I have been asked by my director to begin a parents organization for high school students. I am a Pre-College Advisor(guidance counselor) for an Upward Bound Program at a community college. We have parents and teachers who really want to get involved and help the students to obtain there goals and stay focused. Even though these students are in high school they still need that parent involved in their daily activities and lives. Where do I began? Please put me in the right direction. We have a total of 65 high school students. I have some ideas but, I'm a little hesitant about putting them in place. HELP!!! Any information would be greatly appreciated?

First, I would set a Pto meeting.Then, a letter to give to your students for their parents. When you have the meeting, explain what you need and want. Always ask for volunteers for a board.

My suggestion would be to do 2 things first: 1.)Put out a questionaire to students list some ideas, give them a chance to give some ideas back - you might be surprised at what areas they would lke some involvement or ned help in, it just may be a chat group to talk about what's out there after high school - someone to bounce ideas off of. 2.) Do the same for your parents or patrons - what would you be able to do, how much can yo do, someone may have a unique job or contacts to pull off something unexpected. Don't define a program by what you or a few might do. Things will change from year to year so give yourself some flexibility - don't make it so hard that no one else will want to take it over aftr you've gone. Let parents sign-up for areas & times they would be interested in, maybe some team leaders with the parents split up into the teams - when a teacher needs or wants to utilize a talent or need they contact the team leader and the team leader contacts the parents on the list that sign-up up for that. Good luck, I hope you'll post how it is going.