““Our Future Leaders Begin At Our Future Leaders Begin At HomeHome”

“From The Parent Perspective: Developing Successful Parent-Community-School Partnerships” The Delaware Valley Minority Student Achievement Consortium

November 14, 2008

Keeping Keeping OurOur Eyes Eyes On On TheirTheir Dreams Dreams

Keeping Keeping OurOur Eyes Eyes On On TheirTheir Dreams Dreams

We have a vision that’s mighty indeed.Parent/student advocacy is our mission: To achieve excellence and succeed.

To rise ever higher and transform “achievement gaps”Into a love for learning on that’s on fire and never succumbs to negative raps.

Not ones to rest on our laurels or submit to the status quo,CALM upholds unwavering morals, empowering all to prosper and grow!

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. . .You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• History of the CALM Society• Values and Principles

1. Challenge assumptions2. Open, honest, and respectful communication at all times3. Make every situation whole within 24 hours4. With communication, all things are possible5. Focus on results rather than activities6. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change

the world.”

Nelson Mandela

• MissionAs advocates for educational equity, the mission of the CALM Society is to ensure that all students receive a superior education through parent involvement, advocacy, and community service.

 

• To establish a strong network of parent and citizen advocates involved in school improvement as citizenship decision-makers who are educated to navigate the schools for the best interests of all children

• To create viable and meaningful partnerships with all stakeholders i.e. school systems, community organizations, and leaders to improve our children’s education and eliminate achievement gaps

 

• Parent Leadership Development• Training parents as advocates to successfully navigate schools• Community Outreach• Academic Achievement• Equal Rights for Children• Empowering Women• Cultural Competency

• Choco-Latte Read-A-Latte Book Club

Choco-Latte Read-A-Latte Book Club • Students and parents meet the fourth

Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm, Willow Grove - Barnes & Noble Books

• Girls are segregated into three age groups

• Girls produce monthly newsletter

• Parents facilitate games and questions about the books to encourage the girls to be strong, educated, and confident

• Varied activities such as author visits, pajama parties, book fairs, and movies

• Feeds “the need to read” for these parents and students

Choco-Latte Read-A-Latte Authors’ Night - January 2008

CALM “FEEDS THE NEED TO READ”

Be sure to check out our

terrific newsletter on

THE CALM SOCIETY website

where you can learn all

about the Choco-Latte Read A Latte Book Club!

TheCALMSociety.com

Organizing parent field trips such as:

• DVMSAC’s presentation in Cherry Hill, NJ by Mychal Wynn on “Planning for College: Parenting, Teaching, and Mentoring our African American Males”

• Presentation by Beverly Daniel Tatum at Abington Friends School

• Identifying growth opportunities to enhance dialogue between students, parents, and educators such as the book discussion at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown on "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.

• Nourishing parent energy to volunteer as chaperones, mentors, and future members of the CALM Society

Parents As Leaders (PAL) training with new emerging parent groups such as PARITY ( Parent Advocates for the Radical Improvement of Township Youth) in Springfield School District

•All parents are intrinsically skilled and potentially powerful

•Aside from children themselves, parents are the most poignant spokespeople for children

•Parents are the first and most influential teachers

•Children do better in school and life when parents are engaged

•Change starts with passion

•Parents, indeed all humans, act from (enlightened) self-interest

•Parents come in all shapes and sizes

•Parents face unparalleled logistical challenges that must be respected

•Adults learn best in a community of interest with each other

•People are more drawn to the vision of a future they want to make happen than a litany of “problems”

•People remember stories

•The journey to becoming an effective parent leader is a unique one

Two AJHS Teachers

who pioneered the VIBE Program

were honored at the recent

Willow Grove

NAACP Annual Dinner

VIBE and IMAGINE students served as chaperones and were featured performers from

“The Great Debaters”

NAACP Youth Mentoring Program

Mayor’s Philly Clean-up Day – April 5, 2008

• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity

• Conference of Minority Transportation Officials

• Youth Emergency Service

• Salem Baptist Church

• First United Methodist Church of Germantown

• Mayor Nutter’s City Wide Clean-up Day

• Komen Race For the Cure

VIBE, CALM, United

Neighbors Clean-

up

April 2008

CALM volunteers are committed through:

1. The VIBE Program (Voices Involved in promoting Black Excellence) for boys

2. The IMAGINE Program (I’m A Girl Intelligent, Noble, and Educated)

3. College field trips

4. Community field trips

5. CALM College Scholarship

6. Fundraising to support these initiatives

• Challenge students to find their voice and life purpose by developing a positive self image

• Foster leadership development among African- American youth

• Teach self advocacy in an academically challenging environment and embrace one’s positive voice within the school community

• Enhance student academic achievement through educational goal setting, mentorship, service learning, and community service

• Develop strategies for peer pressure to effectively master conflicts and challenges

• Recruit and develop essential mentor relationships, speakers, field trips, and community service opportunities

• Garner parent support for program to maximize student success

• Develop parent leadership, advocacy skills, and volunteering for the school community

Performance by actor Danny Glover and director Felix Justice at Cheltenham High

School

March 20th, 2007

Black Male Development SymposiumArcadia University – Saturday, May 10, 2008

Dr. Alyn E. Waller Visits VIBE May 14, 2008

VIBE’s Stepping Into Manhood

IMAGINE’s Elevating Into Elegance

Muffins with

Moms IMAGINE

Style

VIBE and IMAGINE

PICNIC AND AWARDS

VIBE/IMAGINE COLLEGE VISITS

LaSalle

College

Tour

College Fair Field Trip

VIBE/IMAGINE Field TripsPower 99

HIP HOP Summit at University of PA

CALM BOWLING FUNDRAISER FOR VIBE

CALM College Scholarship

CALM awarded a scholarship to this student who overcame extreme adversity (in this case cancer, being labeled as “not bound for college,” and raised without a supportive father. In addition, this student showed tremendous service learning and leadership abilities.

This student is currently majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Tuskegee University.

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”Dr. Booker T. Washington

Tuskegee’s First President

CALM volunteers and VIBE students were part of the Urban Education Fund’s panel discussion on “Boys, Books, and the ‘Burbs: the Educational Experiences of African American Males in Suburban School Districts.”

“Regardless of where Black children are educated, they are subject to overt and subtle manifestations of a society which still bombards us with negative images of blackness. The assault to the potential of black male children is particularly rampant yet too often unrecognized by people who fail to notice the unintended consequences of their actions.”

Dr. Deidre Fambry, President, Urban Education Fund

Saturday, February 23, 2008

CALM donates needed items to the Laurel House (an agency which serves individuals who are subject to domestic violence) and supports its fundraising efforts

CALM participates in the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Race For The

Cure

Celebrate the Arts at Copper Beech Elementary School

• Nicole Wylie: Co-Vice President-Cooper Beech PTO

• Robyn Tucker- President of Parent Council

• Traci Simmons & Cakky Evans: Co-Vice Presidents PC

• Stacy Deshield: Co-President of Overlook PTO

• Andrea Lawful-Trainer: Abington School Board Director

• Avid supporters of the Abington Educational Foundation, Abington Human Relations Advisory Council, and the Abington Community Taskforce

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”Maya Angelou

Keeping Keeping OurOur Eyes Eyes

On On TheirTheir DreamsDreams

Keeping Keeping OurOur Eyes Eyes

On On TheirTheir DreamsDreams