January 2023 Newsletter
01.06.23

A NOTE FROM YOUR PEI TEAM

Happy New Year, Parent Mentor family!

We are honored to be able to work with all of you and be in the Parent Mentor movement together. Thank you for all of the love and care you put into the Parent Mentor Program.

In 2023, we are looking forward to:

• Witnessing the growth, creativity, and brilliance of over 30,000 students every day in our parent mentor classrooms.

• Supporting parent mentors in following their dreams—especially seeing many of us get education credentials and get hired in our schools.

• Inspiring and challenging new Weekly Wednesday Workshops with organizers and educators from around the country.

• Growing our collective organizing and mutual aid work through the Beyond the Classroom Mini-Grant opportunity.

• Becoming data nerds with our new monthly report and database system.

• Kicking off our second annual Disability Justice Cohort, in English and Spanish.

• Celebrating our TENTH Anniversary as a STATEWIDE program in Illinois with our largest graduating class in Parent Mentor history!!

Wishing you peace, rest, joy, and justice in 2023!

Sincerely,
Your Parent Engagement Institute Team

FEATURED STORY

Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline, a special three-part workshop series, kicks off next week

Workshop #1: Organizing to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline

• When: Wednesday, January 11, 2023

• Who: Presented by Mark Warren (University of Massachusetts Boston) and Carlil Pittman (Good Kids Mad City, former VOYCE organizer)

• What: This first workshop will discuss community organizing efforts to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, exclusionary discipline, and policing practices that push students of color out of schools and into the criminal justice system. We will discuss how the pipeline operates at pre-K, elementary, and secondary levels, as well as the movement’s history of parents and students of color who challenge and dismantle it.

Workshop #2: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: The Role of Parents

• When: Wednesday, January 18, 2023

• Who: Presented by Mark Warren (University of Massachusetts Boston), Zakiya Sankara-Jabar (Racial Justice NOW!), and Lorraine Wright (I Vote for Me)

• What: In the second workshop of the series, we will discuss the impact of these practices on parents and families and the critical role that parents play in challenging the pipeline and advocating for community-based alternatives. We will also discuss how parents can work together with teachers to advocate for change.

Workshop #3: Challenging the School-to-Prison Pipeline in Classrooms

• When: Wednesday, January 25, 2023

• Who: Presented by Mark Warren (University of Massachusetts Boston) and Roberta Udoh, Kindergarten teacher, Boston Public Schools

• What: The final workshop of the series will focus on classroom strategies to challenge the pipeline. We will discuss the roots of these discriminatory practices and talk through strategies that teachers and parent mentors can use in classrooms to change a disciplinary school culture by implementing alternative approaches like restorative justice. As the last of the workshop series, we will also dream big together about the kind of school that all children deserve.

All workshops take place on Zoom and are offered at two times on the scheduled date:

• 11:30am - 1:00pm: English, Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic

• 4:00 - 5:30pm: English or Spanish.

DISABILITY JUSTICE

Over 100 Parent Mentors Register for the Disability Justice Cohort

The Parent Engagement Institute is proud to partner with the Illinois Family Resource Center on Disabilities to launch our second annual Disability Justice Cohorts -- one in English and one in Spanish. 107 parent mentors from across the state have applied to join the cohorts, which will kick off next week. The cohorts will meet weekly this spring for an in-depth course on IDEA and to build a community of support for each other, so that they can go on to advocate for their children and their whole school community. For more information, contact Bridgett White bwhite@lsna.net.

A VISIT TO DOLTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Ace Project, Park Elementary Welcome the Illinois State Board of Education

In December, we visited the ACE Project at Park Elementary in Dolton, IL with our Illinois State Board of Education partners from the Center of Systems of Support, Executive Director Dana Kinley and Director of Family and Community Engagement Carolina Fabian.

We loved visiting classrooms and hearing stories from teacher and parent mentor pairs, and learning about all the ways The Ace Project parent mentors are finding their calling inside the classroom and beyond the classroom. Thank you for opening your school to us!

WINTER/SPRING WORKSHOPS

Upcoming Workshop Schedule

Wednesday, Feb. 1: Mental Health
Wednesday, Feb. 8: Benefits of Learning a Second Language
Wednesday, Feb. 15: Beyond the Classroom Series - Organizing Tools #3
Wednesday, Feb. 22: Black History Workshop

All workshops take place on Zoom and are offered at two times:

• 11:30am - 1:00pm: English, Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic

• 4:00 - 5:30pm: English or Spanish.

PEI BIRTHDAY SHOUT-OUTS

January Birthdays at the Parent Engagement Institute

January 8: Leticia Barrera

Read more about Leticia here.

January 11: Mayra Sarabia

Read more about Mayra here.