Author Spotlight
Addie Moore
Glaring from across the table, East parent and Executive Director of the Sherman Family Foundation Joe Allen dove into the topic of teacher pipelines with his co-workers — his wife and in-laws.
Should teachers be required to go to a four-year college? What are other ways teachers can get certified? What can we do to help low-income students?
He lost his train of thought as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Hey dad, do you like the blue or white dress for prom?”
As his teenage daughter asked him for his advice, their waiter headed to the table at Jalapenos in Brookside, Missouri. Joe remembered that this was a family dinner, not a business meeting — they can discuss teacher pipelines later.
Weekly Jalapenos dinners are where the Allen and Sherman families have been discussing family matters from their shared foundation that supports inner-city schools to little league soccer games since 2006.
It can be hard to distinguish between family time and work time when all of your colleagues are your in-laws, according to Joe’s wife and Program Director Beth Allen.
That specific week, the topic of business discussion was the teacher pipeline — training, deployment and retention of teachers. The foundation spends approximately $5 million annually funding inner-city schools and the teacher pipeline, ways for people to become teachers through college or alternative programs.
The family prides themselves on helping give back to the teaching community as both Beth and Joe, along with Beth’s sister, Amy, were all teachers in their past.
“What an opportunity for two former educators to be able to try to move the needle to level the playing field for kids who otherwise it wouldn’t be level,” Joe said. “There’s so many good people in Kansas City trying to do good work — that it’s really inspiring every day to meet and talk with all of those individuals.”
Along with the teacher pipeline, the foundation provides grants for charter schools, early childhood and special education organizations, along with other teacher development programs in the area — awarding about 100 grants each year.
The grant money goes towards things like educating new teachers, tutoring and literacy programs and school building renovations.
The foundation was started by Beth’s sister, Marny and her husband John Sherman. When the foundation was created in 2006, they naturally turned to Beth and Joe for guidance because of their experience in the education field.
After their retirement, they both wanted to continue making a difference. They give advice to whom about if a school or nonprofit organization will use grant money in a beneficial way and whether the grant should be provided.
“[Having Beth and Joe] really helps us to ask the right questions to the people requesting grants and to know if the programs will really work,” Marny said. “They know everything from early childhood education up to senior year of high school.”
The main focus of the foundation is to provide equal opportunities for everyone, particularly children living in poverty, people of color or children with special needs.
“You should have the same access to quality education, all children, and that should not be dependent on your zip code,” Beth said.
Marny, Beth, Amy, Joe and John are all on the board of directors for the foundation. According to Joe, it’s difficult to keep work and home separate.
“You’re trying to make human life better for people who are vulnerable,” Joe said. “It’s hard to approach that in a purely logical, distant way. Sometimes it just carries over.”
They often find themselves changing the subject from debating who they wanted to win the next March Madness game to debating the budget for the next grant. Working together for the foundation is a huge part of their lives, and they appreciate the special bonding opportunity the work provides.
“While it’s hard to make money, and it is, it’s harder to make a difference,” Beth said. “I think that we have the good fortune of feeling every day, is that we make a difference.”
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