Parent and
Community Engagement in Education
More than 50
parents and concerned leaders, including Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Christine Fraizer, and Kern High School District Trustee Dr. Bill Perry, came
together on Saturday, August 29th 2009, to discuss the importance of
parent engagement in education.
The meeting
opened with an icebreaker asking those in attendance to consider what they would
fix in their local community if they had power—many answered they would improve the educational system.
The icebreaker
was followed by a speech from new Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Christine Fraizer. Superintendent
Fraizer echoed the concerns of those present and gave a personal testimony to
the importance of parent engagement. The Superintendent emphasized that without
the support of her family, particularly her mother, she would never have been
able to work her way through college, become a teacher, and rise to the position
of superintendent.
After the
Superintendent’s remarks, Andrae Gonzales presented facts about the Kern High
School District’s dropout and college readiness rates which started an
energized discussion about next steps. The
topic of next steps buzzed in the air over lunch as the participants prepared
for a group activity. During the afternoon session, participants were asked to
circulate around the room and provide creative possible solutions to the
problems which contribute to current culture in education.
The
discussion tat followed was lively, and positive energy of possibility grew. As
th meeting came to a close, ti was agreed that Faith In Action would conduct
similar meetings in the future, and an Education Committee was formed.
As a follow
up to the previous Parent and Community Engagement in Education meeting, Faith
In Action hosted the Parent Engagement meeting at Bakersfield’s University of
California Merced Center on October 10th, 2009.
Over 70 parents, students, and concerned residents of Kern County convened
to learn and discuss how to help their student achieve academic success. The
keynote speaker of the event was California State University's President Horace
Mitchell. He gave an informative and
motivational speech, encouraging parents to be involved in the education of
their students, and was available for a question and answer session
thereafter. This was followed by a
workshop where attendees discussed and planned next steps they can take to
improve Kern County's academic standing.
Faith In
Action finished the year strong with another Parent Engagement Meeting held at
Golden Valley High School. Joel
Heinrichs, President of the Kern High School District Board of Trustees, spoke
to parents, relating his own story of how influential his parents were in his
education and graduation from South High School. Again, parents had the opportunity to ask
questions and learn more about the climate of the Kern High School
District. Parents spent the afternoon
learning about and practicing relationship-building with their children’s
teachers, counselor, and administration through 1x1 conversations. Parents left energized, and Faith In Action
entered the New Year resolved to bring even more Kern County parents into this
important work.