Welcome!
North Country
If you're interested in joining the Network, please contact
Marlene Marchand
North Country Facilitator
603.466.2089
mmarchand@picnh.org
Parent Leadership Training Complete in the North Country and Moving to Exeter!
NH Connections facilitator Marlene Marchand and Project Director Michelle Lewis recently facilitated a Parent Leadership Training (PLT) in Whitefield NH to promote strengthening family-school partnerships in special education in the northern county. The PLT in Special Education gives parents of children with disabilities skills to assume leadership positions on their children's school teams, on parent support groups, and to support school personnel. The training helps to build bridges.
"One high point of the training was when Michelle asked the group, parents and teachers about their feelings in preparing for an individualized education planning (IEP) meeting. As people began to share their feelings there was a real "aha" moment that the groups experience similar feelings and they all have the children's best interests at heart", Marchand noted. Seventeen people registered for the training that focused on building relationships and working together, not working in silos.
The three session series ended with a Leadership Challenge that continued to build on helping each other see both sides of issues, and discussing a strong leader's characteristics. Lewis said, "We examined what leadership is. Problems can be what get people motivated, to feel the fire in their belly; however what opportunities do they see to develop stronger family-school community? A fire in the belly yes, but also the motivation and energy to make a change. It's not about the leader - good leaders surround themselves with people with many good skills." Read full article and learn about the upcoming Exeter training.
