This post was written by Gwen Pescatore, a PTO president, mom of three, and comoderator of #PTchat.
Like most parent groups, we’re always looking for ways to get resources to our parents. At Knapp Elementary, one thing we’ve had lots of success with is our one-day conference that we call ParentCamp.
The conference is a way to provide lots of helpful information to parents at one time. It then supports ongoing conversations as parents and educators revisit these topics throughout a school year.
The goal is to bring families and educators together to engage in informal conversations that will help everyone learn and discover how to better support our kids. We think it’s really empowering to use the “unconference” approach (group discussions, not lectures) so people can exchange ideas as equals and really build relationships.
Here’s how we’ve made our ParentCamps successful.
First steps:
We start by considering what information we want to get to our community. We discover hot topics from talking to parents and teachers and by staying in touch with people on a regular basis. That helps us set up sessions that we know will be meaningful to parents and educators. The number of sessions can vary; in our book, it’s better to have three sessions that are really informative than 20 that are so-so.
To date, our most popular sessions have been Future of STEM Careers, Navigating IEPs, Supporting Your Gifted Student, Paying for College, Communicating with Your Child, Transitioning into or out of Elementary School, and any technology or social media sessions.
Conference details:
Once we have our topics lined up, we think about who would be best to lead the session. We think it’s important that each information session is informal and encourages attendees to share. So we look for session leaders who are not just experts but also good facilitators. It’s key that the leaders are able to create the actual content structure for the session and that attendees contribute information and ideas.
To find good session leaders, we reach out to local colleges, libraries, police departments, preschools, and businesses. We’ve had luck with local gyms, financial advisers, and pharmaceutical and tech companies. Keep in mind that students and parents also can make great speakers.
We also make sure to provide information on a variety of topics so parents and teachers will come away feeling like they’ve learned about a range of education issues.
We schedule each session for about 40 minutes so we don’t overload people with information.
Keep it low-key:
We make ParentCamp a relaxed day by keeping the atmosphere casual and interactive, providing a breakfast, and offering childcare to make it easy for parents to attend. At the end of the day, we hold a closing “smack down,” a time when the group reconvenes and shares takeaways from the day.
Paying the bills:
Putting on a ParentCamp doesn’t cost a ton of money, but you may need funds to cover a keynote address (if you get a big name) and food. So we have had businesses sponsor our events. It’s a great way to cover expenses so parents, teachers, and other attendees don’t have to pay. We found this pretty easy to do. We simply reached out to our community and businesses we had worked with in the past and asked for help.
Our ParentCamps have not only energized parents, but they have also built and strengthened relationships with our community and neighboring school districts. ParentCamps are great way to bring all stakeholders to the table so all involved parties have a voice in how to best support our kids.
For more information, visit the ParentCamp website.
