Video Gallery

Parent Engagement September 22, 2023

Go to Video Gallery Added Sep 21, 2023 •

Copy this URL:
Embed code:	<iframe class="edlio-embed-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="360" src="//www.erusd.org/apps/embed/?v=361573" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Change dimensions

Go HD

On this episode of our first podcast, we are thrilled to have our very first guests discussing the most important topic for parents - parental involvement. Tune in now to hear their inspiring insights!

Show Transcript

Hello and welcome to the El Rancho, Leaders in Education podcast. We're so excited to share captivating conversations about our students, schools and educational programs offered El Rancho Unified School District. Now it's time to welcome our Superintendent Dr. Marco Villegas. Hello and welcome to El Rancho Leaders in Education. I'm Marco Villegas a proud superintendent of the El Rancho Unified School District and today we are going to be starting our first podcast of the year, looking forward to something dynamic conversations with some of our leaders here with our district. Today's topic is going to be on Parental Engagement we know that turn volume is one of the most important things that leads to success in students and I come to you not only as an educator but also as a parent and I can tell you without any I doubt that one of the most important things is parents parents do matter we see that in on and on and on and so again today we have some of our leaders like to introduce to you. Dora Soto-Delgado who is director of student Support Services who will be here today to discuss from her venue point how education impacts of Parental involvement and vice-versa we also have a director of Elementary education Gisela Castanon. Who will be sharing different ways that parents can be involved and we also have our Director of Special Education Mr. Dean Cochran. So welcome and thank you for being here with us today I'd like to start with an opening question if you can just tell people that are listening you in a little bit about yourself helping how you role leads to parental engagement. So let's start with Ms. Delgado. Yes, hello everyone. Thank you for having me today. So in my title director some support services our goal is to always make sure that we provide support services to make sure that students are successful in school part of that though and one of the most important things is to make sure that we make the connections with the families. In order for a student to be successful they don't only need was provided here at school but they also need those supports and those tools and strategies that we use her school also at home. So engaging families and have them participate in everything that we do here with our students only helps us provide the success for the students as they move along through the academic years. And so Ms. Castanon I know from your vantage point that you work with elementary schools so how do you see your role in interacting with parental engagement. I'm going to have to agree with Mrs. Delgado, I do think it's really important the encouraging parents to participate not only in school activities but in their children's classroom at home supporting their education whether by helping them do their homework reading a book to them or just engaging them in conversation so that it can develop their language and be prepared for school and see that their parents care about what they're doing at school and other daily life so there's many ways parents can be involved with their children, and it starts off at such an early age and I think it's important for parents to realize that as soon as they start engaging with their children those are habits continue on through secondary education as well. Thank you so much and Mr. Cochran you work with a specialized group of students as a whole as well as others in the in the district how does your job work with a parent engagement? I think the unique part of our position as we start with students even before they start K-12 3 years old when we start bringing them in for early intervention services if they qualify and so members of parents in our role once they actually qualify for special education services are parents have a different level of Engagement as a member of an IEP team which means they're actually required members but also providing invaluable insight as to what's happening outside of the school day in their child's both growth pattern but also the one that's taking place so our process is a little more formalized in that manner but there's a lot of ways that you can get involved even before that the help lead up and support that. Awesome thank you very much and as you know parents are busy these days and so sometimes they really just can't get out to the school but from your vantage point what are some ways that parents that maybe can't get out to the school site what are some ways that they can be involved in the education of their students. I'd like to start off with you Ms. Castanon if you can share your thoughts on what are some  and parents can be involved if they cannot make it to the school. It's not necessary that you necessarily that they need to come to the school everyday but they could participate in the different activities that are school sponsored not only the engagement fun things like the fall Carnivals that are offered or the talent shows but in addition participating in parent conference is making sure that their child knows that there's communication between the teacher and the parent. So if something is not going is expected that the parent can say I'm going to reach out to your teacher and the child knows oh my gosh my mom or dad is really going to call the teacher and there's going to be a conversation going on. To participate in our back-to-school nights are open houses all the events that we have is so important because they know that the parents care to be there I know it's difficult I'm a working mom myself but being engaged in that way I think opens the doors for them to succeed in school. Awesome thank you so much. Mr. Cochran what are some ways that parents can participate. First thing is just having conversation with your kids you know the schedule doesn't sometimes our work schedule just life in general you have multiple kids or try the juggle other aspects of life just getting by but show your kids that education is important in that priority that you place on it when they know that you care about it and you want to know what truly how they're doing that really makes a big difference I can start with a dinnertime conversation or making time before bedtime was bedtime story books especially with all right with our younger kids just sitting down and reading to them and show them that reading is important and it could be a positive thing you can do together it makes it just part of your routine and I would say engagement with that routine leads on to as they get older just regular structure in the home where they have to go to bed on time to get up for school we find so often that we're so busy that if kids don't they come in tired or not engage or not able to focus on school and so as they get older I think we see the bigger kid they are still the same little kid in a bigger shell and so looking at the the younger looking at the bigger kids like they're those younger students and still setting limits for them whether it the amount of screen time, time to go to bed, making sure they have a place or time to do homework that really makes a big difference. I wanted to add right now that you mention that is a kids are students get older I've always found it fascinating as an elementary principal when there was a student of the month for kindergarten or first grade parents can fit in the cafeteria family members come to come balloons. In come 5th grade or even middle school the parent attendance dwindles and I think it's just as important for parents to support the children, to show that support from elementary through high school and even college for them to be involved to show that their parents and their family and friends are there for them and I know it's embarrassing for the kids but they say it's embarrassing cuz everything's embarrassing when your middle school student but at the same time they want to be embarrassed they want that limit set and it's good for you to be the excuse of the answer for them as well. So Ms. Castanon and Mr. Cochran gave some very good examples, what I'd like to also remind everyone is that when we talk about parent engagement where we're not only talking about the school environment but we're also talking about the home environment as Mr. Cochran mentioned and we think about the whole child and making sure that they're also not only academically well but but mentally well physically call that their needs are being met. Today and age technology is available so a lot of ways that people also stay connected to schools into sports and everything else is just simply through a phone if you have a phone you can go through either social media to find out what's going on with as Mr. Cochran mentioned the conversations with the students if they have after school activities if they're involved in a sport, go catch a game you know the weekend. Sit and engage with them and talk to them get to know them know who their friends are that also helps produce a successful student. And if you are not engaged with them they are engaging with somebody, and those phones can go two-ways, so I think yes use that trust but verify and you know don't believe everything your children tell him they tell you about us and we will believe everything they tell you the other way so it goes both directions we want to make sure that we're having that communication to open Communications with a part of that and really limiting things because kids don't know how to set limits for themselves we as adults have to do that for them. Ms. Castanon is right in that it doesn't have to stop after elementary school years because you'd be surprised at how important it is for even the high school aged children to see Mom and Dad participate in something or aunt and uncle grandma grandpa is something that they're they're involved in and how important it is to them. You know you are saying something so true because I think even as adults what we think about ourselves and the impact that our parents may have had on us and we're still living off of that I was talking to a friend of mine who's actually a  superintendent and he was telling me you know he may have a PhD or master's degree but the lessons that he remembers the most are the lessons that were taught by his mother and his mother had a third grade education and so when you think about you know the impact that they have in his case mother didn't have a great education but man taught us some life lessons about having integrity, being respectful, being on time being hard-working and in her case she loved to read and she watched, that reminds of another thing a saying that I've heard quite often you know don't worry that your kids don't hear you because they're watching you and you know what what you do matters so much it matters much more than we even think cuz you may not even be saying anything but they're watching you and they're doing what they're going to do what they see you do so that that's in a great reminder of that. Let's close with this, I know that you know as a school we we all attempt to do different things so if I'm a parent out there and I do want to get involved either a lot or a little what are some ways that parents can get involved in our schools here specifically, so we'll start with Mr. Cochran and Mr. Cochran if you can kind of take us there go around the horn in everyone and give your two cents on that. The first part is just the drop-off and pick-up the biggest the part of the day getting your kids they're getting up saying hello meeting going who they are being part of that community and having that communication so you know what's happening at the school site cuz then that drop-off and pick-up time were always so so early trying to get there but listen to what it what else is happening is a lot of committees there's a lot of things that can happen and you may not have the time to devote to every single one of those activities but pick one one thing that you can commit, to put it on your calendar, make a schedule for it make sure you time for that to show your kid this is important. Excellent well said, Ms. Delgado. Yes, staying informed I know a lot of parents out there work gets you know very difficult time these days to manage a household without both about or both parents working and I know from experience that you know I always worked and missed a lot of my child's events but I'm staying informed and connected communicating talking to to your children asking them them how their day went and then like Mr. Cochran said there are opportunities that will be available not only through your school site but maybe through the district or maybe outside agencies in the community that can help you with any skills or strategies or tools that you need to help you with your children that you can participate in that aren't necessarily maybe during work hours but stay informed call the district ask how can I help what can I do and Ms. Castanon, I think my colleagues have said it all but I think that's very important I think sometimes as working parents we think we can't volunteer in the classroom but if you send a teacher an email and say hey let me help you cut out the cards, or staple homework packets for you or help you crack some tests I just be making yourself available teachers appreciate it your kids see that you're helping the classroom teacher and I think that encourages that parent participation but when you mentioned Dr. Villegas what we learn from our parents and when you mention making sure we know what our kids are doing and who, who their friends are I thought of the Spanish saying or el dicho as we say in Spanish dime con quine te juntas y te dire quine eres. It is it so important for us to know as educators who our children are hanging out with because not only would impact the decisions they sometimes make at school but also at home and it can impact their future so I think it's great for us to be involved with her own children. Well said thank you so much and you know what this is were wrapping it up to closing our first episode but I think you said some really important things as a district we are committed to parent engagement we are committed made it to making sure that we have community and parent and family involvement into that and we have various different types of activities that are planned throughout the year. I know out of your office were going to have so many many activities and workshops and in really it's the idea of learning from each other we're going to have presenters that are expert but the experts really are going to be those in the room that share their expertise in their knowledge of what they do every single day with with their children but one thing that is coming up is coffee with the superintendent and that'll be an opportunity to have some coffee and some sweets and I think the date on that is October 12th in the morning at 9 a.m. and it's going to be I believe at Ellen Ochoa, we're going to have our first coffee with the superintendent will have those periodically throughout the year just so that we can continue to become engaged and we're looking for many different ways we can be engaged. I remember one thing there are no perfect parents. But there are a lot of perfect moments along the way that will make those lessons very very valuable and you got to remember that you know what sometimes we're not going to have that perfection doesn't exist but can we have perfect moments? Yes and can you enjoy them yes so this is Dr. Villegas with El Rancho Leaders in Education and a wonderful team I want to thank you for being here today and I look forward for us having more conversations about what's really important in our schools and that's our kids, thank you very much. Please follow us on Twitter Instagram Facebook and YouTube @elranchoschools

Listed in Podcasts

Video Gallery

Parent Engagement September 22, 2023

Popular Videos