Parents, children get a chance to explore success strategies

College conference geared to community

Friday, May 2, 2008

The Maryland State Parental Information and Resource Center in Bethesda and the College of Southern Maryland are teaming up May 17 to present Parenting Matters: Raising Successful Children.

The conference will feature a variety of workshops for parents to learn how to help their children become better students so that they will one day be successful adults.

MD PIRC — a nonprofit organization founded about a year ago in Bethesda to teach parents how to improve their children’s academic performance –– received a U.S. Department of Education grant to hold conferences on the Eastern Shore and in Western Maryland and Prince George’s and Charles counties that are geared to helping parents raise successful children.

The free conference at CSM’s La Plata campus will include participants who live in Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert counties, said Susan Shaffer, MD PIRC’s executive director.

The event will include three adult sessions where parents will learn about a variety of topics, including cyber bullying and Internet safety, security and safety in schools, how to encourage children to do their homework, information on the Maryland School Assessment testing, nutrition, how to use the public library and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

‘‘It will be a wonderful opportunity for parents to increase their knowledge and meet other parents and educators,” Shaffer said. ‘‘There are also programs for children so the conference really deals with the whole family. I think that it will be a really enjoyable day.”

Youth Track is a program set from 11 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. for youth 12 to 18 that offers young people lunch and an asset development work shop presented by Antoine White of DANCE, or Developing Positive Attitudes for a New Coping Experience, Empowerment Inc. and a drumming session led by David Williams, Shaffer said.

‘‘The asset development workshop teaches youth how they can contribute to their family, home and community,” said Bonnie Elward, a consultant with MD PIRC. ‘‘It’s designed to build self-esteem and teaches kids how to be positive role models.”

Two of the adult sessions will be presented in English and Spanish, Elward said, adding that transportation and child care for kids 2 to 11 will be provided at the college’s Child Development Center.

‘‘We want to really reach into the community to people who normally couldn’t attend this type of thing because they’re working or can’t leave their children,” Elward said. ‘‘It’s going to be a marvelous day. The conference is going to cover a lot of topics.”

‘‘Everybody will be able to come away from the conference with some kind of enrichment activity,” Shaffer said. ‘‘We’re doing everything that we can to make is as easy for parents to attend as possible.”

There will also be a workshop for men only, Elward said.

‘‘We really encourage men to come to the conference and learn how important their role is in the family and the community,” she said.

The workshops were designed around the topics that parents living in each of the Southern Maryland counties felt were important, Shaffer said.

‘‘It’s a great partnership; we have commitments from the state, counties and the college,” she said. ‘‘Everyone understands the importance of the family being involved with the education of their children so they can improve their academic performance ... We want to build sustainable parental involvement until their children finish high school.”

The conference’s keynote speaker will be Charlie Applestein, the award-winning author of ‘‘No Such Thing As a Bad Kid,” Elward said, adding that luncheon entertainment will be provided by the Village African Dance and Drumming Troupe.

The education process will not end with the conference, Shaffer said.

‘‘This is not a one-shot conference,” she said. ‘‘We want to follow up with parents to determine what their needs are.We want parents to learn that they are the most important teachers in their children’s lives. We want them to feel like they are integral to what goes on in the classroom.”

‘‘We invite parents and their children to come and have fun,” Elward said. ‘‘The conference will help them put some tools in their toolbox to help their children really feel good about who they are.”