“Night of Family Engagement” Leveled Up PLSD’s Community Outreach Efforts
Courtesy of Pickerington Local School District
by Crystal Davis, Public Relations Coordinator
Perhaps the largest game of Rock Paper Scissors ever held in Pickerington, along with exhibits created by students and their families from 18 different countries, were just two of the highlights from Pickerington Schools’ first-ever Night of Family Engagement, held in December.
More than 400 people packed into Pickerington’s Wigwam Event Center for the free event, which also featured performances by Pickerington High School Central and North’s award-winning chorales, information-sharing by PLSD leaders, refreshments, and more games and prizes.
The Night of Family Engagement is the first in a series of community engagement events scheduled for the
2021-22 school year. The interactive event provided an opportunity for families, students and community members to engage with each other as well as school administrators. Attendees could visit any one or all of the 18 booths to learn more about how each country celebrates the holidays and get their passports stamped to be entered into a raffle drawing for PLSD swag.
After attendees spent time visiting the booths, emcee and Pickerington High School North Theater Director Al- len DeCarlo introduced Superintendent Dr. Chris Briggs, who spoke briefly about the Plan for Progress.
“So here is why we are here tonight and what we hope you get out of this evening,” Briggs said. “We are working hard to build a foundation of trust, supported by partnership and family empowerment. Listen, we know building trust and transparency happens over time, and actions
speak louder than words. Walk with us through this journey and we will get there together.”
Next up was Chief Academic Officer/Asst. Superintendent Alesia Gillison who fired up the crowd by leading them in a repeated chant of the words “Level Up!” Gillison explained that the Level Up initiative seeks to motivate the community with a singular focus on continuous improvement, and she challenged students to level up to the next achievement level on their Ohio’s State Tests.
Gillison said, “When large numbers of people have a deeply understood sense of what needs to be done
and see their part in achieving that purpose, coherence emerges and powerful things happen,” citing a quote from Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems by Michael Fullan and Joanne Quinn (2015).
Brian Seymour, Exec. Dir. of Instructional Technology and Innovation, led a game of Rock Paper Scissors where everyone in the room participated. Violet Elementary fourth-grader Maria Rosales took home the grand prize. Seymour led a Kahoot trivia game as well and Dr. Michael Jackson, PLSD’s Diversity and Engagement Dir. discussed the district’s latest diversity initiatives, including the hiring of 16 Diversity and Engagement Liaisons.
National Honor Society students volunteered as greeters, social media ambassadors and photographers for the
evening and the feedback from a post-event survey was overwhelmingly positive. Attendees wrote that they loved “see(ing) all the families so proudly sharing about their cultures,” “the games, which were very informative,” and the “music and singing.”
PLSD is excited to host another similar engagement event, the annual CommUNITY fair, on April 30, 2022. Watch PLSD’s website at www.pickerington.k12.oh.us for more info on the fair.
New Family Bilingual Liaisons Help Address Language Barriers
by Elizabeth Curtis, English Learner (EL) Coordinator
PLSD is excited about a new program that helps address language barriers for our New American and immigrant families. With this program, PLSD has contracted with Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services to hire our own parents as Family Bilingual Liaisons who speak the
following languages: Akan, Arabic, French, Ga, Nepali, Tigrinya, and Wolof. PLSD now has over 71 countries represented and we are committed to ensuring all families have a voice.
Family Bilingual Liaisons can help build the home/school relationship, and liaisons can also be used without the family to assist staff with items related to a specific language
or culture. Some of the other ways they help include enrollment assistance, advocacy, helping foster good study skills, home visits, encouraging parental involvement in school events and academics, clarifying misunderstandings between cultures and more. Right now PLSD has six Family Bilingual Liaisons who stand ready to assist, and the district plans to add more in the future.
