THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 13, 1996 TAG: 9609130552
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 92 lines
The word came down from Washington and, though it was good, it was something the folks at Kilby Shores Elementary School had known for a while.
Parents and grandparents getting involved with their children's schoolwork, businesses offering expertise and incentives and rewards for academic achievement, and civic groups and private individuals providing volunteer hours all help students and their schools flourish. It's worked at Kilby Shores.
On Thursday afternoon, Edward M. Augustus Jr., chief of staff to an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, visited the school - the land of 100 volunteers and 1,500 volunteer hours a year - to spread the word.
He told some 30 parents, business people and educators in the school library about the ``America Goes Back To School: Get Involved!'' program of his department and the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, composed of more than 700 family, education, employer, religious and community groups. He delivered the same message earlier in the day at Westhaven Elementary School in Portsmouth.
``Most of the schools in this country that are successful are only successful because the parents were involved in some substantial way,'' Augustus said at Kilby Shores. He added businesses and civic organizations to the equation.
The national program urges all ``caring adults'' to become more active in improving education in their communities.
Not many do around the country - less than 20 percent of parents volunteer or otherwise participate in their children's schools, Augustus told the group. And with public- and private-school rolls expected to jump 3 million, to 54 million, by 2006 - thanks to the ``baby boom echo,'' the influx of children of the huge baby-boom generation. And more of those children will have special needs, so more help than ever will be required.
Sharon Humphrey didn't need the studies and reports and national programs to tell her that being involved in her children's education - helping with their homework, reading to their classes, chaperoning their field trips - is a good thing, that it helps them succeed academically. She doesn't want them to take the school journey alone, and her children have noticed.
``It helps,'' said Sherilyn Humphrey, a fifth-grader at Kilby Shores. ``She just explains stuff. If I don't understand the directions, she explains them to me.''
``Like going on field trips,'' added brother Joshua, a second-grader. ``She shows me a lot of things.''
On a quick trip through several classrooms, Augustus saw enough to pronounce the school a ``child-centered'' one and, not surprisingly then, a good one.
Second-grader Joe Vance Brown, a dollop of clay on his wrist with a toothpick sticking out of it, showed Augustus how he was ``watching'' his pulse.
Down the hall, Terrez Byrd demonstrated how vibration makes sounds using a cutout of a lion's face and a roar created by rubbing string hanging from a plastic-foam cup.
The school's principal, Carolyn Dixon, said there's no question that having parents, business partners and other volunteers in the school makes a difference with the students, whether it's reading to a class each week, or providing some one-on-one tutoring on a tough math skill.
``Sometimes that just makes it or breaks it for a particular child,'' Dixon said.
``That means that child feels someone's watching, someone really cares. .
Dixon said teachers quickly can tell the difference in children whose parents are involved with their education - better reading, better vocabulary, better everything, usually.
``If the parents don't project the thought that education is important, the children won't think it's important,'' Dixon said.
That's why Patrice L. Jones works the book fairs and ``Spring Flings'' and zoo field trips - she has a first-grader and a pre-schooler in the building, and she sees her presence affecting her son's attitude for the better.
``If a parent keeps saying, `I can't make it to PTA, I can't make it to this, I can't make it to that,' they start saying, `Why make an A? Why not get a C or a D? It'll get me out just as fast,' '' Jones said.
``No doubt about it,'' agreed Pauline Sparks, who has four children in the school and two more grown. ``The more support parents give children, the better they do in school. If the parents are never there, the children don't feel as comfortable there.''
Read every day to your children, Augustus said.
Give flex time to your employees so they can attend school functions and activities.
Become mentors to your local school.
``Like he said,'' Jones said, ``that's our future.'' ILLUSTRATION: JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
The point is parental involvement, federal education official Edward
M. Augustus Jr. said in his visit to Kilby Shores Elementary. Folks
there - including Terrez Byrd, with the lion face he'd made - knew
that. Terrez and Augustus were chatting on Thursday.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK SCHOOLS by CNB