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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2005
Contact:
Gay Neal, Commission on Children and Youth
Phone: 360-337-4879.
No. 05-06
REACH for Success Parent's Fair Coming October 13
PORT ORCHARD, WA—The
Kitsap County Commission on Children and Youth, in partnership with the
Kitsap Parent’s Alliance for Education, will host a REACH for Success
Parent’s Fair on Thursday, October
13, 2005, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Bremerton High School Auditorium.
Speakers will include Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman and
Superintendents from Bremerton, South and Central Kitsap School Districts.
The educational forum will focus on "Parent’s Speak-Out on Education" and
will offer parents an opportunity to speak their minds, get questions
answered and seek help in regards to the education of their children.
Community resources will be available, and activities will be provided for
children and youth who attend the event with a parent or caregiver.
Members of the local community have increasingly become concerned
about "achievement gap" issues being experienced by some of our local
youth. At a time when technology is changing at its greatest pace in
history, our youth are not keeping pace when compared to youth of other
communities in the area of academic achievement. This problem is much
more acute for youth of color and those from poor economic backgrounds.
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education
Sciences, subpopulations that are especially vulnerable include racial and
ethnic minorities, second-language learners, high-poverty students and
low-achieving students. According to the Children’s Alliance, 15% fewer
students of color in Washington State are meeting basic standards for math,
writing and reading than white students.
According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s report,
Addressing the Achievement Gap, there is a positive relationship
between family engagement in their child’s educational experience and
improved academic achievement. When parents encourage learning at home,
express high but reasonable expectations and support their children’s
education, low-income and minority students get better grades and test
scores.
In an effort to provide an "open forum" for community members and
educators to collaboratively address some of these issues, and to
jointly develop constructive solutions, a collaborative team relationship
has been formed between the NAACP, Bremerton Branch; local school district
representatives; Kitsap County Government; local family and youth support
agencies; and concerned citizens. The group, called the Kitsap Parent’s
Alliance for Education, is working toward the common goal of reducing
the dropout rate and increasing the academic achievement of area youth by
enhancing the positive involvement of parents in the education of their
children.
For more information contact Gay Neal, Commission on Children and Youth at
360-337-4879.
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