ROME, GA— The bustle about the cafeteria at West End Elementary School on Friday morning Sept. 2, could only be described as a phenomenal outpouring of parental involvement as WEE held their first Spreading Kindness with Mom event.
Caregivers were invited to enjoy sweet pastries with their young Wolves as the day’s focus was fellowship and support. Interest and participation were evident in the line of smiling faces that wrapped around the room. Caregivers conducted conversations across tables, making connections over confection and the strong inclination to engage and be involved in their children’s educational experience.
“After a few years of having limited parental involvement with the pandemic, we’re so excited to engage with all of our caregivers,” Principal Dr. Dennis Drummond said. “We were blown away with the turnout this morning. We had a packed house and we’re just so thankful for that.”
The “Spreading Kindness with Mom” theme ran right in line with Kindness Week at WEE (Aug. 29-Sept. 2) as each day of the week held a different theme such as “kindness is a superpower!” and “hats off to kindness.” On those days, students were encouraged to come to school in their favorite superhero T-shirt and then an awesome hat to show their excitement and support for spreading kindness.
“Not only do we want kindness in our school, but we want kindness within our community,” Assistant Principal Lisa Strack said, and smiled as she added, “We want to change the world.”
As WEE focuses on a schoolwide mission this year to “See the need, be the change,” they’ve wasted no time implementing important opportunities for caregiver engagement in effort to begin that change at home.
Drummond expressed great gratitude to Strack and volunteer Parent Engagement Coordinator, Maribeth Futral, for their hard work and initiative in planning the morning’s event. He said that Spreading Kindness with Mom is just one significant part of many new items of involvement to come this year at WEE.
“We’re doing a couple of exciting things this year,” Drummond explained. “We’re going to have monthly activities for both moms and dads including All Pro Dad which will begin on Sept. 20 at 6:15 a.m. We just want to partner with our families and partner with our community because we know we can't do what we need to do without them.”
Caregivers were invited to scan QR codes placed throughout the room that served as a portal for parental feedback on how WEE faculty and administration can best serve caregivers as they support their young Wolves along their educational journey.
Drummond said the opportunity to receive feedback from caregivers was a vital piece of the event’s purpose. “We really value the feedback of our caregivers, and we know that we can always work to improve.”
WEE has seen the need to build and nurture vital relationships with their caregiver community and events like Spreading Kindness with Mom affirm that they strive to be the change.
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