Gadsden County Parent Resource Center Mobile Unit Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Article Submitted by: Katy Twist-Harty

On Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 5:30 p.m., I took part in the Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the new Gadsden County Parent Resource Center Mobile Unit at the school board’s Transportation Department in Quincy, Florida.  Superintendent of Gadsden County, Reginald James, school board members, Charlie Frost and Roger Milton, Grant Manager of Florida’s Voluntary Public School Choice Program, Yolanda Miranda-Hill, and myself were chosen for the honor of cutting the golden ribbon that signified and symbolized the importance of this pilot project.  Acting Executive Director of the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice at the Florida Department of Education Jean Miller and Assistant Director of the National Institute for Educational Options at Nova Southeastern University Nigel Whyte were also in attendance showing their support for this groundbreaking event, as well as over 300 parents and 50 children.

The Parent Resource Center mobile unit in Gadsden is a pilot program funded by Florida’s Voluntary Public School Choice Grant program through Nova Southeastern University to focus on reaching those hard-to-reach parents by coming to the parent, especially in those rural areas in Gadsden and in the surrounding counties. 

“Resources are needed in big areas, for instance Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough and other locations; however, they are accessible for parents to obtain.  Areas that are smaller and harder to reach to get parent involvement are definitely in need of resources to assist a child.  That’s why Gadsden was chosen.”

If this pilot parent resource center mobile unit is successful, the grant will fund an additional mobile unit to cover Glades County and the surrounding counties with the partnership of the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2010. 

The Parent Resource Center Mobile Unit features school choice information for the parent. Parent liaison serves the parent with personalized assistance by informing parents’ unbiased information on school choice and walking them through the application process.  The mobile unit also has room to accommodate a small group of parents for school choice chats, parent involvement workshops and activities while their children are engaged in the back of the mobile unit learning through leapfrogs, books and various other supplemental educational materials and educational games.  The unit also features laptops for parents to utilize and assistance with helping parents to access software online and ways to effectively utilize the computer for themselves and their children.

“I truly believe the mobile unit will bring tremendous success to our community and surrounding areas.  We can only go up from this day forward and never look back.” - Superintendent Reginald James