Positive Future For Students And Parents Focus Of May 18 Meeting

May 8, 2001

by Lori Scott Fogleman

"Creating Parent-Student Communities of Hope and Imagination" -- a community meeting of local agencies and service providers that assist middle school students and parents in Waco -- will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, May 18, at Knox Hall in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.
GEAR UP Waco, CareLinc Network and Communities in Schools-McLennan County Youth Collaboration Inc., will host the meeting, which will focus on creating a positive future for students and parents in Waco.
"The community meeting will allow local agencies to share what they are proud of in terms of their services and what hopes and dreams they have for additional services in the future," said Matt Williams, project director for GEAR UP Waco, a $6 million comprehensive initiative focused on preparing at-risk students academically and socially for college.
The keynote speaker will be Blisse Browne, president of Imagine Chicago!, an internationally recognized program aimed at helping Chicago citizens re-imagine their community's future. "They are currently involved with an exciting civic literacy program that brings parents and children together to learn about their city and develop healthy parent-child relationships," Williams said.
The interactive agenda will provide discussion on such questions as:

•What are you doing to put a vibrant future on the mental maps of parents and children?
•How do you create hope and imagination in the clients you serve?
•What are the leverage points you can use to foster positive change in students and parents?

For more information on the meeting, contact Williams at 710-4975.