Parent Resource Center News:  Reaching Out to Parents In The Community

Freewill Baptist Church 2nd Annual Back-to-School event
Article Submitted by:  Venches J Papillon

In August 2nd, 2008 the Florida School Choice Parent Resource Center program took part in the 2nd Freewill Baptist Church Back-to-School event again this year to the parents in the Opa Locka area. We were able to provide 100 book bags to parents and children who attended the event. Most of the students were from low performing schools like; Carol City Elementary, County Club, Brentwood Elementary, and schools in the Norland area. The event was well attended and several community organizations were present and gave out very helpful information. Several parents were not familiar with School Choice and each parent received school choice information and a flyer with the locations of the all the Parent Resource Centers. We were invited to come to the church during the Fall to provide a workshop to parents about School Choice options.

Miami Convoy of Hope Unity in the Community
Article Submitted by:  Higor Moreau, Parent Liaison
Edited by: Venches J Papillon

On Saturday, September 13, 2008, the Miami Convoy of Hope Organization held a community event at the Partners Park in Liberty City area. It was a huge event which over twenty-five hundred people attended. From vendors, parents, senior citizens, students we had a lot of people who came to our table to ask for information and resources. At this event, free groceries were distributed; community resources and faith based organizations were also present. Local gospel groups preformed and South Florida workforce had a job fair. One we benefit we gained from this event was the opportunity to networked for the first time with other community organizations, such as ‘Stand Up For Kids’, an organization that works with homeless kids, and the Miami Dade Community Action Agency from Miami Dade county government. However the most important aspect was that we were able to connect to the parents in this community, shared information, resources and promoted the Parent Resource Centers (PRCs).

‘Choice Chat – What’s Really Buggin’ at the Eastside Resource Center
Article Submitted by: Lula Brown, ERC Director
Edited by: Venches J Papillon

The Eastside Resource Center (ERC) in Jacksonville, Florida held a ‘Choice Chat’ on September 18, 2008. There were ten parents which attended this wonderful workshop. Parents were open in sharing their concerns, joy and frustration on their experiences with the school their child/children attend, and  they developed action plans so they can be more involved in school activities.  They also want to do more  to promote excellence in our local school system and came up with a list of ways they can assist teachers and their children. They also talked about being supportive of other parents. It was a good beginning and a good networking tool for parents and caretakers.

Lillie Codwell, Parent Liaison speaking to parents

2008 Annual Fall Leadership Training FLDOE “Harvesting Leadership”
Article Submitted by: Lovely Payoute, Parent Outreach Assistant
Edited by: Venches J Papillon, Central Project Coordinator

The Annual Fall Conference for Community Involvement took place at the Safety Harbor Resort in Safety Harbor, Florida on September 25-26, 20008. This year’s theme was ‘Planting the Seeds of Success: Harvesting Leadership’. The conference was a venue for those involved in Community/Parent involvement in the state of Florida to converse, share, motivate and inspire each other. 

In the opening session, many updates were given and discussed in regards to the Legislation Senate bills and House bills. In fact, Governor Crist has named in November as “Parent Involvement in Education Month”. The Florida PIRC’s explained how they can assist our programs by trainings, technical assistance, etc.

The workshop topic included Class Faith-Based Training-Church Leaders Assuming Student Success, which talked about educating and informing faith-based leaders the essential role they play in the success of a child’s education through personal family and community involvement.

Another great workshop was Rubrics for Family Friendly Schools: The Missing Piece. The question asked was ‘When does parent involvement in schools lead to improved student achievement?’ The answer-When thoughtful application is given to how families are involved at the school level. The Kentucky Department of Education reports on the Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle, which defines family and community involvement specifically for improving student achievement.

The Missing Piece Six Key objectives are the following:

1. Relationship-building- School staff builds productive, personal relationships with parents of all their students.
2. Communication-Two-way information in many forms flows regularly between school staff and parents about academic and individual needs.
3. Decision-making-School staff encourages. Supports and expects parents to be involved in school improvement decisions and to monitor and assist school improvement.
4. Advocacy-For each student, school staff indentifies and support a parent or another adult who can take personal responsibility for understanding and speaking for that child’s learning needs.
5. Learning Opportunities-School staff encourages that families have multiple learning opportunities to understand how to support their children’s learning.