Module 2

For my first interview I sat down and talked to the coordinator for the school district in my town.  Her job is to work with school age children, children not yet in school, and families.  Part of her duties include grant writing and professional development for teachers, planning monthly playgroups for children ages 2-4 and their families, and literacy education for low income families.  She also coordinates with Easter Seals as part of her job.

When we met, we discussed the upcoming school year and the first playgroup after summer.  I had many questions that I felt she could answer due to the nature of her work.  One of my focus questions is how to reach families whose children are not yet in school.  The playgroups target children that are ages 2-4 and getting families to attend can be difficult because you can’t just send a note home like you could for school age children.  Her strategies for reaching families included signs posted at community areas such as the library, daycares, health offices, and community bulletin boards.  She also targets low income areas by leaving flyers in the WIC offices and at the offices of the low income housing apartments.  They also do send home notes with the school age children to reach younger siblings and to spread knowledge in the community.  She also mentioned that recently the school had registration and the district made a major push to reach all families and get them out to register.  Their marketing plan included working with local radio stations for promotion, the local bank for an iPad giveaway, the health department for free immunizations, and a local restaurant for free food.  She told me this to illustrate that you can get parents involved and reach them but at times it can be time consuming and expensive.

She also stated that her work with Easter Seals working on parent involvement in the lives of their children has helped tremendously in preparing students for school.  She makes house visits where she takes a package each time that includes one parental lesson and books for the child.  Programs like this are getting cut due to lack of state funding and she worries this will have a negative impact on student preparedness for school.

Overall, I left with plenty of ideas on how to increase literacy in young children, involve families, and reach children before they enter school.  I am pleased with all of the information I received and look forward to using her as a resource with my project.