WEBVTT

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My name is Ario Salazar.

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I am the Parent Partner Program
director at Mission Graduates,

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and my work with
the tutoring center

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at Marshall Elementary
School deals

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with having parents be more
engaged in school governance

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and be better advocates
for their children.

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The participation that we see

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in the after-school program
is mainly due to the fact

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that the after-school
program has changed the face

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of this community, in that it
has made the school become more

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than a school, and it becomes
sort of like a resource center

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and a community center
where you know for a fact

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that if you voice your need or
concern, somebody is listening

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and somebody will be able to
do something about that need

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or that concern that you have.

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And so I think that the
participation is definitely more

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meaningful as well
because parents build

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that strong rapport with
these after-school teachers.

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Parent participation is
increased when a school site,

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or in this case an
after-school program,

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really promotes the idea
that you are not only working

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with the student but you
have a family approach.

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And I think that we have
proven ourselves time and again

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in showing the parents
that we really do care

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about their concerns
and their needs,

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that we are not neglectful
in any way.

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We have a mission and a vision.

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We want for all students
from the Mission District

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to attend and finish college.

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When I first started,
there was not

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that much parent
engagement here.

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That was in 2004.

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It pretty much took us
five years of layering,

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honing this particular line of
work within the program design

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of the tutoring center,
because we realized

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that without the
participation of the parent

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in a meaningful way,
we were not going

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to go beyond providing
just like, perhaps,

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like a mediocre type
of program when we knew

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that we really needed to
have higher expectations

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for both the families
and the students.

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And if we didn't convey
this clearly to the parents,

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then we were not
going to be able

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to achieve what we have managed
to achieve in these five years.

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I feel that parents
want to participate,

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but sometimes feel intimidated.

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And I feel that it is also the
job of the educator to open

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up the school and really take a
look at how things are happening

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in the classroom, in the
program, and what some

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of the main areas of
mutual support are.

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And I think that once parents
understand that, and you present

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to them the option that they
can participate if they wish

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to do this, they will definitely
take that step forward.

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That's our experience here.

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And also, I think that through
this daily communication,

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parents understand that
this is not child care,

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this is serious business,

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we are here helping
their children succeed

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in the classroom
on a daily basis.

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I think that this is the major
thing that we have managed

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to do here at Marshall
Elementary School

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through the tutoring center,

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is just basically giving
parents the tools to understand

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that they are our partners.