Skip Potts is walking across America to raise awareness about education in the U.S. Potts stopped in Auburn Nov. 17-19.: CONTRIBUTED
Clad in white New Balances and pushing a baby jogger, Skip Potts is trekking across America. He originally planned the trip as a way to see more of the United States, but sometime during his planning he decided to bring a charity along with the laptop, camera equipment and extra clothes he hauls in the jogger.
People for Educational Equality, Potts’ charity, supports community-based education programs. Their vision is “To assist and inspire community driven educational projects and improvements which are sustainable and can have a measurable impact on the schools or communities involved.”
Potts said while he was in Europe he discovered he enjoyed himself the most when he toured a city by walking through it.
“I’d go on vacations in places like Cuba or Egypt, and I found I was happiest when I was just walking around the city and seeing it.”
But Potts has more than just a vacation in mind for his extensive tour of the U.S. He is also working to raise awareness and money to help improve the quality of education in America.
Potts said he thinks the quality of education in America is uneven across the nation.
“I was lucky enough to go to public schools that were very good, but there’s a lot of really poor public schools with out-of-date books, sometimes they run out of paper,” Potts said. “And that’s something that I think people are going to need to take note of and change.”
Potts has been working to raise awareness by talking to people he meets along the way, as well as visiting schools and other educational programs.
Initially he was averaging 30 miles a day when he started his journey Sept. 1 north of Boston on Revere Beach. But because of an illness around the middle of November, his pace slowed down toward an average of 27.5 miles a day.
However, he thinks he might continue with the slower pace so he can enjoy the towns he passes through.
“I was really pushing mileage at first, and now I’m kind of slowing down and experiencing the towns I go through a little bit more and meeting people.”
Potts said he hopes to try to put a book and a documentary together about his trip after it’s over.
But while he’s on the road, he’s using the Web site pfee.org and word-of-mouth to raise awareness about the quality of public education in America.
“I’ve been successful in raising some awareness and a little bit of money, but not as successful as I’d like to be,” Potts said. “I think it’ll get easier the further I go.”
And as his trip is funded personally, he said all the money he raises will go to the charity.
Martha Cates, a teacher at Opelika High School, said she doesn’t think the problem with public education is necessarily a lack of funding, but rather the misallocation of those funds.
She said she thinks the earmarks that go along with the budgets are ridiculous. Cates gave the example of being forced to spend $200 on office supplies when the cabinet is already full of them.
While Cates is thankful they have enough office supplies, she said she wishes they could take that money and spend it on what they need, rather than being obligated to buy superfluous items.
While Potts was in Auburn, he stayed with Virginia Patterson, a sophomore in pre-graphic design, and her four roommates.
Patterson and a friend are registered on www.couchsurfing.com which is how Potts got in touch with them. Patterson said they thought registering with the site, which people use to find places to stay when they plan to visit somewhere and don’t want to pay for a hotel, would be a good way to meet interesting people.
While Potts was in town, Nov. 17-19, he was entertained by Patterson and her roommates.
Patterson said Monday night, Nov. 17, they went to the senior graphic design show in Biggin Hall and ate dinner at their apartment. Tuesday,
Potts laid on their couch all day because he was sick, but Wednesday he revived enough to go to a tea with Patterson’s roommate and her friend and then take a tour of the campus and town.
But around Wednesday afternoon Nov. 19, Potts started making his way out of town and spent the night camping on the lawn of a church in Notasulga.
After that, Potts will eventually end his journey at the end of the Santa Monica pier in March.
Patterson said she thinks it’s admirable that he has a dream and goal that he’s pursuing.
She said she supports his pursuit to increase educational equality.
“I think it’s only fair that if the government is providing public schooling, and if our taxes are paying for it, that every student has an equal opportunity and an equal education,” Patterson said.
