Today Gov. Phil Bredesen is promoting National Parent Involvement Day in Tennessee to honor parents who are involved in their children’s education and their schools. This is also an excellent opportunity to encourage parents to become even more engaged. Involvement in your child’s education is one of the surest roads to your child’s success as an adult. Are you looking for sensible, doable ideas? Then check out our link for activities that can help you and your child connect on the education front. If you have ideas you’d like to share, please post them in the comment section to share with others. Here are some other ways from a web site called Family Education.

Parents often have the opportunity join school organizations that raise money for that school’s extra educational needs or to help out in some way with the school. Check out the importance of these organizations here.

1. Read to your child everyday or let him read to you. In addition to reading, discuss the storyline with your child and what it means. This discussion will show you that your child understands what he has read and will help him develop analytic skills.
2. Encourage your child to read – just for fun. Help your child discover the joy of reading. It doesn’t really matter what the tool is: newspapers, magazines, novels, biographies, graphic novels or internet sources. One way to encourage your child is to let him see you reading on a regular basis.
3. Talk to your child about school. Not just “How was your day?” but ask specific questions about the classes he had and the type of work he did in class. If he had a test, ask him how he thought he did on it and why? Ask him if he felt prepared and how he thinks he could be better prepared next time.
4. Get to know your child’s teachers. Teachers welcome involvement from parents so getting to know your child’s teacher will open the door to a beneficial relationship. Ask your child’s teacher for specific ways to encourage your child and how you can bolster his particular learning style.
5. If your child’s teacher has a web site, visit it regularly. Find out what projects or homework assignments your child has and make sure he is on track to complete them on time.
6. Review your child’s homework daily. You might have to brush up on your skills if it’s been awhile since you did a particular arithmetic problem or conjugated a verb. Your child’s teacher might even be willing to give you some guidance if you ask.
7. Explain to your child in real world terms about why he needs a good education. Find ways to show your child how he will use math or English after he gets out of school. When you go to the grocery store and see something on sale, show your child how you use math to determine if the sale price is a good one or not.
8. Make sure your child is ready for school. Ensuring your child gets plenty of rest, has a balanced diet and is physically active will help with his academic life. Proper nutrition and sleep feed the brain and help children, as well as adults, function better.
9. Find teachable moments in everyday life. When you are outside raking the leaves up, explain to your child about the process of leaves turning from their summer greens to the bright displays of the fall palette. Lots of resources, particularly on the internet, exist to help you find some of these opportunities.
10. Encourage your child to ask questions. Lively discussions about a variety of topics can help develop your child’s interest in the world around him. Your own community probably provides a lot of opportunities for this type of discussion.

“We all have a vested interest in education whether we know it or not.” Those are the words of former Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist as he opened a presentation of “A Roadmap to Success: A Plan to Make Tennessee Schools #1 in the Southeast Within Five Years.” A Roadmap to Success is a 36-page report put together by Frist’s organization, Tennessee SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) after consulting with parents, educators, community leaders and other key stakeholders across the state for the better part of this year.

Sen. Frist talks about Tennessee SCORE's final report and its recommendations.

Frist and his team, Executive Director Brad Smith, and Alene Arnold, director of statewide operations, have been touring the state, sharing details of the compelling report. Earlier this week, they stopped by the Knoxville Chamber where Frist delivered details of the report.

Tennessee SCORE is a citizen-led, statewide commission focused on education

Before recent changes, Tennessee had the lowest education standards in the nation, Frist said.

“We want to be No. 1 in five years,” he told the supportive crowd. “The question is can it be done? It can be done.”

Frist cited four key strategies outlined in the report:

• Embrace High Standards/expectations – raise them
• Cultivate Strong Leaders – principals and directors of schools need support
• Ensure Excellent Teachers – how to attract them and retain them: give them the support and tools they need
• Utilize Data to Enhance Learning – lots of available data but not using it

He further describes the report’s actionable details:

60+ specific recommendations, specific roles for key groups that includes advocacy (changing culture and making education most important), teacher and leadership initiatives (empowering them to do their jobs), innovation fund, (scale up programs) and legislative agenda (providing support for initiatives).

“Our only goal is to make sure every child has an opportunity,” he said.

That is a lofty and admirable goal that we should all pursue.

Sen. Frist, founder of Tennessee SCORE, and BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard

Thanks to all the community members who came out for BEI’s Gubernatorial Community Forum. About 250 people attended the event, and a number of them asked pertinent questions to the four participating gubernatorial candidates. We appreciate those candidates who were willing and able to make time in their busy schedules to participate in this event, which focused on education. William Blount High School provided an excellent backdrop for the discussion. Thanks to all the WBHS staff and students who helped make this event such a success. Students assisted in getting the auditorium ready, and members of the Student Council helped BEI by handing out materials and greeting guests. Thanks also to WBIR for televising the forum live on its 10News2 Channel and streaming it on the WBIR web site. WBIR’s staff, John Becker, Randy Stephens and the rest of the crew, did a fabulous job in making this event flow smoothly from beginning to end as did the League of Women Voters of Blount County. Blount County Sheriff’s Office provided officers for the event. Thanks to you all. We couldn’t have done it without you. BEI’s goal is to partner with other community agencies to facilitate the discussion of education. Thanks to all those who helped.  Stay tuned for pictures of the event in the near future.

BEI’s Gubernational Community Forum sparked an informative discussion on education in our state among four of the candidates for governor as well as the community. Audience members asked a number of critical questions involving the future of education and had the opportunity to hear how the candidates stand on the issues. Thanks for those of you who were able to come out and participate. Read BEI’s release on the event for more information. Gubernatorial Community Forum

For the last several months, leaders with Tennessee SCORE (State Collaborative on Reforming Education) have been traveling across the state talking to educators, government leaders, business representatives and community members to address some of the challenges facing our schools, students and parents. That intensive fact-finding mission has culminated into a 36-page report chock full of recommendations, responsibilities and strategies to improve our statewide education environment during the next five years. Please take the time to read this valuable document and share it with your friends. We all play a part in making our education the best it can be. SCORE Final Report

Tennessee’s prospects to overcome its low national educational rankings surfaced as one of the hot topics at the Blount Education Initiative’s (BEI) gubernatorial forum on education Oct. 26, at William Blount High School in Maryville, Tenn.

Candidates participating in the forum included Nashville businessman Ward Cammack (Democrat); Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (Republican); former Tennessee House of Representatives Majority Leader Kim McMillan (Democrat); and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (Republican).

Among a host of issues posed to the candidates, the economic impact of Tennessee’s long-time public education standing arose as a key point of concern.  Several candidates cited the competitive difficulty of recruiting desirable business and industry to Tennessee, given the state’s national reputation for having a lower-educated workforce.

The candidates also spoke to the recent release of the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) report on raising Tennessee’s educational standing to first place among Southeastern states.  Various candidates voiced either optimism or guardedness about the state’s realistic ability to achieve such an aggressive improvement within five years, as called upon by SCORE.

The purpose of the BEI forum was to explore the topic of “Making Education Tennessee’s Top Priority: The Roles of State Government, Local Governments and all Tennessee Citizens” among gubernatorial candidates.

BEI’s leadership cited the success of the event in bringing educational issues to the forefront of the community – not just in Blount County but also throughout East Tennessee and hopefully statewide.

“With more than 250 people attending the event and many more viewing it via Knoxville’s WBIR-10News2 live broadcast, the forum successfully brought educational issues to the forefront throughout our regional community,” said BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard.

BEI’s recent Gubernatorial Community Forum generated a lot of interest in the community and resulted in some broad-ranging questions for the candidates who participated. The candidates included Ward Cammack, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, Kim McMillan and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp. For more information on the forum, click here. While candidates were answering questions in front of an audience of about 250 people in William Blount High School’s auditorium plus those watching it live on WBIR’s 10News2 and their Web site, WBHS senior and Student Council representative Candice Lawtonwas taking pictures of  the event for BEI. Here is a selection of the photos that she took.

Candidates Bill Haslam and Ward Cammack

Candidates Bill Haslam, Ward Cammack and Kim McMillan and moderator John Becker

Candidate Kim McMillan

Candidate Zach Wamp

Candidate Bill Haslam

Candiate Ward Cammack

Candidates Kim McMillan and Zach Wamp

Moderator John Becker and candidates Kim McMillan and Zach Wamp

Students listening to the candidates.

All the candidates

volunteers with the League of Women Voters of Blount County assist with the questions.

Audience members waiting their chance to ask a question.

The decorations WBHS students put up for the event.

BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard