THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9410010122
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
LAURNA TAYLOR CAME TO the Planters Reach A Parent Center's open house by mistake.
Sort of.
Taylor Elder, 7, her second-grade honor roll student at Oakland Elementary School, brought the notice home after the school had mistaken him for another student.
``I came anyway,'' Taylor said at the RAP Center's open house this past Thursday. ``As a parent, I'm interested in getting all information and guidance I can to help me help my child in school.
``I think this program can help all parents stay involved in their child's education. In order for children to succeed in life, they first must succeed in school.''
And in order for children to succeed in school, their parents must be involved in their education, said Beatrice Reeves, the center's educational consultant.
According to Reeves, that's what the RAP Center is all about. Begun in 1991 with a $15,000 grant from Planters Peanuts Co., the RAP Center sponsors a variety of programs designed to teach parents how to help their children learn at home.
Located at Booker T. Washington Elementary School, the RAP Center is open from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. But much of RAP's work is done when Reeves and Suzanne Miller, RAP's parent consultant, take their program out into the Suffolk community.
Last week, the two talked about the center's services at Florence Bowser Elementary School's first PTA meeting. Throughout the year, the two will conduct workshops for parents in churches, community centers and public housing communities.
At these workshops, parents can pick up extra worksheets, games or advice that will help them work with their children.
This year, the center will focus on helping parents of pre-school and elementary pupils, Reeves said. This will be evident in two new programs: Wings, an activity curriculum (which can be loaned to parents) emphasizing the developmental skills for pre-schoolers; and Systematic Training for Effective Parenting - known as the STEP program - of children under 6, a seven-week class. MEMO: For more information on the Planters Reach A Parent Program, call
925-5727 and leave a message. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ALLISON T. WILLIAMS
Beatrice Reeves, director of the Planters Reach A Parent Center,
talks with Laurna Taylor, the mother of an Oakland Elementary School
student, during the center's open house.
by CNB