PARENTS

First, thank you for all the energy, time, and love you give to your children and most likely, to other children as well. There is a lot of truth to the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child". Thank you for the opportunity to be in partnership with your child. We grow as people and professionals from time spent with your son or daughter (sometimes we also grow a gray hair or two in the process). They are often our best teachers, bringing us the lessons we most need to learn. Your children (and you) are to be congratulated for having survived systems that aren’t always friendly, inclusive or adaptable to their needs.

Thank you for your patience with schools which haven’t quite figured out how to serve all of our young people in ways that honor the students, the staff, the families, the communities and the many mandates they are required to meet.

We still have the industrial, one-size-fits-all educational model in place for the most part. Know that your impatience with schools is well-founded. There are many people in education who also feel frustrated with the system as it currently operates.

Frustration often results in defensiveness and finger-pointing. Perhaps no one person is to blame or perhaps everyone is to blame; regardless, we are all responsible for the solution. Everyone has a part – citizens, educators, parents, legislators, leaders and a society that seemingly places a higher value on economics than on our children.

Many educators feel that the current system and NCLB (No Child Left Behind) legislation fails to recognize and treat the "whole" child. In an attempt to raise educational standards and close the achievement gap, No Child Left Behind seems to have left the (whole) child behind. I encourage schools and educators to reclaim the whole child, not just the mind that needs to attain reading and math scores. Our young people are continually developing and evolving – mind, body and spirit – all of which need to be considered in the educational process.

Your child is valuable. No matter whether your son or daughter has special needs, risk factors, legal involvement, etc., they also have strengths, gifts, talents, experience and wisdom. Your son or daughter deserves to have those parts recognized, acknowledged and utilized in school and our communities. It is for families, educators and community members to kindle and grow those aspects of your child. The impact of growing the very best in each of our youth is far-reaching and benefits us all. Most importantly, young people get to experience what it is like to grow up in a society that values them for them, beyond their many challenges and responses to an ineffective system.

AT HOME

	Encourage or help your child to self-identify their gifts and strengths and help put them to use.
	Engage your child in decision-making, minor decisions the younger they are and more important ones the older they are.
	Volunteer together; model how your child can make a difference in the world, no matter their age or their contribution.
	Recognize efforts; celebrate small and big achievements

IN SCHOOL & COMMUNITY

	Ask to have your child’s positive attributes recognized and utilized within school and community.
	Ask the school what activities or classes they have to "grow" and utilize your child’s strengths and talents. Service learning and leadership activities or classes are very effective ways to do this. Ask that their involvement in these not be contingent upon performance in other areas. For some students, these classes or activities are the only ways and places they get to experience their "wholeness", have opportunities to "act" on their world and experience the satisfaction of knowing they made a real difference.
	Ask your schools and communities how they promote youth voice and action, and if the most underrepresented and most undervalued youth are at the table, even if it takes additional support and resources to bring and keep them there.
	Know who is in your child’s fan club at school and the community - ask them to help advocate, to "stand with" your child. If there doesn’t appear to be anyone, ask a friend, an advocacy organization.
	Let people know when they have been of help to your or your child (appreciation builds trust and bridges)