Our goal is to provide advocacy sessions that will empower parents to help their children be successful throughout the school year and beyond. These sessions are also designed to support family growth and sustainability. These sessions were suggested and developed with Parents Challenge parents.
THESE SESSIONS ARE DESIGNED TO BE A RESOURCE FOR PARENTS WHETHER THEIR CHILDREN ATTEND PUBLIC, CHARTER, OR PRIVATE SCHOOLS OR CHOOSE TO HOMESCHOOL.
These sessions are not geared to tell parents what to do, they will be geared to provide parents with tools and resources to make informed decisions regarding their child’s education that can be applied at school or at home. Ideally, these sessions help parents to ask questions, seek additional support, develop goals with their children, learn to assess performance data and develop skills to monitor their students’ overall progress. These sessions also support low-income families with financial and community resources.
Fall Semester
Orange – Tracks (must commit to the entire track to receive credit)
Date
Topic
Time
Session #1: Breaking Down Bias
Mandatory Meeting (All Families)
Have you ever felt like someone was treating you different than others? How about someone making an automatic judgement about you that was not true? For example, I personally have a deep voice and when I speak to someone on the phone who has never met me, they always refer to me as “sir”. Now, it does not bother me until I explain that I am not a man, I am a woman—and even after correcting them, they still call me “sir”. That is unconscious bias! Whether it is with your child, the teacher, your boss, or a stranger, we all have bias and we all have experienced bias whether we know or not. Join me, Dr. Regina Lewis for a two-hour interactive training on how to discover your own unconscious bias, what to do about it, and how to talk to others about how their unconscious bias has impacted you.
THIS SESSION IS FOR ALL FAMILY MEMBERS
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dr. Regina Lewis
Professor, Pikes Peak
Community College
Founder – ReginaSpeaks.com
Session #2: How to Prepare for Parent Teacher Conferences
Mandatory Meeting – New Families
(No Homeschool Families)
You are your child’s 1st teacher and research say that children who have involved parents are more likely to enjoy school, graduate, have better social skills and many more opportunities in life. This session is designed to assist parents in equipping themselves with all the tools to support their child’s education – Day One and forward.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wendy Birhanzel
Superintendent
Harrison School District Two
Session #3: Remote or Blended Learning
Mandatory Meeting – Returning Families
This session will help parents successfully navigate home learning set up, school grading and assignments platforms, and provide a checklist for students to keep themselves accountable as partners with their parents.
August 17th (Elementary Parents) – August 18th (MS Parents) August 19th (HS Parents) – August 20th (K-12 Grades)
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Lori Bitar
CEO
Academic Advocates
Session #4: COVID Homeschooling 101
Mandatory Meeting – Homeschool Families
What is our homeschooling culture? What should our homeschool day look like? What happens to our homeschool when resources and enrichment are now slim to none? Join us to discover how to navigate through this unusual season, troubleshoot the challenges, and gain fresh perspective for the school year.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Ralina Ankrum
Homeschool Family
Session #5: The Digital Boy I – Ensuring 7 Milestones of Male Development in The Digital Age
This session will focus on how to ensure appropriate male development in this digital age. It will focus on how parents should control, expose, and monitor technology for their sons from birth to 13 years old.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dedrick Sims, CEO
Sims-Fayola Foundation
Session #6: The Promise of Reading
Develop tools to best provide guidance to support your child. Children who can read, do well in all subjects in school. Identify tricks of the trade to help students enjoy reading at all levels – K-12.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Michelle Tucker
High School Teacher
Academy School District 20
Session #7: The Digital Boy II
Digital Boy vs Natural Boy: Age 13 and Beyond is a continuation of the first presentation from Birth to Age 13. We will continue to look at the dangers of excessive screen time on the natural development of young men into adulthood. Parents will walk away with a deeper understanding of how their sons develop and what they can do to build healthy young men in the digital age!
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dedrick Sims, CEO
Sims-Fayola Foundation
Sep 23rd to Oct 28th, 2020 (Wednesdays)
Track #1: Strategies for Success – Parent Session
(must commit to all six (6) sessions)
Parents did you know that children think differently from adults? The Pillars for Success for Parents is a program that teaches parents to understand and successfully redirect/reverse challenging behaviors by:
- Disengaging from the power struggle
- Establishing and maintaining crystal clear boundaries
- Learning behavioral techniques to avoid misperceptions and communicate effectively
- Empowering the child to initiate pro-social behavior choices by implementing the technique of “irresistible influence” to effectively replace futile power struggles
- Building the child’s self-esteem and sense of mastery by presenting the child with choices that guarantee the adult’s ultimate control while simultaneously empowering the child
- Implementing well-timed praise seasoned with sincere and appropriate empathy.
THIS SESSION IS FOR PARENTS ONLY
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sandra Kwesell, Founder
Pillars for Success
– Families in Transition
Session #8: Adjusting Our Vision for the Future
When a person’s vision is impaired, physicians assist medically, and teachers assist instructionally. However, everyone has been blindsided by the impact by COVID 19. This pandemic has seemed to have decreased our sight into the future, causing our internal vision to become blurry, if not completely blind. Join Dr. Regina Lewis, as she will facilitate a 2-hour session on how to adjust clearly, see past today into the potentials you and your family have for tomorrow.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dr. Regina Lewis
Professor, Pikes Peak Community College
Founder – ReginaSpeaks.com
Mon, Sep 28th, 2020
Mon, Oct 12th, 2020
Mon, Nov 16th, 2020
Track #2: Cooking Matters at Home
(must commit to all three (3) sessions)
September 28th
Cooking Matters at the Store Tour – Learn how to get the most nutrition for your dollar in each section of the grocery store. Complete a meal challenge and get a $10 grocery card.
October 12th
Family Meals – Learn to plan and prepare quick, budget-friendly, and chaos-free meals at home during this public health crisis.
November 16th
Snacking – Learn to make smart choices about the snacks we serve our kids and involve kids in snack preparation while everyone is at home
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Jessie Henderson
Care and Share
or
Thu, Oct 8th, 2020
(Pick One Session)
Session #9: IEP/504
This session will help identify federal plans that provide support for students who have attention concerns and/or who have been identified with learning disabilities. We will cover timelines, testing needed, goals for learning, and ensuring compliance from the school.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Lori Bitar, CEO
Academic Advocates
Session #10: Everything is about Learning
How does “who you are” impact “what you do” and “how you relate to others?”
This session will introduce personality and learning styles in relation to working with others. This information is helpful in building and maintaining relationships with others in your family and making strong contributions at work. You will learn various styles and identify your own style. After understanding your personal style, you will practice your understanding in this interactive session.
THIS SESSION IS FOR STUDENTS – MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
Bridgitt L. Mitchell, Ed.D.
Administrator, Professor and Consultant
Session #11: Math Resources
Math can be a confusing subject! This presentation includes resources for parents to support their students from elementary math through Calculus! Websites, worksheets, games, apps, and local resources! Amazing and engaged parents make amazing and engaged students!
THIS SESSION IS FOR ALL STUDENTS
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Karen Jordan, Math specialist Colorado Early Colleges, Colorado Springs
will facilitate Middle/H.S. students/parents
Academic Advocates, Elementary math specialist
will facilitate Elementary students/parents
Session #12: Emotional Intelligence for Students
Focuses on strategies for preschool through high school aged students to help families learn real-world strategies to cope with stress, uncertainty, relational aggression, and more. Strategies are researched-based and proven effective in the home and school environments.
THIS SESSION IS FOR STUDENTS – MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Eliza M. Love
Pre-K-8th Instructor – D-11
Adjunct Professor
Grand Canyon University
Session #13: How to set the stage for a lifetime of successful learning
Brain Integration increases personal effectiveness and gets the brain ready for learning. Discover the brain skills needed to learn and retain information. Because of neuroplasticity, the brain can be rewired to target weak learning skills.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Judith Hanke, Founder
Mindbuilders
Session #14: College and Career Success
The next step, college…then what?
Earning a degree or certification is a major step toward building your future. What do I do now? In this workshop you will learn how to find and land the ideal job for you in today’s market.
THIS SESSION IS FOR STUDENTS – MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Kristi Smith
Colorado Early Colleges, Colorado Springs
Session #15: Innovation in Healthcare
Learn about how innovations in healthcare technology can bring physician based, online consultation and monitoring throughout the US. Remote medical devices and applications can help Americans receive more accessible and affordable healthcare through telemedicine. This lecture includes education on telemedicine technology, video from experts, and policy information.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Josh Shi
AFP Foundation
Please be advised. These sessions could be changed or postponed due to instructor cancellations, school dynamics or limited sign-up.
