Back Row (L to R): Kim McCarthy, Keri Crocker, Darla Dobert, Natalie Morris,
Amy Johnston (Principal), Rachel Brakensiek, Angelique Williams, Michelle Shurtliff, Amy Koehler.
Front Row (L to R): Judy Crosno, Laurie Holder (co-chair), Sandy Pizzo, Trish Perkins,
Nancy VanDenbosch, Rise DeCrescenzo (chair).
Meet the Challenge to Involve More Families: Adopt-a-Team
Teamwork makes Francis Howell Middle School a friendlier place. The school serves over 800 students, and includes many families where both parents are employed. This makes volunteering a challenge for many interested mothers and fathers.
Every member of the school—teachers, administrators, custodians, librarians, nurse, cafeteria workers, and aides—belongs to one of six teams. To build and extend teamwork to include parents, the school conducts Adopt-a-Team, in which teams of parents “adopt” one of the staff teams to show appreciation for the hard work that all staff members do for and with students throughout the school year.
The school’s Parent Involvement Team—or PIT Crew (the Action Team for Partnerships)—created Adopt-a-Team to give many more middle school parents a chance to volunteer to strengthen the climate of partnerships. Even parents who are employed during the school day and who cannot volunteer regularly at the school building can “plug in” to support the school, teachers, and staff in many different ways.
The PIT Crew asked all school staff members to fill out profiles about their favorite colors, sweets, authors, music, hobbies, and how they would like to be acknowledged. Over 75 parents volunteered to consider ways to acknowledge and appreciate the staff with birthday cards, candy treats, holiday gifts, messages of congratulations, and thank you notes from time to time. These acts of kindness and appreciation were, indeed, appreciated! The PIT Crew aims to improve communications so that Adopt-a-Team leaders can acknowledge unexpected events in a timely manner.
Reach Results for Student Success in School: Improve Attendance
At the end of each quarter, the PIT Crew at Francis Howell Middle School identified students with perfect attendance and those whose attendance significantly improved. Students with many absences in the prior school year were given “attendance goals” and were identified quarterly for meeting them. The recognized students received a letter in their Character Connection (CC) classes acknowledging their achievement in attendance. These letters included a “mini certificate” and an invitation for the student to pick up a treat —Popcorn, Pretzels, or Popsicles for Perfect Attendance—during his or her lunch break. CC teachers were encouraged to talk with the students about attendance goals at the end of each quarter, when the certificates were awarded. Parent volunteers, recruited through the school’s daily ENEWS bulletin, popped and bagged the popcorn or purchased and prepared the other treats. They also assisted with the distribution of treats to the award winners.
Another activity, School-Friendly Business Program, also addressed attendance goals. The PIT Crew wanted to decrease the number of excused absences, usually associated with students’ visits to a doctor, dentist, or orthodontist. Via the ENEWS bulletin and the monthly Crusader newsletter, parents at Francis Howell were asked to identify professional offices that offered “school-friendly hours” for appointments by staying open for business before and after school and on the weekends. Parents nominated 16 area offices with accommodating non-school hours as School-Friendly Businesses and awarded them signs stating: “We’re a School-Friendly Business: Francis Howell Middle School Students Come Here!” Parents were encouraged to look for the signs and thank the business that displayed them, and encourage others to follow suit. The School-Friendly Businesses also were listed in the ENEWS bulletin, the Crusader, the school’s online MySchool newsletter, and on the PIT Crew webpage. The PIT Crew stressed that the school was not endorsing these businesses, but that appreciative parents nominated them to recognize that they helped students stay in school for class during the school day.
See Frances Howell Middle School’s activities in Promising Partnership Practices 2009 on the website at www.partnershipschools.org in the section Success Stories. Visit the school at http://fhm.fhsd.k12.mo.us.