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A heartfelt thank you to our partners, friends and supporters!
We are grateful for so many things, but particularly that the Center for Community School Strategies team is growing! To advocate for best practices in supporting the social/emotional health of children,
Robin Hicks, LPC, LADC, has joined our team and leads Community Service Council's Children's Behavioral Health initiative. To support families in need of speech therapy and early childhood development services,
Stacy Kaut, M.S., CCC-SLP joins our team and the Sprouts Child Development team as a bilingual speech language pathologist. To help build equitable early childhood experiences for Tulsa's Hispanic families,
Erica Quick, LPC joins our team as a social work practicum intern on our Power of Families Project.
This expansion will help us best support schools and partners in implementing effective Community School strategies of educating and supporting the whole child and family.
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Our staff with Union Community School Coordinators this fall |
Union: A Community School District
In 2013, Union Public Schools declared the Community School strategy one of the district's four strategic pillars. Continuing this commitment, Union hired three new full-time Community School Coordinators this fall: Elida Yeahquo at Briarglen Elementary, Mike Witham at Grove Elementary, and Angela Jackson at Union's 6th/7th Grade Center. Welcome to the team!
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Kevin Burr, CEO of Community Service Council, was the special guest at a Baby Book Club on Oct. 14 |
Early Literacy: Baby Book Clubs
Our Power of Families Project teamed up with several of Union's Community Schools to launch "Baby Book Club", an opportunity for Hispanic families with younger children to visit the school for a book reading, activity and snack. This strengthens early literacy and family engagement in a casual, inviting environment that is consistently well-attended by both mothers and fathers of infants and toddlers.
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New Partnership: OU Health Sciences Center
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Our promotoras now also conduct surveys with Hispanic mothers to collect data on stress levels |
This October, we began a partnership with Dr. Alicia Salvatore of OU's Health Sciences Center to provide recruitment and data collection services for the Stephenson Cancer Center Seed Grant, which aims to study stress levels and factors affecting Latina mothers. Dr. Salvatore requested the help of promotoras knowing that trust and authentic relationships, key components of the promotora model of community engagement, would be essential to this research.
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Acclaimed Author and NY Times Writer Visits Tulsa
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David Kirp (left) with McAuliffe Elementary's Principal Rita Long (right) and Coordinator Emma Thadani (center) |
David Kirp, writer for the New York Times, Professor of Public Policy at University of California Berkeley, and author of many books including Kids First and The Sandbox Investment, visited Tulsa on Nov. 2. During his visit, he toured McAuliffe Elementary, a full-service Community School in Union Public Schools. Additionally, Mr. Kirp spent time with Paige Whalen, Program Manager for the Center for Community School Strategies, and Union Public Schools leadership to learn more about Community School work in Tulsa.
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Latino Health Fair Reaches Hundreds
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Participants lined up last month at our Latino Community Health Fair to receive resources and services |
On Oct. 15, in collaboration with OSU and Coalition of Hispanic Organizations, our Power of Families Project and Conexiones team organized a Latino Community Health Fair at TPS' Disney Elementary. Forty organizations provided health screenings to approximately 600 individuals. A large component of our Power of Families Project work is to help build the capacity of local public schools to engage Latino families while serving individuals who need assistance.
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Our team with Union Coordinators at last month's PIE Kick-off Event
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Strategic Partnerships: PIE's Kick-Off
On Oct. 28, Center team members and Union Community School Coordinators attended the energizing Partners In Education (PIE) kick-off event to strategize with educators, administrators, community partners and stakeholders about building intentional, results-based partnerships between schools and communities. PIE is expanding its reach to Union Public Schools this fall.
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Paige Whalen and Kevin Burr with D.C.-based Coalition for Community Schools' President Martin Blank and Policy Director Mary Kingston-Roche |
Representing Oklahoma's Community Schools
Last month, Paige Whalen, Program Manager for the Center for Community School Strategies, and Kevin Burr, CEO of Community Service Council (our parent organization), represented Oklahoma at the 2016 Community Schools Leadership Network convening in Oakland, Calif. The Center is a long-time member of this network which convenes regularly to share and develop solutions among peers to challenges experienced. This year's focus was around health and health systems for Community Schools.
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Robin Hicks presents on Framing Trauma at this month's Early Childhood Leadership Institute |
Resilience and Trauma Key Topics at Early Childhood Conference
On Nov. 11, Robin Hicks of the Center for Community School Strategies was one of several panel experts at OU's 10th Annual Early Childhood Leadership Institute entitled
The Building Blocks of Resilience in a Trauma-Filled World. Robin addressed understanding classroom behavior through a trauma-informed lens, specifically as it pertains to children in military families and children experiencing homelessness or living on the constant brink of homelessness.
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Until Next Time!
Paige Whalen, Program Manager
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The Center for Community School Strategies is a program of the Community
Service Council in Tulsa, Oklahoma (A United Way Partner Agency) and an affiliate partner of the National Center
for Community Schools of the Children's Aid Society, New York City.
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