April 11 PC conference call notes

April 11
Participants: Jill Armentrout, Algeria Morris-Sowah, Kelly Beougher

Discussion on phone calls to home visitation families:
Share our message of PC and use some of the "sales pitch" document to gather interest, show how they could get involved in the coalition.
Jill will adapt this form as a draft to share with agencies and provide to PC for a script to use in phone calls.
Offer to families who are interested a one-on-one introduction to the Parent Coalition and a parent to talk to about services available, activities, etc.
Lead up to inviting these new parents to a Parent Cafe this summer or September.
Start with a basic form for home visitors to give to families interested in calls: include contact info, best time and way to contact and give some background on this project and the PC mission.
We project we could identify 5-8 members who would be willing to do calls and could be matched with up to five families. We need to present this to the home visitation agencies so we start with a list of about 25 families who would like to learn more. Home educators would could start with the focus group families and a fe more.
Jill also will get a draft of the script for members to use in calls.


Next call is April 19 at 11 a.m.
Dial-in Number: (559) 726-1000/ Participant Access Code: 333263#

Notes April 4 call/ next call April 12

Please follow this link to see the PC Planning Worksheets for the next 6 months:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DVIEm6VFb_z3KUtzvBCtTcdDwJwEe6AskLGj6bKuMiQ/edit

Next call is April 12 at 11 a.m.

April 4 conference call

Participants: Algeria Morris-Sowah, Kelly Beougher, Jill Armentrout

Discussion points:

Business cards for PC members – We will borrow from the design example another county is using. The ISD printer can do these.On the front of card - three main purposes of Parent Coalition, vision, website. On the back - can write in name, phone and next meeting date. Jill will work on a draft and try to get them printed by the April 23 PC meeting.

Carpool: We will take names of members who need rides to events/meetings and a list of those who are able to give rides. The rider would need to make contact with the driver once they are matched up.

Icebreakers: We can use the Strengthening Families game cards with questions in small groups at the PC meetings. Each person can choose a card and share

Advocacy training April 23: We will request focus of training with ECIC trainer on getting our message as PC out with Star Power. We also will talk about connecting with candidates.

Star Power messages: Pursue taking website on laptop to churches, preschools.

We would like to have talking points and some things going on in legislature that we can mention.

Retreat - We are planning to have a meeting at a coffee shop on May 7 to plan a 4 hour evening in June that will take place of the regular meeting. We can include PPFC activities for core members and set goals for a steering committee of the PC. We can request help from ECIC to lead the retreat.

Conference Call April 4

Hello - our Parent Coalition will share ideas during a conference call at 11 a.m. on April 4.

Conference Dial-in Number: (559) 726-1000
Participant Access Code: 333263#

Please check back here for notes if you can't listen in.

Make children a priority

Our Saginaw County Great Start Parent Coalition is making contact with our state legislators to continue relationships with them and make sure early childhood education is a priority for them during this budget year.

We also are following candidates for seats now in play in the November elections.



We invite parents to join with us to share their thoughts. We'll have opportunties for families to meet with them face-to-face in coming months and will keep you posted!



What kind of community do we want for all our children? What has to change to make this happen?

Coalition building

We are working on growing our numbers of volunteers that make up the coalition and outreach to more parents all over Saginaw County.
We have a free parenting event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, in Birch Run.
Visit our Web site at www.greatstartsaginaw.org for more information.
We had a great time in the Pride holiday parade in Saginaw Nov. 21. Visit our mascot Sydney at the Castle Museum from now through the end of December.
Happy Holidays!

Introduction to Great Start

Hi, I’m Jill Armentrout - parent liaison with the Saginaw County Great Start Collaborative Parent Coalition.
Our coalition consists of Saginaw County parents with children 12 and younger. We come from diverse backgrounds, but are looking to grow!
We are volunteers who meet regularly and host educational events for families and other outreach activities. If you are interested, we have room for you on our coalition.

This blog is a place for parents to share ideas, suggestions, comments or concerns about families in Saginaw County. I will post information regularly, but want to hear from you!

Here is some more information:

The Parent Coalition
Mission:
An organization of powerful parents that work to give the community a voice to advocate for the needs of all families in Saginaw County.

Vision:
All families in Saginaw County are equipped with the tools and knowledge to ensure success in school and
life.

Benefits to joining the Parent Coalition:
· Voice for change.
· Training opportunities.
· Improve services for families.
· Builds knowledge and skills.
· Strengthens the commitment of parents in the community on behalf of young children.
· Helps open doors for employment.
· Provides opportunities to network with other families and agency providers.


Contact me for more information at:

Jill Armentrout
Parent Liaison
Saginaw County Great Start Collaborative
(810) 441-5347 or (989) 399-7458
jillsarmentrout@gmail.com
www.greatstartsaginaw.org