Partnerships with Parents, Guardians & Families
- I attended parent teacher conferences for numerous students with whom I had been working. I was able to gather further information about students and their families, talk with family members about strengths and concerns, observe my supervisor giving guidance, and assist in developing interventions to further assist the student(s).
- I called parents or met with family members face to face in order to collaborate with them on concerns that either they or we were having regarding the child. It was enlightening to learn of Title X services, the 211 resource assistance line, community counseling services, and other community resources available to families.
* Parent/ Guardian Letter for Changing Families Group
* Email exchange with parent regarding student in Girls Group
- I assisted with Urban Gleaners' Food to School Program, a food donation program that serves many families in the school. At times, I assisted the parent volunteer with organizing and supervising the distribution of food or just spent time interacting with parents who were there.
- I observed community programs that work in partnership with the school, like Lewis and Clark's counseling group or the Kids Can Program. I learned how I can connect with such groups in order to establish partnerships of my own in the future.
- I attended the Kindergarten Roundup, where I met several parents whom I had not had the opportunity to meet previously. I had the chance to see how a Roundup might be organized, and observed my supervisor speak about her role as a school counselor to the families in attendance.
- My Experience with Big Brothers Big Sisters School Based Program required me to communicate with parents or guardians of every student on my caseload monthly. Because I was concerned with their child's safety and well-being, relationships usually formed quite quickly. I had the chance to provide information about community resources, parenting tips, and suggestions for advocacy for their children at school.
- As a Volunteer Coordinator for Community ESL Classes I was able to provide a need I had been seeing as a teacher. The majority of my students were immigrants and spoke English as a Second Language, and many of their parents were skittish about involvement in the schools. I was able to collaborate with a local church to provide free ESL classes to local parents. In the process, relationships were again built, and many families became more comfortable and trusting of fellow community members. I also found that I gained a deeper appreciation for the lengths these parents and family members would go to in order to support their children.