YAKIMA MERO ADAPTS STUDENT 
PROGRAM TO TRAIN PARENTS

The Student Leadership Program (SLP) has been so successful, Migrant Education Regional Office (MERO) 105 in Yakima decided to create a similar program for parents.

Dalia Candanoza, the MERO's parent services coordinator, says parents were telling her, "You're good at telling us what to do but not how to do it."

She had worked for the SLP for a year, and even then, as she saw how effective the program was with migrant youth, she had asked herself, 'What about the parents?'" Ms. Candanoza says.

"Eventually, when I returned to the MERO, I brought the knowledge of the SLP, kept the goals, changed the activities to fit the new audience, and implemented the first Parents as Leaders Conference in conjunction with the SLP in the spring of 1996," she recounts.

Ms. Candanoza created four workshops involving:

"The conference is conducted in the same manner as the SLP," she says. "Parents are in small groups with two facilitators guiding them through the curriculum.

"All facilitators are required to attend a training prior to the conference to review every piece of curriculum and ensure everyone understands the goals and objectives of the sessions, and to receive effective facilitation techniques," Ms. Candanoza says.

In Session I parents are asked to make a poster using words, numbers, drawings, cut-outs from magazines, etc., describing who they are as individuals. They share that information with the other participants.

"This is an emotional time for the participants because we are asking them to stop and think about themselves, their likes, dislikes, desires, hopes and dreams," says Ms Candanoza.

"This activity is always rated very favorably with the participants. The purpose for this self-awareness is to recognize that everyone is unique and special and possessing of various skills and talents."

In Session II parents identify individuals they believe were or are great leaders and brainstorm the qualities these leaders possess. Later they discuss how they can adopt many of these same traits.

Recent conferences include parents in the Yakima and Tri-Cities areas.

The Yakima conference involved 27 parents of students enrolled at Davis High School. The Yakima conference weaved in information on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant awarded to Davis High.

"The conference gave them a greater understanding of the grant, and they were able to pick areas in which they wanted to get involved in the process of reconfiguring of the school," says Ms. Candanoza.

"The conference was very successful because the parents were able to share their thoughts and ideas about their involvement in the school, and also offer suggestions on ways to improve communication between the school and home," she explains.

The Tri-Cities conference was the MERO's first attempt at reaching parents of preschool children.

"We were also working with several agencies for the first time and establishing relationships for future events. It was a great learning experience for us and for the parents," Ms. Candanoza says.

The MERO had left publicity and recruitment to another agency, and not many parents showed up. But those who did enjoyed the experience and want to help set up future conferences.

"They asked to be involved in recruiting parents for the next event MERO 105 plans in the area. They want other parents to have the same wonderful learning experience they had, Ms. Candanoza says.

Ms. Candanoza recommends this project to other schools and educational service districts because of the impact it has on parents.

"The curriculum is especially designed for migrant parents, however, because the theme is on leadership skills, it is appropriate for all parents," she says.

The curriculum is written in both English and Spanish in order to give organizers the option to conduct workshops to reach a larger scope of parents.

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