Parent Volunteers Needed

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The news is good for schools where parent involvement is high, and the benefits for children are encouraging. Research shows when parents are involved in children’s schools and education, children have higher grades, improved behavior and better social skills.

When parents hear that they need to be more involved in their child’s school, the first reaction is sometimes a sense of guilt that they aren’t more active in the local Parent-Teacher Organizations.

Sale Elementary Principal Nancy Bragg says, “If parents are not involved we have to work a little harder with those children. Because we have to support them that much more. Unfortunately that’s the case sometimes, all parents are not as involved as we would like them to be.”

Decades of research show that when parents are involved their childs grades and test scores go up as well as graduation rate. But it’s more than just about the student. Changing the culture among parents that education doesn’t stop at school is also a goal.

Columbus Schools District Superintendant Dr. Martha Liddell says, “There are a lot of national studies that show that when parents are involved in their childs education that has a powerful affect according to the research.”

Parents must start getting involved at a young age to have the most impact. Sale Elementary Principal Nancy Bragg says, her school offers several workshops that explain to parents the schools objective. The school also sends home a weekly and monthly newsletter of what’s going on.

According to Bragg, “We try to involve parents by bringing them in and helping them to understand what’s expected of their children.”

The rate of single parent households is on the rise and prevalent in Mississippi. For those parents scheduling time to get involved can be challenging.

According to Liddell, “We want parents to be more involved in their childrens education and not only do we want them to be more involved, we want them to do very specific things to help them in our schools.”

Thursdays parent volunteer fair is geared for success offering valuable information and meaningful opportunities.

For more information on how you can get involved call 662-241-7400.