The A+ Activist

The Easiest Step to Becoming a Parent Activist

June 10th, 2008 Edit

You’ve made it this far.

You’re upset with the way certain policies are handed down in your child’s school and you are frustrated but beyond that you don’t know where to begin. I’m about to share the biggest and easiest way to become an activist for parents your child’s school. What can you do to make next year different? Better?

At the beginning of every school year, your son or daughter brings home a stack of paperwork 6 inches thick. You read through and sign what you must and toss the rest right?

Don’t. Look through the paperwork to see if there are newsletters from the principal, district or even your child’s teacher. They will be looking for help. Volunteers to come into the classrooms, into the school and do anything from working with a reading group or in the library to making copies and sorting and stapling.

I know it sounds like boring, mundane tasks but getting your foot inside the school door is exactly what you need to do.

If you don’t see papers like this or you get the chance to meet with your son or daughter’s teacher for the next year, introduce yourself, offer your cell phone or home phone number now and ask what help they typically need most. Teachers know what they will need and they are more than willing to get the parents into the classroom to help - even if it’s just to help staple and sort.

It’s a start.

Entry Filed under: Classroom help, Education Activist, Parent Activist, Parent Involvement, Volunteering, Volunteering in the classroom, advocacy, positive learning environment, public education, public school, school, school success