parent ed event: thank you's all around

parent ed event: thank you’s all around

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I have so many people to thank for the success of Tuesday night’s “Successful Study/Homework Strategies for Middle School” event!

I meant to post this yesterday but got caught up in a lot of client work (including a 3+ hour fashion shoot at Bella Rosa – my first as the photographer… yowza!). Then, last night, I felt the sickness I’ve held off since Monday hit full force. Right now, I am typing this from a reclining position (dizzy from too much cold medicine); hopefully there won’t be too many typos and the grammar will be reasonably correct.

Speaking of grammar, it came up Tuesday night in several questions from parents who attended the event. We were blown away by the sheer number of attendees: around 200 parents and students according to my rough count. Being covered in both the Sunnyvale SUN and San Jose Mercury News may have had something to do with it but I’d like to think it was because the subject matter is so important to parents.

Before I get to a synopsis of the event, I want to say a few thank you’s:

  • Thank you, Brian Brown, Marti Coppage, Rebecca Kim, Julie Ludwig, and Jim Realini for presenting such relevant, interesting and important content and for being passionate advocates for making education our kids’ number one priority
  • Thank you, Dawn Bussey, for being such an enormous help: from set-up to refreshment serving to clean-up and finally for walking everything out to the car with me – I could not have done this without you!
  • Thank you Paul (my husband) for taking notes and helping Dawn serve the cake
  • Thank you, Dorothy Abreu-Coito, Ron Gantvoort and Sue Kranich (principal and vice principals) – your attendance speaks volumes about your commitment to SMS; having you on hand to answer audience questions was invaluable
  • Thank you, Dr. Benjamin Picard – your attendance at all our parent education events sends the strongest message that our Superintendent is a caring and committed partner in fostering quality education for Sunnyvale schools (everyone, please vote “Yes!” on Measure B)
  • Thank you to everyone who attended and who will hopefully take my post-event survey to give us feedback on the event!
  • Thank you to the darling Leadership students for hand writing and illustrating each teacher’s ‘Top 5 Tips’ list in such a charming manner – those posterboards are definite keepsakes!
  • Thank you to Manny Mariscal, manager at the Starbucks on Fremont and Mary, for inquiring about our event when I stopped by for gift cards and offering to help (he is responsible for the complimentary Starbucks coffee we enjoyed!)
  • Thank you to Molly and Jenel at Nothing Bundt Cakes for your enthusiasm and words of support – it is so fun to treat our panelists to your delicious mini bundt cakes (and I wildly underestimated the size of our audience and thus did not have enough dessert!)

The panel discussion took about 15-20 minutes. Each teacher presented his or her “Top 5″ tips for approaching homework and studying in middle school. Then, the floor was opened to the audience for questions. I was very pleased by how well the teachers responded and how comprehensively they tried to answer questions. Dorothy and Sue chimed in as well; Dorothy is very qualified to answer questions pertaining to high school readiness – before coming to SMS, she was the principal at a local high school.

    If you’re curious about each teacher’s “Top 5″ tips, here they are:

    Moderator = Brian Brown

    Rebecca Kim  (6th Grade)  MATH

    1. Show your work all the time, all the work.
    2. Take notes well in class.
    3. Ask for help as soon as you need it.
    4. Math is like sports. You have to practice daily to get better.
    5. Try to do all the homework problems.

    Julie Ludwig (7th Grade)  SOCIAL STUDIES/SCIENCE

    1. Do things in moderation — it is just middle school. Have balance in your life!
    2. Don’t eat cocoa puffs for breakfast.  Feed the kids a good meal.
    3. Be kind to everyone.
    4. Be prepared for school (know the teachers’ policies — all teachers have different policies).
    5. Homework is for the children, not for you. Let the kids do their own work. 

    Marti Coppage (6th grade)  LANGUAGE ARTS

    1. Read. Reading helps you build a complex schema (organizational system in your brain). 
    2. Read. Reading builds your vocabulary. The more you read, the more you learn. 
    3. Read. Reading fuels your imagination. 
    4. Read. Reading is fun.
    5. Read. Reading helps you make decisions for yourself. 

    Jim Realini (8th Grade)   LEADERSHIP

    1. Put school first. Every day. 
    2. You are all going to high school.
    3. Due date does not equal “do” date.
    4. Read a lot each day: newspaper, video game manuals, magazines, books.
    5. Write 500 words every day. 100 words in 5 minutes: letter, blog, journal, etc.

    The full handout notes will be posted soon on my website (and on the Sunnyvale Middle School website). In the interim, here is the page on my site where you can find many articles or notes on parenting:

    http://dirtandsunshine.com/articles.html