Last August, when Valerie Oliveras became the City Connects Coordinator at Banneker Elementary at Marquette in Gary, Ind., there was no parent-teacher organization. So Oliveras set out to get to know families and elevate their voices in the school — but first she had to explain what her job was.
“Initially it was challenging. Everyone just assumed that I was a DCS worker,” Oliveras says, referring to Indiana’s Department of Child Services. For support, Oliveras relied on her colleagues at the Banneker and at Marian University, the Technical Assistance Center for City Connects in the Midwest. And she kept reaching out. “I had to start building rapport with families, and I had to show them what I could do, what true support could look like.”
To do this, Oliveras used a strategy she learned while she was working in Massachusetts. “My mentor instilled in me this great responsibility to respect the space that I’m coming into. So for the first six months, I sat with people. I listened and observed. I did simple things like being part of the drop-off line in the morning and saying ‘Hi.’ I made sure that any time there was a parent around, I introduced myself to them.”
She began to say, “I’m just here to be helpful. That’s my job. I’m the Banneker school’s helper, and that will look different for every family.”
Oliveras also built a rapport with the students in her school. And she would include parents in the work she did with their children, reaching out with good news and praise for kids’ activities.
“I’m the Banneker school’s helper, and that will look different for every family.”
“I needed to learn about the families and about the community,” Oliveras says.
Gary is a community that had benefited economically from being a Steel Belt city. But when the steel industry declined, Gary’s population shrank and unemployment increased. Families, however, remained.
To draw these parents closer to the Banneker, Chaitra Wade, the school’s principal, wanted to launch a PTO. Oliveras decided to start with a meal.
“We did a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner to fit people’s schedules.”
Turnout grew. Parents could sign up to get more involved in the school. The next step was launching a parent leadership team.
“That was our version of a PTO,” Oliveras says, “and from there, it has grown. We asked parents what needs they saw and how they wanted to be involved. And the parents who were engaged had a lot to say.”
Small changes had a big impact. The request to make time for parents to take photographs at student award ceremonies, for example, led to a reception where parents celebrated and socialized with each other.
“At the end of the year,” Oliveras adds, “we hosted a community fair so parents could learn about different summer services and programs like the food bank and public library programs. I organized it, but it was the parents who donated food and worked at different stations. I had T-shirts made up for them, but they took ownership of that day, and that was so cool. Six months earlier we hadn’t had a PTO, but now parents were taking the lead.”
Parents also came to school and spent most of a Saturday decorating teachers’ doors for Teacher Appreciation Week.
“The parents were troopers, and they brought their children, so the kids got to participate, and you could feel the shift of energy in the school.”
During the last week of school, Banneker had its field day, something Oliveras didn’t organize. But when she arrived that morning, she was delighted to see how many parents were there.
“One of our dads was there and he ran the kickball station. He was out there all day teaching the kids how to play kickball because, thanks to Covid and thanks to being in an inner city, the kids didn’t know how to play kickball.
“Seeing parents being super engaged was the best way to end the school year. They feel empowered. They don’t need an invitation from me. And that’s what I hope we start with next year, this feeling of parent ownership.”
