Stand for children is excited to announce the graduation of 20 parents from Douglass Elementary from our first ever, Stand UP University for Parents. Graduation of these committed and engaged parents occurred on Wednesday, May 16th in conjunction with the Douglass Middle School promotion service. These 20 parents learned what they can do at home and at school to make sure their child is prepared for school everyday, prepared to enter college, and prepared for life. Watch a short news clip about the event here.
Stand UP parent Beverly Goliday adresses the audience.
Stand UP focuses on student achievement and the importance of parent engagement in this process. Schools, like Douglass Elementary (led by a reform-minded principal, Lionel Cable), understand the importance of engagement that leads to higher self esteem among students, higher test scores, and the understanding that parents are the first and most important teacher and advocate for their child. Parents committed to attend 5 out of 8 total 1.5 hour classes.
Because of our success, Stand for Children plans to offer Stand UP at sixschools in Memphis and reach over 450 parents in the fall and spring of 2012-2013 school year. Our hope will be that the engagement of our parents in memphis will bring parent reform efforts to the many state and district reforms that are focused on student achievement.
