Parent involvement has a direct impact on student performance, Houston County officials say

Editor’s Note: Bibb County School District also held special events for Georgia Family Engagement Month and National Parental Involvement Day. See The Telegraph on Monday for some of their activities.

Students whose families are engaged with their schools tend to do better, educators say.

“Research shows that the more engaged families are, the better students do not just academically but with attendance and behavior,” said Carla Thorpe, district family engagement coordinator for Houston County schools. “The more parents know about what’s going on, they can have those conversations that ... lead to just producing a more well rounded student.”

The National Education Association reports that such engagement correlates to higher grades and test scores, improved social skills, behavior and increased likelihood of continued education upon graduation from high school.

Houston County schools spent the past month recognizing contributions of parents and family members and their impact on student achievement with various activities at the schools.

The Telegraph talked with three families known for involvement in their children’s schools.

The “go-to”

Gloria Snipes is known at Miller Elementary School as the “go-to” — and not just for what her granddaughter is involved in such as the dance club — but also for meeting other needs around the school.

Her granddaughter, 10-year-old Amiyah Joiner, a fifth-grader, lives with her.

“The only way you know what your kids is doing is being involved in what they do,” Snipes said. “I know that all parents cannot be involved ... But some have a grandparent, an uncle, a cousin. Someone can pitch in.

“It’s great to be involved because it gives you a relationship with the teachers, and then you get a feel of who cares for your child. And everybody should want to know that person who cares about their child because you’re putting your child in their hands from 8:30 to 3:30,” she said.

Snipes is often an extra set of hands for faculty and staff.

She serves as a proctor when students take the Georgia Milestones Assessment System, a standardized state test.

“I sit in the classroom, give out pencils, wipe their noses and do anything they need me to do,” Snipes said.

Snipes helps decorate the cafeteria for holiday lunches served at Thanksgiving and Christmas and with seating and crowd control during the events.

In the school library, she helps students select and find books and she helps the school’s media specialist reshelve books.

She also has worked in the Santa Shop, a school-created store where students can shop for Christmas gifts for their families during school hours.

Snipes enjoys sending snacks with Amiyah to her homeroom teacher to hand out to fellow students “to let them know somebody’s thinking about them,” Snipes said.

She’s also known to drop off snacks and gifts at the front office on appreciation days such as for teachers and custodians — from a dozen doughnuts to a small gift for a teacher.

“If they have an appreciation day, I’m going to put something, not a lot, but I’m going to put something up there for someone to have something,” Snipes said. “I want them to know I appreciate them being there.”

Describing herself as “old school,” Snipes said she pays for and sends Amiyah to a tutor on Mondays and Wednesdays and to Bible study on Tuesdays.

“And that helps her with a whole lot that I don’t understand,” Snipes said.

Amiyah is an A and B student.

Snipes offered this advice for ensuring your child’s success at school.

“You’ve got to give a teacher respect, and if you disagree with them, you can’t let your child see it because your child won’t approve of that teacher anymore,” Snipes said. “That’s when you got to count to 10 and let it go and take it up with them another time.”

“No. 1 Rule in My House”

Monica Buckles is a single mom with two sons in school and one daughter in college on a full-academic scholarship.

She knows the importance of being involved with her children and their schools.

“It’s very important for their future,” said Buckles, who served 26 years in the U.S. Army. “Growing up, I had both of my parents. But being a single mother, it pushes me harder to ensure that I’m involved because I want my kids to be able to have a better life than I had.”

Buckles is known at Perry Middle and Perry High schools as the advocate, that parent in the know, who’s always posting on social media about school and community topics.

Her Facebook posts include reminders for parents to check grades on Infinite Campus, an online tool for parents to keep up with their child’s school progress, and the times and dates for workshops for the SAT and ACT college entrances exams.

She’s a familiar face at school sporting events.

Both her sons, Khalid Miller, 13, an eighth-grader, Khiari Miller, 15, a sophomore, are involved in athletics.

Both are A and B students.

She calls them her “academic athletes,” meaning she encourages them to perform well in both academics and sports.

“The No. 1 rule in my house is academics first,” Buckles said.

In addition to other sports, both her sons play football. She serves as a team mother with a group of other parents that provide snacks, a meal, mentoring and help with academics if needed.

“I kinda stand in and fill in the gaps and do things like that and just give them all love ... and support,” she said.

She also serves as a proctor for the state standardized test, brings goodies for teacher appreciation days and helps out as needed.

“I keep up with academics. I keep up with behavior issues, if there’s any. I keep up with as far as what they’re doing .. disciplinary, academics, sports,” Buckles said. “I can truly say if I walk into the schools, the people in the schools are very familiar with me.

“... If I see other kids doing something, you know, I have that relationship where I can speak to them ... encourage them, mentor them, or ... tell them what’s right or wrong,” she said.

She also helps students with scholarship packages.

“If it’s something where they need me to read over it or try to research and find them a particular scholarship, I do offer my services free of charge just to ensure or try to make them better students and to let them know that we don’t always have to go out and get student loans,” Buckles said. “We have to use our resources. But also if there’s an opportunity, we’re going to try and find scholarships.”

Her 19-year-old daughter, Kamili Miller, a sophomore at Florida Agricultural Mechanical University, is on a full academic scholarship. The 2018 Perry High School graduate is studying pre-medical biology. She wants to be an obstetrician/gynecologist, Buckles said.

Buckles said she works hard to stay informed in order for her children and their peers to have access to better resources than she did growing up.

“As a parent, you need to be involved to make sure that you provide those resources and the love that the kids need in order for them to make it to the next level,” she said.

A father’s promise

Sergio Alcantar, a native of Mexico and a U.S. citizen, understands the importance of family involvement based on his own experience.

His parents couldn’t afford to send him to another town in Mexico and pay for his meals in order to continue his education. So after completing the sixth grade, Alcantar said he had no choice but to enter the work force.

As a young man, he came to the U.S. with the plan of earning extra money and returning to Mexico to build a house. But he saw the opportunities for a better life here.

He learned English, earned his General Educational Development diploma, was granted citizenship and continued to work hard.

He and his wife, Maria, have always relied on a team approach to raising their four children. The youngest, Bianca, 11, a fifth-grader at Parkwood Elementary School, is an honor student with all As.

Their two sons have graduated college and have good jobs. Their oldest daughter is in college.

“I saw that they had a good brain when they were little,” Sergio Alcantar said. “So, I tried to do as much as I could for them ... like I told them if you give me good grades, I will help you go to college.

“I had to work a lot of overtime sometimes just to pay a little bit that they needed. It’s hard to go to college if you don’t support them,” he said.

Alcantar, a maintenance worker for the city of Warner Robins who previously worked in construction, has been the primary breadwinner. His wife helped their children with their homework, attended parent-teacher conferences, helped with field trips and such.

Together, they keep up with how Bianca is doing in school and do everything they can to help her, as they have done with their older children.

“To me, it’s the No. 1 priority because of what I’ve been through .. It’s not been easy for me,” Alcantar said. “That was my goal: not to see them ... go through what I went through .. to give them a better life.

“ ... I’m pretty proud of what they have achieved to this day and I hope they keep going,” he said.