Engagement MATtERS Arkansas
Engagement updates for the families, schools and communities of Arkansas
January 2022
Students and their families had a fun day learning outdoors at Wynne School District's Yellowjacket Fall Training Camp.
wynne makes learning fun for Families
Wynne School District hosted their first-ever districtwide Yellowjacket Fall Training Camp for K-12 students, their families, businesses and non-profit service organizations on October 14, 2021—showing that learning can be fun, and involving the entire community in an outdoor sports themed festival.
District staff, students, alumni, parents, community members and sports teams all rallied to produce games, competitions, and activities that challenged kids and their families to test their skills and knowledge in math, reading, science, history, career exploration, and fine arts. Food was also provided by a community partner. The event took place on a football practice field during a junior high home football game with Batesville. The book walk, outdoor science lab, speed ball throwing, and career photo booth were just a few of dozens of interactive activities that got people moving, laughing, and learning.
About 30 sports alumni returned to campus for the event to mentor current students on what it takes to succeed in sports beyond high school. "Their 'what I wish I had known when I was in high school'" presentations were invaluable to those who attended, Sherry Breckenridge, District Parent Coordinator, said. "The event was a huge success, and we hope to be able to do it again next year!"
During these uncertain times, please keep safety in mind for all parent, family, and community engagement events and activities.
smacktalk for students
SMACTalk, the Social Media Awareness Campaign series produced by the Arkansas Department of Education, encourages discussion and real-time learning on topics of concern to parents and their students about the use of social media and its impacts. This time, the students themselves took the bull by the horns in this SMACTalk for Students episode and tackled the subject of cyberbullying. Watch and learn from this video co-written and acted by students from the Texarkana School District, their second such video on YouTube: "Dangers of Cyber Bullying."
(viewing time 7 minutes)
The SMACtalk January newsletter can be found here.
Arkansas Tutoring Corps
The Arkansas Department of Education and the Office of Education Renewal Zones announced in Fall 2021 the launch of the Arkansas Tutoring Corps to serve the academic needs of students across the state who have fallen behind in their learning as a result of the pandemic. The Arkansas legislature called for an emergency response through the passing of ACT 912 during the 2021 legislative session, which has paved the way for more than 500 tutors to be screened, trained, and hired into the tutoring corps pool. Tutors who go through the ADE-sponsored program will be able to quickly provide the additional one-on-one and small group learning that has been proven to be most effective for helping students who are struggling in reading and math, in particular. Learn more.
manila public schools AND FRIENDS GIVE BIG
The design you see on the gym floor in this picture (left) is a physical representation of the generosity and care that Manila Public Schools students, parents, and community members are showing their neighbors in need this fall and winter season: those carefully stacked "dominoes" are more than 15,000 servings of food, which along with the $3,000 cash raised, were made available to district families.
Please continue to share your family and community engagement stories with us at ade.engagementmatters@ade.arkansas.gov.
MORE dese news nuggets
ARKansas 21cclc news
Michael Vincent of Arkansas 21st Century Community Learning Center's staff at the ADE Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) interviews successful afterschool programs around the state in this first in a series of quarterly podcasts featuring Mabelvale Elementary.
(listening time 35 min.)
raising readers
The English language has many layers. Knowing the characteristics of these layers can help students not only read better but have a deeper understanding of the English language itself. This lesson, and others, can be found in the January edition of the R.I.S.E. Arkansas newsletter which is available online. You can also use this link to print the newsletter and share it with others.
when kids use school computers at home...
If you are a parent struggling to keep up with your child's school-related passwords, are wanting to understand better the expectations for using the school-issued computer, or want to know how your child's private information is being tracked, DESE's Digital Learning Unit recommends the Common Sense Media article "Tips and Tricks to Manage Your Kid's School-Issued Computer."
Check out the DLU website here.
peer network supports plc's
The past several years have seen Arkansas students and families benefitting from the adoption of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) techniques where teachers meet regularly in teams to share classroom lessons, methods, and support for the students they share in common. Now, more than 59 schools and districts make up five PLC Project cohorts. As peer-to-peer helping has grown, there are many Arkansas practitioners taking the lead and expanding the network. "Project Collaboration" continues to expand, with ADE organizing the supports and connections. Learn more.
ARP homeless program adds
$2 million
$2 million
Students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Arkansas have additional help from a new program that expands access to homeless funds and services in the state. More than $2 million in additional American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds are being made available over the next three years to eligible non-profit organizations, beyond current McKinney-Vento grantees, who will use the funding to assist displaced students and families with immediate household, educational and health needs as populations most highly impacted by the pandemic. To assist the state in promoting the availability and use of ARP Homeless funds, ADE’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is working with the state’s regional educational cooperatives and statewide community-organizing partners Bright Futures USA and Every Arkansan, who partner with schools, community organizations, social services officials and faith-based groups. Key to the initiative is the training that is needed to better identify students experiencing homelessness, as well as formalizing the community-based connections, communications, and systems needed to provide wraparound services and address specific student and family needs.
Helpful links:
ARP HOMELESS PROGRAM FAQs
ARP HOMELESS REFERRAL FORM
(this will request that you make a copy)
community organizations "wrap around" students
In 2021, the ADE launched the Statewide Community Resources Portal, a website that provides a ready list of organizations, contact names, addresses, and phone numbers who provide food, clothing, mental health, and other vital family services. The web-based database is continually updated, and ADE and DESE staff are helping get the word out to our stakeholders so that folks know where to find the "wrap-around" services to help stabilize home environments and keep kids in school: https://adedata.arkansas.gov/scr.
Individuals and organizations may upload their contact information directly to the website at the form provided.
