
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994                   TAG: 9402240387
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SALEM PTA SEEKS MORE FROM PARENTS

Parent involvement in the educational process is a hard lesson to teach, and nobody knows that better than Pat Fisher and her colleagues with the Salem Council of PTAs.

About 40 percent of mothers are not working and could be involved in activities at schools their children attend, Fisher said, but fewer than 10 percent of them are involved.

At one school - East Salem Elementary - these percentages translate into fewer than 30 parents helping with educational projects.

This is not a good turnout considering that the school has about 375 parents, said Barbara Kern, chairwoman of the parent-involvement committee at East Salem.

"We need to widen the circle and bring in more parents so all the work does not keep falling on the same small group," Fisher said.

In an effort to promote this program, Fisher's committee held an open house at Salem High School Feb. 17 to celebrate parent involvement and PTA Founder's Day. The Salem PTA was founded Feb. 17, 1897.

Fisher sees parent involvement as one cog in the overall program to achieve educational excellence.

"Parent involvement is something we're taking seriously," she said.

The Council of PTAs now has parent involvement written into the evaluation program of each school in Salem.

One way to increase parent involvement, Fisher said, is to improve communication between parents and teachers.

As a way to promote this, the PTA council will hold a question-and-answer session in March so parents can ask questions of school officials and teachers.

On May 3, Philip Trompter, judge of Salem's Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, will speak on "Educational Partnership." This will be at Salem High School at 7 p.m.

Another project to promote parent involvement, Fisher said, will be the establishment of a parent information center with books, videos and other materials related to parent involvement in the educational process.

The center will be in the children's section of the Salem Public Library and is scheduled to open in the fall.

by CNB