Dawn Bading (left) of Kaiser Permanente and Senator Fran Millar (right) listen as CIS of Georgia President Neil Shorthouse (center) provides a thought during the roundtable.
On Thursday, December 6, more than two dozen working parents, government officials, business and education leaders joined Communities In Schools (CIS) of Georgia at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta for the first-ever Georgia Graduates: Parents Hold the Key education roundtable. The event included an active discussion about the important role parents play in student success in the classroom and how attendees might work together to support Georgia parents and their children.
Roundtable participants included:
- Judy Agerton (Regional Vice President, External Affairs, AT&T)
- Dawn Bading (Vice President, Human Resources, Kaiser Permanente)
- Lisa Abraham Brown (Director of Human Resources, ACS & Cargo, Delta Airlines)
- Kirk Glaze (Director, Community Relations, Coca-Cola Refreshments, The Coca-Cola Company)
- Erin Hames (Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, Office of Governor Nathan Deal)
- Karen Hampton (Director of Human Resources, Georgia Dept. of Economic Development)
- Donna Kosicki (President, Georgia Parent Teacher Association)
- Fran Millar (Chairman, Georgia Senate Education & Youth Committee)
- Tonya Poole (Human Resources Director, JCB North America)
- Neil Shorthouse (President, CIS of Georgia)
- Michelle Sandrock (Parent Engagement Program Manager, Georgia Department of Education)
- Jeffrey Tapia (Executive Director, Latin American Association)
During the event, the roundtable identified multiple barriers to parent involvement, such as access to technology and a lack of support from employers, resources that should be available to help parents get involved, including existing programs from CIS of Georgia, the Georgia Parent Teacher Association and the Georgia Department of Education, as well as ways the group can work together to help Georgia parents get involved in their child’s education.
Potential recommendations and solutions discussed by the roundtable included developing special trainings for educators and parents on how to work together for student success, a need for Georgia’s school system to create a more welcoming environment for parents at all schools and the possibility of leveraging corporate procedures and “best practices” to reach working parents.
The roundtable participants will reconvene in the coming months to continue to continue the discussion and develop a 12-month strategic plan.