A Family Affair: Together YOU Can Make the Difference!

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Dalton State College

First Presenter’s Email Address

jejohnson@daltonstate.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Janet Johnson is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Dalton State College. She taught for twenty five years in elementary education and served as an academic coach for seven additional years. For the last six years, she has taught at Dalton State College. She, with several colleagues, works with community liaisons to promote literacy and empower parents to be active participants in their children's education.

Second Presenter's Institution

Dalton State College

Second Presenter’s Email Address

jmesco@daltonstate.edu

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. Jacqueline Mesco is an Associate Professor and serves as the Chair of the School of Education at Dalton State College. She taught for years as a Montessori instructor and has taught at Dalton State College for the last eight years. She, with several colleagues, works with community liaisons to promote literacy and empower parents to be active participants in their children's education.

Location

Session Seven Breakouts

Strand #1

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

This proposal is strongly related to the Home strand of Family and Community Engagement. This proposal describes an extension of our work with the local community. We have four learning academy sessions with approximately fifteen families, culminating with a related field trip extension. We have designed engaging activities which focus strongly on literacy, while incorporating elements of Social Studies, Science and Art as well. All sessions include the entire family and are centered around group tasks which require family interaction. Each session is followed up by a Bingo card of family activities and our culminating event is a curriculum-related field trip free to all families.

This proposal also relates to the Heart strand which deals with Social and Emotional skills. We have chosen to use the theme "Making a Difference" because we have deliberately chosen four individuals as our focus for each of the sessions. One session will highlight the contributions of Cesar Chavez, another Sequoyah, a third will focus on Frida Kahlo, and the final one on Ruby Bridges. These individuals were chosen because they represent different ethnicities and cultures. Each one of these individuals made positive contributions to society, overcame challenges, and made a difference in the lives of others. Our goal is not only to educate but to raise awareness and encourage others to take a stand to initiate needed changes.

Brief Program Description

It is time for change and we can do it together! We have combined literacy-based lessons with a sprinkling of other content areas and a substantial dose of social justice to create family learning sessions in our community. We provide four sessions with approximately fifteen local families, provide free books and materials, and engage the entire group in learning activities and a field trip free for each family. Each session focuses on a different individual such as Cesar Chavez or Ruby Bridges who overcame challenges and took a stand to make a difference in the lives of others.

Summary

We have had great success with our college-community liaisons in the areas of family education and with literacy in particular. We would like to share some of our latest work. For the last seven to eight years, the School of Education at Dalton State College has been the recipient of several grants. We have utilized this grant money to serve the children and families in our community. One thing has remained the same in each; we involve the entire family in each opportunity. We held a four-session Learning Academy at an after-school facility for PreK-5th grade students. Considering the need for positive attitudes and action these days, we chose to focus on four individuals who persevered through personal challenges to rise above and contribute to their community. We also chose to focus on diverse individuals as we wanted the ethnicity of many of these students represented. We provided books, bags, and materials for fifteen families. For four Wednesdays in a row, we led the families through read-alouds and family-based follow-up discussions, music and activities related to the individual on which we focused that week. We provided at-home activity ideas for the whole family, copies of the read-aloud and materials to complete all home activities. We were also able to provide a related field trip at the end of our last week to all family members who wished to go free of charge. Throughout the program we focused on the change accomplished by one individual and led our students and their families in discussion about changes they saw that needed to be made in our society and how they and their family might be the ones to facilitate that change.

Evidence

There are a plethora of research studies supporting the addition of parents to the learning process for chlldren. One of the studies that reviews innumerable efforts in this area is that of Dr. Frances Voorhis and others at Johns Hopkins University in 2013. Although agreeing that additional research is needed, this study acknowledged that many parents are ready and capable of leading learning activities with their children given the proper tools and instruction.

Similar endeavors in our community have resulted in gains in student engagement and an increase in MAP testing scores. Parent response to these endeavors has been very positive.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to gain information to enable them to initiate learning academies in their community.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to ask questions of the presenters regarding the design and implementation of learning academies in their community.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to view artifacts, photographs, and organizational materials used in the design and implemenation of a learning academy in their community.

Keyword Descriptors

literacy, family, community, learning, contributions, controversial, free

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-8-2022 2:45 PM

End Date

3-8-2022 4:00 PM

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Mar 8th, 2:45 PM Mar 8th, 4:00 PM

A Family Affair: Together YOU Can Make the Difference!

Session Seven Breakouts

It is time for change and we can do it together! We have combined literacy-based lessons with a sprinkling of other content areas and a substantial dose of social justice to create family learning sessions in our community. We provide four sessions with approximately fifteen local families, provide free books and materials, and engage the entire group in learning activities and a field trip free for each family. Each session focuses on a different individual such as Cesar Chavez or Ruby Bridges who overcame challenges and took a stand to make a difference in the lives of others.