Ohio Department of Education Families

This activity will help students and parents improve their knowledge of programs and services that directly affect their lives and community. This is an easy and entertaining way for them to find out about politics, community resources and other relevant topics. As a result of learning what's going on in their community, parents and students will be better equipped to access community resources and will be more informed about community events. For students, exposure to people in variety of careers may help broaden their scope of career choices.		Contact: Helen O'Neal Organization: Hamilton County Family and Children First Council District: Cincinnati Public Phone: (513) 363-6094   Parents, students and community members, depending on the topic A school Monthly, or at a frequency that meets the needs of the school
Community leaders, politicians and other prominent guests are invited to speak at a lunchtime brown-bag event. Each speaker presents a 15- to 20-minute talk on a predetermined topic of interest, and a question and answer period follows. Dessert and beverages are provided. The last phase of the program is allocated for informal social interaction. As a marketing tool, we designed a lunch bag that refers to each event speaker, topic, date and time. This has become an icon of the program and is used to advertise each event to parents, students and teachers. When our guest is a community leader, we also invite representatives of local agencies and community groups.
Parents have expressed that they feel more connected to what is going on in the community. Students appear to enjoy the interaction with community leaders and teachers view this as an enrichment experience that enhances students’ knowledge of current events. On some occasions, guests have been invited back to continue a conversation. We also have scheduled field trips for parents to city hall and other local sites that have been discussed at a session.
Adequate space Occasionally adequate space has been a problem, depending on the popularity of the guest. Be sure to plan for this when booking a well-known speaker.
We solicit feedback from students, parents and teachers following each event.
The Family and Children First Coordinator oversees the process and meets with the planning team to select speaker topics and complete activities such as finalizing the schedule and advertising the event. Parent volunteers work with the coordinator to determine speakers and make initial contacts. Speakers volunteered their time. The cost of dessert and beverages is the main expense, averaging about $2 per person, per event). This has been paid for by Family and Children First Council funds.