School system wants to get parents involved

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

The school system’s professional and community development coordinator Bonnie Collier talks with PALs, or Parents As Leaders, at a recent meeting. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

If you want your child to succeed in school, become actively involved in his or her education. That’s what educators across the nation are advising as more and more studies show parent involvement plays a major role in the success of students.

It’s because of these studies, the Warren County School System has implemented a program called PALs, or Parents As Leaders.

Professional and community development coordinator Bonnie Collier, who is spearheading the effort, says the PALs program has a very specific aim.

“It’s really designed to improve and increase parent and community involvement in the schools,” Collier said. “Our goal is to have a representative group from all of our schools. And also from the various grade levels in our schools. We’re trying to get a broad perspective of where we are in the system as far as involvement.”

The PALs group meets once a month to discuss issues, exchange information, voice concerns and brainstorm on ways to bring about better communication between schools and parents. Collier says the goal is for parents involved in the PALs program to communicate what they’ve learned to other parents.

Even though the program is part of No Child Left Behind, which requires every school system have some kind of parent advisory council to help develop a parent involvement policy, Collier says the local school system wanted to go beyond that basic requirement.

“We, Dr. Hale, our school board, felt like we needed to make a genuine effort at making this important and making it happen for our system, so we have taken this a step further,” Collier said. “We’re meeting each month. We have a plan for the year. We really want parents to feel like they are part of the schools and an important part of their child’s education.”

Bobby Cox, the system’s director of instruction, and Sherry Trotman, director of federal programs, are also involved. Cox says parent involvement is a big priority for the school system.

“It’s of the utmost importance,” Cox said. “They’re our number one resource. The child is with them a whole lot more than they’re with us. The more they can be involved and know what’s going on in the schools and support the education process, the better off the child’s going to be in my opinion.”

PALs member Dale Stubblefield, who currently has a child in high school, says the program is a big step forward in improving parent involvement, but he is particularly interested in one area where he feels there is room for improvement.

“I think one of the biggest concerns for most everybody involved in this program is that once kids get to the high school level it seems like parent involvement just drops off,” Stubblefield said. “That’s one of the things this program is trying to look at. It’s a major concern for the teachers and for the students.”

Stubblefield says it’s important for parents to show an interest and talk to their kids about school, especially at the high school level, since it sends a message to students.

“If you look at the whole picture, a lot of parents have never met any of their kid’s teachers at the high school,” Stubblefield said. “If a kid sees that, then the kid might get the attitude that maybe school’s not that important.”

Stubblefield says this situation should be avoided at all costs because now, more than ever, education is important not only for the students, but for the local economy as well, since these days most companies are looking for workers with a college education and not just a high school diploma.

“The school system needs to make sure education is at the forefront,” Stubblefield said, “Education can be a big plus, or a big minus. Education has to be the number one priority for the future of our economy here in Warren County.”