PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN AMERICAN SAMOA - PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION MONTH

"Parents are the First Teachers"

The American Samoa Parental Information & Resource Center (ASPIRC), a project of Pacific Islands Center for Educational Development (PiCED), is pleased to announce that February, 2011, is again designated as the Parent Involvement Month for American Samoa. ASPIRC plans to officially launch the Parent Involvement Month at a ceremony that will be held at Lee Auditorium, Utulei on Monday, January 31st @ 8am - 12:30pm. Parents and educators are invited to attend this wonderful event, and receive free resources to raise awareness and remind us that parents play a critical role in the lives of children and their education.

All inforamtion you need is right here to start celebrating Parent Involvement Month 2011!

SBA (Standardized Based Assessment Testing) Workshop

Isadora Manaea conducted SBA for Pavaiai Parents

The standardized testing workshop is offered at ASPIRC's school-based centers. This workshop started on the second week of September 2010. The main objective of this workshop is to help parents work together with their children at home in completing homework, making sure that the child understands instructions, be familiar with the kinds of questions used in the test, and so forth. A total of 62 parents are currently participating in these workshops at our school-based centers. These workshops will end in March of 2011 as we draw near to testing dates.

Parent Computer Classes

Parent computer classes started on October 25th, 2010, and were scheduled to end on November 18th, 2010. Due to unforeseeable circumstances to the parent centers in Tafuna Elementary School and Matafao Elementary School, and two holidays this month, they have been extended for another two weeks. Certificate presentations and closing activities for clases held at our school-based parent centers will be on December 2nd, while the Central office classes will have theirs on December 3rd. It is always encouraging to see the excitement and joy in parents' faces, as they receive their certificates of completion or participation, during these closing events. A total of 100 parents participated in this month's classes at the following locations: Pavaia'i Elementary, Tafuna Elementary, Fagaitua HS, and PiCED's main office in Nu'uuli. Parents who registered for Computer 1 & 2 classes at Matafao Elementary now attend a morning class at PiCED's main office. Our next parent computer classes will start in late January, 2011, with registration starting right on January 3rd. Our registration is based on a first come first served basis.

Matafao Parent Center

In late October, ASPIRC agreed to vacate the room that was used for the Parent Center at Matafao Elementary school, so that a Level 5 class at the school that desperately needed a classroom could have a place for daily instructions. This is due to a construction project of ASDOE, which is now underway to build a new classroom building for the school. This brings down the number of ASPIRC's school and church-based parent centers down to seven. ASPIRC will continue to assist the principal, faculty, and students at Matafao Elementary in promoting parental involvement, so students received the necessary help they need to achieve.

Parents As Teachers (PAT):

In October, Moe Masoe, ASPIRC's program manager & certified parents educator started his personal visits with approximately 30 parents enrolled in this Early Childhood Parent Education program. Parents were selected by ASPIRC's school and church-based parent center and coordinators at 5 locations; Failolo, Pavaiai, Tafuna, Matafao, and Alofau, based on their interest and participation in other ASPIRC activities. Only parents of children ages 0-5yrs can participate in the PAT program. The current group will participate in 1) personal visits, 2) group meetings, 3) health & developmental screenings, 4) resource networking, for a period of 10 months. The main goal of the program is to train parents to be the most influential person in their child's early development, by ensuring that they receive positive experiences in the home.

Parents Computer Training

The American Samoa PIRC has just completed another 4 weeks of computer training for parents of the territory this past week. Over 80 parents participated in Computer 1 & 2 classes that were offered at ASPIRC’s parent centers in Tafuna Elem, Pavaiai Elem, Matafao Elem, Fagaitua HS, & Manu’a HS. Another 20 parents attended classes at ASPIRC’s Central Office in Nuuuli. At the Certificate Presentation ceremonies held at each of the above-mentioned locations, some of the ASPIRC Board members spoke highly of the need for parents to be trained on the use of modern technology if they want to be effective in their roles as great mentors for their children. Most of the parents received Certificates of Completion, while the few who did not meet the attendance requirement of 75% received participation certificates. It was great to see parents feel empowered because of the acquisition of this new skill. Registration for the next parent computer class offering starts on Monday, October 4th, 2010. Class sessions start on October 25th and will end on November 18th.

Failolo Parent Center Opening

On Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 ASPIRC opened its second parent center, set up in a Church setting, at Failolo Methodist Church in the western district. This brings the total of ASPIRC’s school-based and church-based centers to 8, with its 9th one destroyed in last year’s tsunami, at Taputapu Elementary. Already, this parent center is becoming popular to both students and parents with its opening hours going from 4-8pm. There is a parent computer class still in session at the moment, which will complete on Sept 23rd. Six parents participate in this class, and are very excited about the opportunity to learn a new skill, so they can assist their children & grandchildren with schoolwork.