Closing the Social Distance: Building School-Family-Community Through Webinars

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

PK Yonge Developmental Research School

First Presenter’s Email Address

ahill@pky.ufl.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Ashley is passionate about helping students and families feel connected and find success in school. She has experience teaching in both K-12 and higher education contexts, instructional coaching, developing systems of support in K-12 general and special education settings, as well as designing and facilitating professional learning for preservice and in-service educators. She has served as the Director of Exceptional Student Education, the Local Education Agency (LEA), Staffing Specialist, and the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as well as Title 1. Outside of school, Ashley spends time with her husband Adam and three children, Avery, Alice, and Abram.

Second Presenter's Institution

PK Yonge Developmental Research School

Second Presenter’s Email Address

bstevenson@pky.ufl.edu

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Bryce believes that mental health should be just as important as physical health, and that all children and adolescents deserve access to quality mental healthcare. He primarily uses cognitive behavior therapy and related modalities to help students identify and navigate the things that cause them distress. Above all, he believes that connection between people is a great vehicle for change and healing. When not at school, Bryce enjoys playing with his dog Biscuit and playing board games with friends. He likes to travel and visit National Parks all around the United States.

Third Presenter's Institution

PK Yonge Developmental Research School

Third Presenter’s Email Address

mschmidt@pky.ufl.edu

Third Presenter's Brief Biography

Madison received her Specialist in Education (Ed.S.) and Master of Education (M.Ed.) degrees from the University of Florida in Counselor Education with a focus in Mental Health counseling and School Counseling. She strives to be a passionate advocate and a consistent source of support for students at P.K. Yonge. Madison seeks to meet the individualized needs of each student through tailored interventions built on a foundation of trust and genuine acceptance. Through this very connection students can feel heard and valued, in a space where there is no fear of judgment or ridicule. She collaborates with teachers, families, and students alike to help promote a sense of community and acceptance within the school. Outside of school, Madison enjoys spending time with family, watching movies, or being outside camping, hiking, and visiting parks.

Fourth Presenter's Institution

PK Yonge Developmental Research School

Fourth Presenter’s Email Address

cchambliss@pky.ufl.edu

Fourth Presenter's Brief Biography

Caleb is a dedicated advocate for youth, athletes, and marginalized communities. He uses a narrative framework to help students understand their own stories and identities as they navigate life. As a previous Heavener School of Business Advisor and TRIO Program counselor, he has empowered and helped students find their voices, language, and aspirations. Caleb collaborates with all families so students are empowered to reflect, take responsibility, and have the tools to live sustainable lifestyles after high school. Outside of school, Caleb enjoys dancing, singing, playing sports, and doing tutoring in his community.

Fifth Presenter's Institution

PK Yonge Developmental Research School

Fifth Presenter’s Email Address

stheiss@pky.ufl.edu

Fifth Presenter's Brief Biography

Sara is a high school counselor with over twenty years of experience in the field. She has been working with both middle and high school students since 2002. Sara began her career in Gainesville before spending 16 years in Tampa. Sara and her family are happy to be back in Gainesville and she loves working with P.K. Yonge students and families.

Location

Session Three Breakouts

Strand #1

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

This presentation is relevant to the home (family and community engagement) because it focuses on how our school intentionally designed pathways to stay connected to families during the 2020-2021 school year, when families were not allowed to be physically present in the school building due to COVID-19. Additionally, this presentation is relevant to the heart (social and emotional skills) because we will share how we created connection that was not just one way communication from school to home. We attempted to meet our families where they were at and connect with them about topics that they were facing during a pandemic, not just sweeping the emotional side of the pandemic under the rug simply to just focus on academics.

Brief Program Description

This session will tell the story of a K-12 school that designed live family webinars to stay connected with students and families during the 2020-2021 pandemic school year. We will share the webinars, our reflections on the experience, and our next steps.

Summary

During the 2020-2021 school year, the world was experiencing a worldwide pandemic. Our school reopened in the fall of 2020 for on campus instruction as well as virtual instruction. The school environment was unlike anything anyone had experienced, leaving us all attempting to navigate school to the best of our abilities. To keep the spread of COVID-19 at a minimum, our school did not allow outside visitors on campus. This meant that families and guardians were not allowed to have meetings on the school campus, leaving a gap in our typical school/family communication pattern. Fostering a welcoming, collaborative, and open line of communication is critical, so our Student and Family Services team designed and hosted a live Family Webinar Series during the school year. This session will share our journey in creating and delivering the Family Webinar Series. We decided to focus the webinars on a mixture of mental health and academics. A sampling of webinar topics were: physical distancing wellness, connection building, self-care 101, building resilience, suicide prevention and awareness, anxiety and coping strategies, academic programming for the 2021-2022 school year, and how to help your student stay on task with school. We created a place on our school website for the webinars, created advertising so families could make plans to attend or listen to the recorded session, and broadly shared the webinars in subsequent family meetings. There were a myriad of lessons learned as we engaged in the Family Webinars. First, we learned that the school must deliberately work on collaboration with families (when there is a pandemic or not). Next, there needs to be a space for families to feel safe to ask questions and make connections with school personnel. Third, the school must communicate more than just information about academics. Students’ and families’ school experiences are made up of more than just their grades and coursework. Finally, having flexibility in how families engage in school meetings allows for more families to feel connected to school. Thinking outside of the traditional school/family communication box provides space for more authentic inclusivity and belonging.

Evidence

Licette Gus, Janet Rose, Louise Gilbert, Ryan Kilby, The Introduction of Emotion Coaching as a Whole School Approach in a Primary Specialist Social Emotional and Mental Health Setting: Positive Outcomes for All, The Open Family Studies Journal 9, no.Suppl-1, M3Suppl-1, M3 (Oct 2017): 95–110.

Elizabeth Levine Brown, Duhita Mahatmya, Colleen K., Vesely Home and school influences on the behavioral and academic outcomes of low-income children of color, Journal of Children and Poverty 22, no.22 (Feb 2016): 93–112.

G. Watson, R. Sanders-Lawson, L. McNeal (2012). Understanding Parental Involvement in Public American Education. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2, No. 19.

Jinjoo Han, Erin E. O?Connor, Meghan P. McCormick, Sandee G. McClowry, Child Temperament and Home-Based Parent Involvement at Kindergarten Entry: Evidence From a Low-Income, Urban Sample, Early Education and Development 28, no.55 (Feb 2017): 590–606.

Adams, K. C., & Christenson, S. L. (2000). Trust and the family-school relationship: Examination of parent-teacher differences in elementary and secondary grades. Journal of School Psychology, 38, 477–497.

Kay Sanders, Monica Molgaard Considering Race within Early Childhood Education: A Misunderstood and Underexplored Element of Family-School Partnerships in Child Care, (May 2019): 19–36.

Margaret Grace, Alyson C. Gerdes Parent-Teacher Relationships and Parental Involvement in Education in Latino Families, Contemporary School Psychology 23, no.44 (Nov 2018): 444–454.

Emine Ahmetoglu, Ibrahim H. Acar, Manolya Asik Ozturk Parental involvement and children’s peer interactions, Current Psychology 26 (Jul 2020).

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to understand a rationale for conducting live family webinars.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to learn about different types of live family webinar styles, topics, and strategies.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to reflect on possibilities for how they may be able to host a webinar to engage their students and families.

Keyword Descriptors

pandemic, family, community, virtual, accessibility, collaboration

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-7-2022 2:45 PM

End Date

3-7-2022 4:00 PM

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Mar 7th, 2:45 PM Mar 7th, 4:00 PM

Closing the Social Distance: Building School-Family-Community Through Webinars

Session Three Breakouts

This session will tell the story of a K-12 school that designed live family webinars to stay connected with students and families during the 2020-2021 pandemic school year. We will share the webinars, our reflections on the experience, and our next steps.