Date

12-2017

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Department

Health, Human Services and Public Policy

First Advisor

Zuleima Arevalo

Second Advisor

Andrea Ibessaine

Abstract

There is a high percentages of monolingual Spanish speaking parents who do not know how to navigate the school systems, especially in the East Salinas. Therefore, it is very difficult for parents to collaborate with schools without having the basic information that each parent must have in order to navigate the school systems. I did my capstone project at Building Healthy Communities in Salinas, CA. In 2009 Building Healthy Communities became one of The California Endowment’s 14 initiatives. BHC is a ten-year initiative with four focus campaigns where it collaborates directly with different non-profit organizations. BHC is committed to improve East Salinas residents’ health, environment and education by transforming the places where residents work, live, and play into healthier places (The California Endowment, 2017).

The project that was implemented consisted of trainings, educational workshops and community/board meetings. The project purpose was to provide essential information to parents on how to navigate the school system and also provide them different skills and strategies on how they can get involved at their children schools. As a result of this project a parents’ committee was created named “Padres Unidos Contruyendo Escuelas Saludables” in collaboration with BHC and parents. The benefits that this program brought to BHC and the community were more parent involvement, leadership development among parents, and the creation of a strong and united committee.

The committee consists of approximately 20 parents. Despite the time the committee has, we have had much success and many achievements thanks to the perseverance and dedication of the parents. One of our goals as a committee is to continue working as a team to achieve the success of our children in collaboration with districts, schools, teachers, parents and students.

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