Kennewick, Washington
New Places—Familiar Faces
Parent participation often wanes when children enter middle school. At Park, the ATP knew that if elementary students’ families saw familiar faces on the middle school ATP, they would better understand the importance of continuing engagement activities that benefit their early adolescents. The ATP conducted a session at the Orientation Meeting for incoming 6th graders’ parents to highlight the work of the ATP and the way they can participate in events and activities to ease their child’s transition to middle school.
The Park team worked with the ATPs at all feeder schools to invite 5th graders’ parents to the Park Orientation Meeting. They talked with parents on the elementary schools’ ATPs and those who attended ATP meetings to let them know that partnerships continue in the middle grades. They outlined how parents may remain engaged. Ice cream treats encouraged more informal social interactions at the meeting. The outreach effort reinforced the importance of the continuity of school, family, and community partnerships across the grades.
Healthy Teens
Park Middle School experienced a tragic suicide death of one of its 8th grade students. This mobilized the ATP, teachers, counselors, and administrators to develop Healthy Teen—a series of discussions on aspects of health and wellness for all students and parents. Last year, the discussions included over 860 students and over 400 parents.
In October, Red Ribbon Week sponsored by the National Red Ribbon Campaign called attention to ways to prevent drug abuse. Students were encouraged to “take the pledge” to not use illegal drugs or alcohol. They signed a large banner that was hung in the cafeteria. At a related Family Night, over 200 families watched, asked questions, and discussed a video on drug and alcohol use prevention, a presentation on How to Talk to Your Kids about Drugs, and a presentation by a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officer on drug and alcohol offenses and legal outcomes. In February, the Healthy Teen series focused on physical health with fun activities for the whole family that were easy to continue at home. In May, No More Stigma helped the school participate in Mental Health Awareness month. This included videos of school counselors talking about mental health and a related Family Night.
Healthy Teens is featured in Promising Partnership Practices 2016.
