Latest News from NH State PIRC
PIC Volunteers Celebrated on April 21
It was a cool drizzly evening outside, but inside there was a warm glow of gratitude and thankfulness as the Parent Information Center recently held its first Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at the NH Audubon’s McLane Center in Concord NH. Celebrating the work of the Board of Directors, Volunteer Advocates and Let’s Read Together early literacy volunteers, Heather Thalheimer, Executive Director welcomed the nearly 50 attendees with distinctive Lindt chocolate-filled goblets as she recognized each volunteer’s unique contribution to assisting the agency with supporting educational achievement for NH families.
Volunteers enjoyed a catered Italian buffet from the Common Man, and an inspiring talk from Lewis Feldstein, President of the NH Charitable Foundation (and former wine steward to John Wayne). Lew referred to the volunteers as the real supermodels of our times — models who are not grounded in their own image and needs but in serving others and sharing their talents, passion and most importantly time.
Each volunteer attending was recognized with a certificate of appreciation and long-stemmed rose before the Harvard Din & Tonics, Harvard University's signature all-male a cappella singing group, entertained attendees. Performing in white tie, tails, and lime green socks, they created one of the evening’s highlights by inviting John-Michael Dumais, NH PIRC Director and an original Din and Tonic member, to join the group for a snappy rendition of Shboom Shboom.
We wish to thank again all of our volunteers for the extraordinary work you do, without which we could not be nearly as effective as an organization. You truly are making a difference to families in NH.
P4E Conference a Success!
New! Click here for slideshow.
On March 21, 2009, over 180 people attended the second annual Partnerships for Education Conference at Southern NH University. Participants were nearly unanimous in their praise for the keynote address of Dr. Steven Constantino of Family Friendly Schools. Dr. Constantino shared from his personal experience as principal of one of the lowest-performing high schools in Virginia, and with humorous anecdotes told the story of how he helped turn the school around through a vigorous program of reaching out to families.
Following the keynote, Dr. Constantino offered more details on family engagement in his breakout session, “Family Engagement in Middle and High School: A Proven Path to Achievement for All.” Other breakout sessions that day included:
- Moving from High Schools to Learning Communities: New Hampshire’s Vision for Educational Redesign
- Supporting English Language Learners: Increasing and Sustaining Family Involvement in Ethnic Communities
- Partnerships for Student Success (P4SS): A Practical Guide to Partnerships in Action - including Special Education
- Creating Agreement: Effectively Solving Problems in Special Education
- Why Homework? New Perspectives...Getting it Right!!
- Fatherhood and Education: The Missing Link
- How Family-Friendly is Your School? A Review of Accessible Tools for Data-Driven Decision-Making
- Caring for Ourselves While Caring for Others: The College Degree as the First Step
- Life After High School: Successfully Navigating the Secondary Transition
- Let’s Read Together: Supporting Language and Literacy Every Day
- Bringing Policies to Life! The “Parent Involvement Policy” and More
- Towards a Statewide System of Support for Family Engagement
The conference program can be downloaded here.
Participants generally expressed enthusiasm for the conference. Here is a sampling of comments:
- I feel that the conference gave information and materials that I can take to my school and use
- Wonderful that the cost is so reasonable! Thank you for the fresh fruit! Plentiful food. Good chance to connect w/a variety of people. Great choice of key presenter!
- Useful resources and material to take away and share
Opening speaker was great - I should have listened to him all morning - I would love to hear him again and learn more. I should have brought money to buy his book- I loved Steve Contantino. He is absolutely inspiring, thank you for brining him to us!
- Important topics. Dynamic keynote speaker. Good resources and references. Needed more strategy - how to. I am cheerleading and marketing and reaching out and waiting for results.
- Keep this going. Let more public schools know about it.
- Great Job. Thank you
- What a fabulous conference! Is there a way to have handouts available to be accessed online so they can be accessed regarding the various workshops. There are so many great workshops, access to powerpoints of resources would be great
- Great conversations. Great location. Great food. Next time I am bringing more people. Keynote was terrific!!!
Being able to talk with folks from all areas of engagement and to share our mutual stories was wonderful. Hearing that my concerns are like that of others experiences and networking with person who can help my voice be heard for the benefit of all.- Excellent, entertaining, eye-opening
- I love the keynote speaker!
Videos of the conference will be available online and for purchase sometime in May. Handouts from the conference sessions will be available on this website soon.
We wish to thank our attendees, sponsors, advertisers, and presenters for your support in helping us reach our goals to bring together a diversity of stakeholders to further the cause of family engagement in education and strong family-school-community partnerships.
PIRC DVD Now Available!
Parent Power: Supporting Your Child's Academic Success
Our staff has been laboring for the better part of a year to produce this home learning DVD with our video production partner, Visual Impressions of Bedford. It covers such topics as parent-child and parent-teacher communication, organizational strategies, study time and study place, and the study habit. Parents will learn a variety of tools for helping their child keep on top of homework, manage time, and enrich learning at home. For a free copy, call (800) 947-7005 or write admin@pareintinformationcenter.org. Or you may wish to organize a Helpful Homework Hints workshop (see this page for more detail) for your school or PTA/PTO, where the DVD is distributed in the context of the learning session.
On Local TV, too!
You can also catch this topic on your local public access television station starting in February. Check your local listings!
Sound (and Food) Bites from PIRC's Multicultural Dinner and Dialogue
Can you imagine hearing languages such as Zulu and Nepalese being spoken in New Hampshire? These were two, among several others that resounded through the basement-turned-banquet hall of Manchester’s Unitarian Universalist Church during the November 15, 2008 Multicultural Dinner and Dialogue. Conversations in Arabic, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Abenaki, and Swahili could also be heard among the white-draped tables topped with matching blue and white plates and cups and an added touch of daisies and sunflowers. Read more...
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