Couple creates classes to teach kids to care

Jacqueline Smethurst is looking to spread her wings.

Smethurst has been Head of School at Sage Hill School in Newport Coast for the last 18 months and leaves in January to devote her full attention to her mission: closing the education gap between the country’s private and public schools.

With her husband, David Drinkwater, the two launched Wingspan Partnerships in January, a nonprofit organization that will foster relationships between private and public schools with limited resources.

The couple, educated in England, came to Orange County from New Orleans, where they taught at schools hit by Hurricane Katrina. There, the limited education opportunities many of her students had was starkly different than private schools around the country.

In the short time she has been at Sage Hill School, Smethurst’s mission touched education in the Newport-Mesa school district.

“Fortunate doesn’t even come close” to what Wilson Elementary School Principal Candy Sperling feels for her school’s partnership with Sage Hill School.

For the last four years, Sage Hill students have been tutoring Wilson elementary students. The two schools’ relationship deepened with Smethurst’s arrival, Sperling said.

Compared to many public schools, particularly in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, Sage Hill School has enough teaching materials, time and expertise to share with more limited schools, Smethurst said. As simple a concept as sharing resources may be, it’s uncommon, she said.

“While we can’t change the world, we’re not in the national education department. We actually think that if we work on the ground with teachers we can make an impact,” said Smethurst. “Our passion is lifelong. We’re educators. We’re hopeful people. We always think schools can be better.”

Sperling appreciates Smethurst’s enthusiasm.

“This is an example of how we can each save the world a little bit at a time. How we can all make the world a better place,” Sperling said. “It’s the relationships between the kids that is the most valuable. It’s about someone caring enough. I want our students to see that kids can help kids.”

According to the two administrators, the strength in the program lies in its mutual benefits. Wilson students are taught by high schoolers, and the high schoolers learn leadership skills and gain an appreciation for what they have at Sage Hill, Smethurst said.

“What we want to avoid is any sense of charity or condescension. You know, ‘We have it, and you don’t have it. Let’s raise some money and give it to them,’” Smethurst said. “As the needs get identified, we’ll figure out how to address that respectfully. It really is based on a partnership, not the haves and have-nots.”

Sage Hill students also work with students at Killybrooke Elementary School and El Sol Charter School in Santa Ana.

Sperling struggled to adequately explain the partnership.

“’Effective’ isn’t the right word. I think it’s very ... meaningful,” she said. “It has an impact on kids. That impact goes beyond the classroom. It’s inspiring.”

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].