PARENT ENGAGEMENT

NEW SERIES, OPPORTUNITIES

FOR PARENT ENGAGEMENT

As the 2020-21 school year has progressed, the SSA and school administrators have worked to find opportunities for Sycamore parents to stay engaged and involved with each other and with the school. The SSA has hosted Get Acquainted Coffee meetings in the Sycamore Pavilion, Diane Borgmann has hosted Zoom calls with parent groups, and she continues to write a weekly letter to the parents to provide updates on the school year from her perspective. Sycamore’s Director of Advancement, Holly Lee, has headed an initiative called the “Parent Engagement Series,” with subjects that range from Cooking Quick and Healthy Meals with Lori Fulk, Great Books Recommendations, Games with David Schuth, an online Alumni Panel hosted by Mary O’Malley, and a program on Intentional parenting with Clair White. All of the offerings are viewed online. Some are live and some are recorded.

While nothing can replace in-person, one-to-one conversations, and group meetings, each of these events, whether online or sociallydistanced outdoors, seeks to provide a substitute during a year that will continue to be far from normal.

“During the pandemic, we are all missing social interactions from the parents and staff to the preschoolers,” Lee says. “As a result of Sycamore trying to be proactively safe, parents are not currently allowed in the building. The Parent Engagement Series came out of a desire to continue parent education that occurs several times a year and socialization that informally happened daily.”

“There is so much I miss, but more than anything, I miss seeing my community,” Fulk says as she talks about the differences this year. “Friends reached out to me after watching my cooking demonstrations, and it was lovely to touch base. Just the act of seeing one another and hearing each other’s voices lifts my spirits.” Technology has played a role for teachers staying in contact with parents. Early Childhood teachers are using a new app called SeeSaw to quickly connect with parents throughout the school day. The app allows for teachers to send photos of whole-class and individual moments. Middle School teachers have adapted many of their extracurricular clubs to online (see sidebar).

“Almost all of our typical ways of connecting with parents are not happening this year,” Jennifer Williams, Head of Early Childhood, says. “This applies not only to the connection between school staff and parents, but also to connections between parents. These programs can help parents see and get to know each other better.” She says that little things have been important to her. “Greeting and briefly touching base with parents in the morning and afternoon carpools has been great, and parents sharing kind words and thanks with teachers.”

“Parents have been extremely supportive of Sycamore during this time,” Lee says. “They have had SSA meetings outside so as many people as desire can attend. They decorated the school on the first day of school and continue to find ways to support teachers with gifts of food and encouragement.”

Fulk says everyone is doing what they can to make this year the best it can be. “That is the glue holding us together. Thinking creatively about how we can be of use to the school and safely maintain a sense of community has been my hardest task in my 13 years at Sycamore. It’s been refreshing to see ideas flowing from all corners of the school.”

Second semester Parent Engagement Series topics will include:

• Stress management with Dr. Samantha Outcalt

• Executive Function of a Gifted Student with Lori Henderson

• Book Discussion with Diane Borgmann

• Read a book and discuss using the Harkness Method with Beth Simpson n

Several Sycamore parents shared some unsolicited feedback with the school about several of our Middle School teachers and their commitment to their children beyond the classroom via activities, and noting the dedication of the adults who teach Sycamore students and serve as role models for them as they grow academically and personally.

TRENT TORMOEHLEN – MATH

“Mr. Tormoehlen has managed to move his Morning Math and MathCounts programs to a virtual setting. He has online meetups a few times a week after school. He spends extra time online to answer questions for kids that they don’t understand since there’s no opportunity to ask the questions while at school. With all his extra responsibilities as Interim Co-Head of Middle School, I wasn’t sure if the Math program would continue as it had in the past, but of course, he found a way.”

NATHAN KEITH – VEX ROBOTICS

“It is incredible what Mr. Keith has done

with our school’s VEX program, especially bringing it into a virtual format this year. He started back in the summer months by posting instructional videos and having video calls with the students. He has gone above and beyond in getting the VEX floors, parts, and fields to people’s houses so they could practice there instead. While at school, he has been coaching different teams during lunches, recesses, and seminar times, whenever he can catch them to talk to them. My son went to his practice at a teammate’s house (masked and socially distanced, of course), and Mr. Keith showed up to help coach them, on a Saturday afternoon no less! The dedication Mr. Keith shows to the team not just during the school day but outside that on evenings, weekends, over the summer, is unparalleled. Parents and students are lucky to have him.”

“Prior to the start of school, Mr. Keith was accessible and responded to his correspondence and made him feel heard. He offered a Zoom call in late July with my son to see and hear his ideas. Mr. Keith listened to him, engaged with his ideas, and encouraged his curiosity. Mr. Keith is so committed to Robotics, but I also feel that he is committed to my child’s growth and maturity. I am so grateful for his time, but I am more grateful for his investment in and care for my child.”

BETH SIMPSON - DEBATE

“I wanted to give a parent perspective on the dedication of teachers during COVID times. Teachers have been putting in hours of personal time to smooth out all of the wrinkles, big and small, that have arisen from the difficulties of moving such interactive clubs to a virtual format.”

“The students were so thrilled that they still got to partake in these tournaments despite all that is going on right now. Mrs. Simpson figured out a way to move the entire debate tournament online. She held

several mock debates to first troubleshoot the problems, has been checking in individually with each team via email and during the school day to see how they are progressing, and she changed up the entire structure of judging to make it easier to do online.”

“We are so appreciative of Mrs. Simpson’s dedication to offering debate as a virtual extracurricular activity this year. I cannot imagine the number of hours Mrs. Simpson put into the planning for the first tournament with a whole new format (Zoom) for the debaters and the judges. It all ran beautifully! Sycamore is lucky to have such a great role model in creative problem solving for their students.”

TONY YOUNG – ACADEMIC BOWL

“Mr. Young guided the Academic Bowl kids on how to participate and progress through the first virtual tournament, and this tournament included teams from across the country, so it was not an easy one to manage! (He is) so committed to his students. The kids and parents were so grateful and appreciative.” n

ABOVE: SYCAMORE PARENT, LORI FULK