Oct 18, 2007 10:49 AM
Nearly 3,000 people took part in the UFT's annual Citywide Parent Conference — a fellowship of family and educators — on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Manhattan where they gained new insights into ways they can help their children succeed in school.
The conference, now in its 10th year and sponsored by the UFT and its Dial-A-Teacher program, represents a powerful and growing partnership between the teachers’ union and parents. Offered free of charge to anyone who registers, the event is the largest of any outreach program seeking to involve parents of city school students.
Rallying luncheon attendees, UFT President Randi Weingarten called on parents to get involved in their children’s schools during upcoming Open School Week. [See page 4 for an article about the “Welcome to Open School Week” guides the UFT is providing to parents.]
“The UFT is looking to get every parent involved in our schools so together we can help every child to learn,” Weingarten said. “If we can secure that one-to-one connection between parent and teacher, we can make sure that schooling is a great opportunity for all of our kids.”
Throughout her tenure, Weingarten has promised a strong alliance with parents. Several years ago the UFT created a network of parent liaisons in each of the union’s five borough offices.
Meanwhile, all the fathers who attended the conference merited special recognition from Amina Rachman, a special assistant to the union president and director of the Dial-A-Teacher program. She asked all the dads to raise their hands at the luncheon and thanked them for being there.
“Research has shown that if a father does just a couple of things to demonstrate an interest in his child’s education,” no matter how small, she said, “it can make a tremendous difference.”
Children who have had the experience of their father, or other male father figure, getting involved in their education have performed significantly better in school and in life, she said.
Each year, the union has to turn away hundreds of people for lack of space. And those lucky enough to get tickets pour into midtown Manhattan from every borough to be included in the day-long event.
Following a series of morning workshops on everything from “Cyber Safety” to “What’s on my kid’s tests” to “Help! I have a Teenager,” conferees were treated to a midday luncheon in the Sheraton’s vast Metropolitan Ballroom.
“This conference really brings the parents out,” remarked Margaret Walters, who came from Brooklyn and whose son attends PS 369. Two moms sitting across from her with kids at Grover Cleveland HS in Queens nodded and smiled in agreement.
Making parents feel respected is what conference coordinator Ira Dobren, whose work has become a labor of love, strives diligently to achieve.
“When I go to a fancy hotel, everywhere you go people want to wait on you,” he said. “That’s the kind of welcome we want to express at this conference.”
It’s why many parents who have attended in past years come back, as their kids progress through school, he said.