Past Events
Back in Person, Back to School: Together and Reconnecting
Date: September 17, 2021
Speaker
Facilitator: Jacqueline “Kiki” Bispo, Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Network Lead, Innovation Dept., Vista Unified School Dist., Vista, CA
Venue
Zoom meeting courtesy of the San Diego County Office of Education Multilingual Education and Global Achievement (MEGA) Department and its staff members: Christina Parodi Araya, Parent/Family Liaison, and Elizabeth Campos, Administrative Assistant.
Description
Round table of ideas, strategies and resources from family engagement staff across San Diego County school districts.
Facilitator: Jacqueline “Kiki” Bispo, Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Network Lead, Innovation Dept., Vista Unified School Dist., Vista, CA
Cultural Competency, a View from the Parent Institute of Quality Education (PIQE)
Date: May 21, 2021
Speaker
Carmen Russian, Executive Director, PIQE, San Diego County; Alejandro Garcia, Associate Director, PIQE, San Diego County
Venue
Zoom meeting courtesy of the San Diego County Office of Education Multilingual Education and Global Achievement (MEGA) Department and its staff members: Christina Parodi Araya, Parent/Family Liaison, and Elizabeth Campos, Administrative Assistant.
Description
Cultural Competency in parent engagement is vital to maximize the inherent
capacity of families in diverse communities to actively engage in their children’s
education. How do schools tell “single stories”—or no story at all—about
different groups of families and students? Learn how PIQE strives to make a
person-to-person connection with parents/caregivers and develop new skills in a
safe, nurturing, and respectful environment.
Carmen Russian
Executive Director
Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE)
San Diego County
O: 619.420.4730 | M: 619.517.2127
www.PIQE.org
"Social Movements in the United States"
Date: April 16, 2021
Speaker
Jacqueline "Kiki" Bispo, Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Network Lead, Innovation Dept., Vista Unified School Dist., Vista, CA
Venue
Zoom meeting courtesy of the San Diego County Office of Education Multilingual Education and Global Achievement (MEGA) Department and its staff members: Christina Parodi Araya, Parent/Family Liaison, and Elizabeth Campos, Administrative Assistant.
Description
Social movements in the U.S. – historically and in the present – have existed to fight for the rights of the disenfranchised, notably: immigrants/workers/students/women/LGBTQ+/poor people/those. They also exist for people to use their voice and come together for related passions: against war, violence, racism, and inequality. Join us to learn more about some of these movements, how they’ve impacted today’s world, and discuss where we go from here.
Conversation with Nancy Cline, West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE)
Date: March 19, 2021
Speaker
Nancy Cline, M.S.Ed., Coordinator, West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE)
Venue
Zoom meeting courtesy of the San Diego County Office of Education Multilingual Education and Global Achievement (MEGA) Department and its staff members: Christina Parodi Araya, Parent/Family Liaison, and Elizabeth Campos, Administrative Assistant.
Description
A-Ha Moments!
Per the Zoom meeting chat log, despite the pandemic and virtual learning participants are cheerful, hopeful, upbeat and remarkably positive.
Participants enjoyed conversing with each other so much during the meeting that afterwards 6-8 people continued the conversation with Nancy for half an hour after the meeting had ended.
Nancy: We have to stop doing All Calls to all parents. Create separate groups: seniors, freshman, special education, football, etc. so that people get messages tailored to their situation and interests.
Nancy recommended reading the book Nudge by Dr. Richard Thaler (it’s about behavioral economics) and applying it to family engagement.
"The History of Education"
Date: February 19, 2021
Speaker
Jacqueline "Kiki" Bispo, Family & Community Engagement (FACE) Network Lead, Innovation Department, Vista Unified School District, Vista, CA
Venue
Zoom meeting courtesy of the San Diego County Office of Education Multilingual Education and Global Achievement (MEGA) Department and its staff members: Christina Parodi Araya, Parent/Family Liaison, and Elizabeth Campos, Administrative Assistant.
Description
A detailed and informative walk through education as we know it in the United States, how we got to where we are now and programs that have become major educational funders.
A-Ha Moments!
There’s a lot to the back story that we don’t often think of or take into account.
How We Engage and Support Families and Children and Help Them Stay Connected with the School
Date: May 15, 2020
Speaker
Shulamit Ritblatt, Ph.D., Director, Center for Family, School and Community Engagement, San Diego State University College of Education
Venue
Zoom: CLICK HERE
Hosted by the Center for Family, School and Community Engagement, San Diego State University College of Education
Description
Shulamit Ritblatt is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting to discuss how we engage and support families and children and help them to stay connected with the school. Some of the questions/interests other Family Engagement Liaisons are pointing out: What other liaisons are working and doing their jobs when schools are closed? How have family engagement liaisons created a healthy, helpful shift in their position without seeming aggressive to administrators who want to move slowly and carefully during this time? What resources can we offer our families and how can we guide them to access these resources? How can we support each other? Looking forward to seeing you soon. Please feel free to invite other family engagement professionals to join us.
Bilingual Education & Family Engagement
Date: November 4, 2016
Speaker
Dr. Alberto Ochoa, SDSU Professor Emeritus
Venue
Centro Cultural de la Raza
Description
The topic for our first session was Bilingual Education & Family Engagement. We know that multilingual educational settings are beneficial for children, and our discussion was all about the research, history, and implications for bilingual education.
Since this meeting, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 58, thereby reducing barriers to more multilingual education setting for students. A success!
The Many Faces of PTA
Date: December 2, 2016
Speaker
Kiki Bispo & Bea Fernandez
Venue
Alta Vista Botanical Gardens
Description
The demographics of our communities are fluid and constantly changing. So too is the face of PTA and all groups we seek to engage in our schools. Let’s put ourselves in the lives of others and discuss how to honor the capital that all families possess in order to effectively engage and empower the beautiful diversity that shapes our local culture.
This session will highlight the work of Vista and San Diego Unified in engaging diverse communities through PTA.
Participants are encouraged to stay for a FREE tour of the Alta Vista Botanical Garden following the session.
Kitchenistas: A Peer-to-Peer Approach to Family Engagement
Date: February 3, 2017
Speaker
Venue
Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center
Description
Families are more likely to participate in school communities when they are engaged by people with similar life experiences. In this session, we’ll learn from the Kitchenistas of National City, a group of dedicated community leaders that organize to confront health crises in their community. They’ll share their peer-to-peer engagement techniques, including a special cooking demonstration!
A FREE tour of Olivewood will follow the session.
The Intersection of Restorative Practice & Family Engagement
Date: March 3, 2017
Speaker
Cynthia Burton, Momentum Learning
Venue
Valencia Park / Malcolm X Branch Library
5148 Market Street
San Diego, CA 92114
Description
“Restorative practices” are in style these days. But what does it really mean to seek restoration through pract
Exploring African American History in San Diego County
Date: April 7, 2017
Speaker
Old Town Community Church
Venue
Oftentimes the contributions of African Americans in shaping the fabric of San Diego goes unrecognized. When people know they have an influential place in history, it creates a greater sense of belonging and self pride. We know that everyone benefits from learning about other people’s history. We as practitioners working with families have an obligation to foster that sense of belonging and inclusiveness of all families in the work we do.
Mindfulness in family engagement... along the water in Mission Bay
Date: November 4, 2017
Speaker
Venue
By shores of Mission Bay 🙂
Description
Family engagement can be rewarding yet consuming work. In order to serve families well, we must first make sure we are taking care of ourselves and supporting our own families. How do we find that healthy balance? Our first session of 17-18 will introduce mindfullness practices in one of San Diego’s most cherished spaces.
We will be outdoors for this session, in an easily accessible location along the bay. The exact location will be shared one week before the event.
Voices from the Field
Date: December 1, 2017
Speaker
Community Panel
Venue
Bread & Salt
1955 Julian Ave, San Diego, CA 92113
Description
Hear from a panel of parent/guardian leaders who will share how they became involved and remained active in their school’s/organization’s family engagement program. The discussion will include successes, challenges, and how they overcame them. It will conclude with an interactive activity!
This session will be hosted at Bread & Salt, an experimental center for the arts with strong community ties in historic Barrio Logan.
