Parents as Partners

Cale Birk, Principal at South Kamloops Secondary School in Kamloops BC shared some innovative ways to include parents in school events, news and surveys. Imagine using Wordle to publish and broadcast survey results. 

There are plenty more new and exciting ideas so please listen to the recording to hear them all.

Dr. Debbie Pushor, an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Curriculum Studies in the College of Education joined the show to describe the courses she is running for preservice teachers. Dr. Pushor’s doctoral work has focused on parent engagement and parent leadership. She has lectured and presented extensively about her passion for engaging parents. The course is called Engaging Parents in Teaching and Learning and we know you will enjoy hearing the experiences of the students in her classes. She is using a "curriculum of parents." - a must listen. Chat Log

Amanda Henson, community manager at Parentella joined Lorna Costantini to talk about their private network and how it can promote positive working relationships between parents and teachers. Easy communications, quick and easy sign ups for volunteers, polls to survey the school community are some of th many features of the parentella network. Amanda took us through a tour of the network. Please watch the recording to see all the features for yourself. Amanda Henson from Parentella Elluminate recorded show. Special thanks to Kim Caise and Peggy George for their support of this webcast.

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Sheila Stewart and Arlene Morell joined the show to share their experiences attending the People for Education Conference as well as a conversation about board-wide Parent Involvement Committees and how they can network to support student achievement. Sheila is a parent of two teens from Thunder Bay.  She has volunteered in schools and on school councils at the elementary and secondary levels.  She has been a member of their district's "Council of School Council Chairs (CSCC) for 7 years, and was a representative for that committee on Lakehead District School Board's Parent Involvement Committee for 4 years.  She is currently a school council co-chair at the secondary level, and continuing her support for school council chairs as a coordinator of the CSCC network meetings.  She has also been an active network member of People for Education.

Arlene Morell directs and coordinates the Thames Valley Parent Involvement Committee ( TVPIC) since its inception in 2006. Her experience in the field of parent engagement and leadership includes 15 years as a parent leader both at the local and system level. As the chairperson of TVPIC , Arlene oversaw the development and implementation of parent involvement programs and initiatives including school council leadership development. She coordinated workshops, training sessions and conferences and developed school council resources Arlene also implemented a collaborative partnership with the Co-terminus District School Council and PIC. This partnership between the public and Catholic school board has realized many joint initiatives in a manner that builds community supporting student achievement,  This  shared vision for building stronger educational partnerships and communities has lead the parent leadership team \to jointly advocate for parent engagement, anti-violence/bullying initiatives, reducing media violence, children with special needs, mental health issues – and more.

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