Parent University planning Saturday session
From
Jonathan Jackson The Union-Recorder Editor’s note: The following article is the first in a six-part look at Parent University’s third session planned for Saturday, March 14.
Parent University organizers are hoping their third planned session will continue the mission undertaken by volunteers to connect the surrounding community with its schools.
“We’re really reaching out to the entire community,” organizer Terry Kennedy said.
The third session, following the first in August and the second in November, will focus on various issues the group is hoping to address in an effort to see stronger participation in the education process by students, parents and educators.
At the March 14 session, to be held from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., community members can visit Baldwin High School to learn more about communication between parents and teachers. At Oak Hill Middle School, parents can learn more about the changes and challenges that middle school students face while navigating a major transitional time in their personal lives as well as academic lives. The Early Learning Center will focus on taking care of the body with a look at dental hygiene. Creekside Elementary will take a look at math, with educational games and activities that organizers hope will be tools used by attendees to reinforce material learned at school. Blandy Hills Elementary will offer a breakfast and presentations on literacy and fatherhood.
Following the Saturday events, on April 7, Midway Elementary will offer orientation sessions for parents of students preparing to move to the next grade level. Also in April, Eagle Ridge Elementary will hold its annual Spring Fling event, coordinated with Parent University.
The multiple events are the latest for the Parent University program, which has seen plenty of participation at past sessions with more than 100 people attending the second session at Oak Hill Middle School alone.
“What is happening is something that we anticipated later on in the program,” Kennedy said. “People are saying that they will take part in one program and then go to another to take part in that one, too. That is wonderful.”
In Parent University’s first session, parents learned about advanced placement and joint enrollment opportunities available at Baldwin High School. Parents also explored their own options for returning to school. In addition, parents learned about the advantages and dangers of unsupervised time spent on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Rounding out the first session was a discussion about the school system’s report card, issued by the Georgia Department of Education.
In the second session, parents got hands-on experience learning about college financial aid and scholarships and were able to take courses on Microsoft Word or Excel, plus earning a GED. Noted speaker Yvonne Harvey-Williams discussed child development, and Baldwin Superintendent Geneva Braziel shared information about Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as mandated by the No Child Left Behind act.
In November, Parent University launched the H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Parents Educate) Bus complete with a mobile computer lab. The bus was set up in the parking lot of Captain D’s and free computer classes were offered to participants. Captain D’s offered free beverages to participants.
This third session of Parent University is the first to engage most of the schools at one time and offer multiple events at different campuses.