The Chalkboard Project says that it is "uniting Oregonians to make our public schools among the nation's best." One way they want to do that is by getting parents more involved and connected in their children's classros. Chalkboard's past research and studies have shown that children do better in school when their parents are involved but a majority of Oregonians believe there is "not enough direct parent support of the learning process with their children."
The Running Start program is designed to address this gap. Nonprofit organizations and schools can apply for $200-400 stipends (before 12/31/08) to defray some costs to offer 'trainings' to parents, administrators, teachers, parent advocates and support staff. "The aim is to educate adult leaders with a deeper understanding of the barriers to parent engagement and how to overcome them." Funds can be used to pay a trainer, fund childcare so parents can attend the session, or pay for materials.
Is parent involvement low at your school? Could it be because we parents are not fully aware of the impact our involvement has on our child's learning? You can help strengthen connections betwen parents and schools! Spread word of this program at your school and spearhead an effort to bring the training to a school near you. Here is the program overview and Running Start application (*doc).
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