Community Empowerment
A quarter of parents in the U.S. are concerned about their children’s academic performance -- whether it’s worrying about students performing at grade level, homework loads, failing schools, class sizes, or sufficient resources and materials. That’s not surprising -- because our educational system was built for professional educators with advanced degrees, not for parents and family members, and navigating it can be overwhelming.
First State Educate is working to change that. We engage with families, parents, guardians, relatives and community groups on a wide range of topics. Our work focuses on raising awareness among families of challenges in the K-12 public educational system, how their children are doing, and who to ask for help.
We support organizations that work with families to develop the skills they need to advocate for their children’s needs, engage in school board meetings, and hold officials accountable.
We also partner with local organizations and faith-based institutions to connect with trusted leaders, reaching families where they to organize parent power.
We use the power of social media to share news, information, and messages to help mobilize our communities for action.
First State Educate has adopted a hub-and-spoke strategy to ramp up community member recruitment efforts and engagement activity, including:
Cultivate local leaders to develop county-wide engagement structures that connect all school districts.
Elevate parent voices and support district ambassadors in each school district to implement locally driven engagement efforts.
Develop tools and guiding materials to cultivate community engagement.
