including:

• Web-only feature: How the Middleton Center for Children’s Rights brings real-life training to law students while giving Iowa children a voice.
• Video: President Maxwell plays the blues
• An alumnus’ reflection on art, teaching and growing up on a farm.
• Snippets: More of your favorite places for peace and quiet on campus.
• Snapshots: Photos from best-selling author and “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor’s lecture on Oct. 25.

Cozy up with the print issue for Drake news, alumni updates, a brain teaser, Q&As, in-depth features and links to much more web-only content. The print issue is also available online.

The full interview is available on page 42 of the print and online issue of Blue Magazine Fall 2011.

Anchoring the vast lawn south of Howard Hall, this bench is an escape from the indoors. Marked with a message of honor to Dean and Sue Wright from the Midwest Sociological Society, the bench’s slender slats open onto a view of oaks and elms, many of which were here before George Carpenter.  Although the bench is in an open space, it may be the most private of the great places to find peace and quiet; it seats just three.

Olmsted Center Mezzanine

It’s almost like an eagle’s nest tucked into the very top of the Olmsted Center.  Above the coffee shop, pool tables and Parents Hall sits the mezzanine, a great place to find peace and quiet. Artfully speckled with cushy chairs and softly lit by large, circular, windows, this room — a loft, really — is a popular hideaway for the studious and the sleepy.

Drake University isn’t cheap. No one argues otherwise. But the value of a Drake education is also widely acknowledged, and the efforts of financial aid staff to help students get the assistance they need to pursue a Drake degree are nothing short of incredible.

Still, there are students who come to Drake and struggle to keep their heads above water — financially and academically — as they work to pay their bills and stay on top of coursework.

Melissa Sturm-Smith, assistant dean of students, understands this well. As a PhD student pursuing a degree in higher education with an emphasis on social justice, she has extensively studied the economics of education. But in her role working in the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, Sturm-Smith admits that most students she comes in contact with are not those struggling to afford their education. They exist and are present at Drake, she says, but are not widely acknowledged.

“I would say diversity of social class is invisible at Drake,” she says. “You don’t hear much about it.”

These students have become largely anonymous to most of the campus community, she says. Once students have gone through the financial aid process, received the assistance they are eligible for and have enrolled in classes, little more can be done to ease the burden on students whose funds still fall short of meeting financial need. This can lead to educational inequality across campus based on the socio-economic situation of each student.

For example, an important component of a Drake education is engagement in the Drake community, through student life, leadership programs and extracurricular activities, among other things.

However, most of the students who participate in these programs are not those struggling to afford their education. Those students are busy working in their spare time and do not always have the luxury to engage in extracurricular activities. That privilege is more accessible for students who already have the benefit of their education costs being covered.

It’s a situation that exacerbates itself, explains Sturm-Smith. Those students already at an advantage have the opportunity to increase that advantage through greater engagement and participation, while those struggling financially find this more difficult.

“I think even we at Student Life are blind to students who have to work to make their education happen. It’s an issue here at Drake, but it’s an invisible issue. It’s been an issue we’ve not had to deal with — our enrollment numbers are good, our class profile is increasing. What would even lead us to ask who has access to opportunities?”

What are your thoughts on this issue? Tell us what you think — leave your comments below.

“It was the most awesome day I had this year.”

This proclamation, from a Des Moines fifth grader, was not in response to a field trip to the zoo or a baseball game. This student had just spent a day at Drake University talking with staff and faculty, participating in intramural sports and having a picnic lunch with members of the Drake soccer team in the middle of the field at Drake Stadium.

The opportunity was made available through Road to Success, an outreach program that brings young students to the Drake campus for a day and helps them envision a college education. Jaynette Rittman, GR’94, a Drake alumna and the principal at Garton Elementary School in Des Moines created the program and worked with the Drake Office of Admission to establish the program three years ago. The admission staff have, in turn, partnered with the athletics and wellness offices to ensure the day is action packed and memorable. More than 60 students participated in the program earlier this year.

But beyond encouraging the students to have a good time on campus, the program has two goals: One, to reward the students for achieving academic goals established earlier in the year, and two, help these young people realize that a college education is a real possibility for them and that Drake is interested in their future.

“The opportunity to welcome young students to the campus through group visits is an extension of Drake’s commitment to be a resource and a partner in serving the Des Moines community,” says Deneen Dygert, associate director of admissions. “Engaging our students, staff and faculty in welcoming and meaningful ways to introduce the option of higher education and Drake in particular to young students, makes Drake accessible and can ultimately play a significant role in recruitment.”

In small groups, students took a campus tour, had their pictures taken at campus locations with a member of the Drake men’s soccer team, participated in a relaxing yoga session with Wellness Center staff, played a game of bat ball and listened to a rousing motivational speech by Head Men’s Soccer Coach Sean Holmes while on the field in the middle of Drake Stadium.

“Jaynette’s commitment to reward 5^th graders for their academic accomplishments with a day at Drake is commendable and one that we support fully,” says Dygert. “Drake staff in wellness, athletics and admissions worked together to make sure the day was one that would inspire and reward the students. Who knows? Maybe one of these students will enter as a new student in 2018.”

When the four-year-old girl who was receiving legal and advocacy services at the Drake Legal Clinic bore telltale signs of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Drake social worker Annie von Gillern saw a teachable moment.

“This little girl had the characteristic facial features and behaviors, although she’d never been diagnosed with the syndrome,” says von Gillern, who provides support and instruction to the law and social work students who learn by doing at the Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children’s Rights, a teaching and community resource on Drake’s campus.

Von Gillern took the graduate students to visit the girl’s school, where staff related some problematic behaviors — behaviors that hadn’t been noted at home — that were hindering the preschooler’s success and development. Following a group “Aha!” moment, the students began navigating the subsequent legal processes to provide their young client with the help she needed: asking the judge for an order, finding transportation for the family, getting recommendations from doctors and more.

That’s the kind of interdisciplinary cooperation and problem solving that takes place every day at Middleton Center. The center provides a fertile, real-world training ground for budding lawyers, social workers, educators and school administrators. But even beyond its instructional goals, the Drake resource serves a much higher purpose: giving Iowa children a voice.

Righting the system, educating for the future

The Middleton Center, which was added to the Drake Legal Clinic in 2001, was created as a direct response to community need. Drake Law School had been approached by Iowa judges, lawyers and children’s rights advocates who expressed concern that the state’s children were being under-represented, particularly in cases involving delinquency, education, child abuse and neglect.

Drake responded by building a pioneering, interdisciplinary center to leverage the expertise of many to provide for the needs that children in the legal system face. Students also work to shape public policy for the good of children, particularly those in the foster care system.

The center relies on the talents of students in Drake’s law and graduate education programs as well as students from the University of Iowa’s social work program. Working with the student team are Drake professors; in-house social worker von Gillern; and the practicing judges, legislators, teachers and school administrators who also contribute to the process.

Ultimately, the center not only provides multidisciplinary training to students but also helps professionals grow in their understanding of the needs and potential issues shouldered by children in the juvenile justice system.

Making a difference in kids’ lives

The Middleton Center came into being thanks to a generous gift from Joan, ED’63, GR’77, and the late Lyle, LA’61, LW’64,  Middleton, alumni with a passion for education, law and children’s rights.

“When Joan and Lyle created the center, they knew that kids needed a collaborative approach where the focus was not on just one thing but on social work, education and the law,” says Jerry Foxhoven, executive director of the Drake Legal Clinic. “Then Drake took the collaboration the Middletons envisioned to a whole new level. Through the Middleton Center, Drake students are making a difference in the lives of kids.”

Foxhoven began leading the Middleton Center in its fifth year, and in summer 2011, the 10th anniversary of the program, he passed the reins to incoming director Brent Pattison. Pattison had worked as a lawyer and justice fellow with TeamChild in Seattle before serving a stint as a civil litigator.

“Part of what excites me about Middleton is getting back to doing work that really matters to me,” says Pattison. “Before I went to law school, I taught special education in Baton Rouge. I learned really quickly the problems that big, urban schools have and some of the inequities that are part of public school systems. And I learned that one way to address problems for kids was advocating for their legal rights. It was partly my experience as a teacher that led me to go to law school.”

The law students who serve at Middleton commit to do so for a year (the typical law clinic commitment is one semester), as consistency and continuity are in the best interest of their young clients. In addition to providing a valuable service, the students gain solid experience in lawyering  by going to court, reading legal documents, working with witnesses and leading cross examination. In addition, they also pick up the soft skills that can spell the difference between a competent lawyer and an outstanding one.

“Many of the kids we work with don’t have a lot of experience in trusting relationships with adults,” says Pattison. “They’ve been let down a lot. Building appropriate relationships and trust to advocate for what these kids want and what they need is a huge part of the work we do, and of what the students learn.”

Student finds passion for juvenile law

When Lynn Poschner, LW’07, was seeking an experience at the Drake Law Clinic while she was a student at Drake, the Middleton Center was not her preference.

“At first I wasn’t happy about it — I had requested to be put into the general law clinic,” recalls Poschner with a laugh. “But today, as a result, juvenile law is a large part of my practice by choice.”

The Drake alumna is now a lawyer with Borseth Law Office in Altoona, IA, practicing primarily in the areas of family, juvenile and criminal law. It was during her time at Drake, spent serving clients at the Middleton Center, that she discovered a passion for practicing law for the benefit of children and their families.

“I like the collaboration that’s required — conducting family team meetings and working to arrive at solutions together. It’s a more creative approach,” says Poschner. “And by the time I graduated, I already felt like I had a leg up in the field.”

Her time at the Middleton Center, she says, gave her an opportunity to immediately practice what she was learning. In addition to poring over files and preparing for hearings, she met with clients in group settings, at their homes and in foster care; attended hearings; and represented her clients in meetings with the Department of Human Services.

“My clients looked to me as their attorney — anything a practicing attorney would have done to represent the child was what I did,” says Poschner. “It was certainly the best learning experience I had in law school. I think so highly of Middleton and the opportunity I had there.”

Changing the face of juvenile court, foster care

As law students learn to navigate Iowa’s juvenile court system, the children and families whose lives are affected by it benefit greatly.

“There really was never any collaboration in juvenile court before Middleton Center,” says Foxhoven. “The system was operating in silos. What we’re doing here has changed everything.”

The work of student advocates and interdisciplinary collaborators not only makes a difference in outcomes for kids dealing with situations of physical abuse, neglect, substance abuse or delinquency; it has also resulted in systemic change through Middleton Center’s mission to promote legislation to help children in foster care.

This kind of meaningful change is being made possible through Drake Law’s work with a statewide foster care youth program — previously called Elevate, now known as Achieving Maximum Potential, or AMP.

“We thought we should have the kids decide what needed to be changed and treat these kids in the foster system as constituents,” says Foxhoven. “There was resistance at first — some thought that the kids would ask for frivolous things. But that didn’t happen at all. We wanted to teach kids that you don’t have to just put up with it if the system isn’t working.”

Drake Law students work with foster care kids to write legislation, and then find sponsors and lobby for bill passage. The first law to emerge from this alliance of Drake students and foster kids mandated that siblings who are placed in different homes have the right to see each other.

“Kids from Elevate who helped work on the bill were present for its signing, and the senate floor applauded,” recalls Foxhoven. “One legislator looked at the kids and stated that he’d never been so proud of a piece of legislation.” Other important laws have followed — giving foster kids the right to go to court and to be in meetings where their future is discussed.

Working together in a non-adversarial way

Lawyers and social workers often work in an environment where their goals are seen as being at odds. But the relationship between the two doesn’t have to be that way, says von Gillern.

She speaks from the unique perspective of someone who has respect for — and background in — both fields: Von Gillern is in her sixth year as a social worker at Drake but is in her fourth year as a part-time Drake Law student, scheduled to graduate in May 2013.

“Middleton provides a great model of how lawyers, social workers and educators can work together in a non-adversarial way,” says von Gillern. She imparts social work knowledge and skills to Drake Law students, educating them on child welfare policies, steps for accessing services and child development as well as issues of therapy, substance abuse and mental health.

“I don’t lecture, but the teaching happens as we go through real cases,” she says. “We work together to collect and interpret documents and put together the pieces of why a development or situation is important to this individual child.”

Adding educators to this mix, says Pattison, results in students who are better equipped to deal with the complex issues that plague children in the judicial and foster care systems.

“What we’re concerned with is much more than questions of custody and placement,” says Pattison. “Kids in foster care graduate at significantly lower rate and are overrepresented in special education. Educators who are specialists like we have at Drake, who can think through those big educational problems, are of huge benefit to our clients and are a benefit to our law students.

The result of all of this collaboration is a program that is poised to change the face of child advocacy in Iowa, Foxhoven believes.

“While I’ve been part of the Middleton Center and asked to be able to do something, the only question I’ve ever gotten is, ‘Is it good for the kids?’ If so, we could do it,” says Foxhoven. “That’s why Drake is such a cool place to be. It isn’t about how much it costs, what the donors think or how it makes us look. It’s about what’s at the core of our mission — doing what’s good for kids and doing what is right.”

Visit www.middleton.drake.edu for more information on the Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children’s Rights.

The full interview is available on page 6 of the print and online issue of Blue Magazine Fall 2011.

Photos from 27th Bucksbaum Lecture, October 25, 2011 featuring Garrison Keillor.

For more information about the Bucksbaum Lecture Series, a list of past lectures and information about the next lecture, please visit  the Bucksbaum Lecture Series website.