Location: Dobie Middle School
In the spring of 2009, LaunchPad held the first “Parent University” a school wide event on the campus of Dobie Middle school in Austin. The event took place the first week back from Spring Break, to get the students reengaged to finish the school year strong.
Parent University brought parents and students together for a fun and educational night. Students were invited to attend and bring a parent or care taker with them to the event.
The night was filled with food and fun for everyone. LP and Dobie experienced a record breaking attendance of over 200 students and over 184 parents! Testimonials from the educators at Dobie noted ” in over the last 10 years the average PTA attendance at most was maybe 20 parents, Parent University was a huge success”.
After the families were fed, the students were escorted to the school gym to participate in fun filled team building actitivies and a large inflatable obstacle course competition. Parents had an opportunity to hear from the Austin Police Department Gang Unit and various social and community organizations talk on specific helpful topics and provide key information to support parents and families. Austin Safe Place, the Austin Smile Center among others also participated in the parent education night. Just as important the Dobie Dropout Prevention Specialist, Ms. Maria Hernandez and the Dobie Parent teacher coordinator Mrs. Quintana talked about the importance of the kids coming to school. The reinforcement on the importance of parents encouraging their children to stay focused on their education and understanding that education is a ‘family affair’ was strongly communicated.
At the end of the event,a drawing was held and 5 bicycles, 2 MP3 players and 1 Dell lap top was given away.
Launch Pad would like to personally thank our amazing LP volunteers for the sweat equity in helping us pull this even together, the leadership of Dobie Middle School for their generous donation of all the food, the Austin African American Fire Fighters Association for donating the Dell Lap Top and other partners for their gift donations such as Austin Smile Center, Celebration Church and Redeemed Trucking.
Parent University was a huge success for LP and the students and families at Dobie Middle School!
