Hispanic Parent Engagement Summit to take place Oct. 7

Hispanic parents and educational leaders from across Sussex County will come together for a Hispanic Parent Engagement Summit from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, at Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus in Georgetown.

Sponsored by La Esperanza’s La Colectiva initiative, educational sessions offered in both Spanish and English will showcase how to help children at school and then build bridges to parents taking on advocacy and leadership roles in schools and parent organizations.

To register, go to bit.ly/cumbre-padres.

The summit grew out of the Parent Engagement Project, which began a year ago with research from an Arsht-Cannon Fellow to identify best practices to help Hispanic parents connect with schools, said Jen Fuqua, La Esperanza executive director. The organization has also been involved in a working group with parents, educators and advocates.

“We want to help parents understand how they can be involved, engaged, and lead – and give them the tools and knowledge to help their children succeed,” Fuqua said. “Parents should have a voice that can go beyond the summit and share these lessons.”

The summit will feature plenary speaker Maria Matos, CEO of Wilmington’s Latin American Community Center, as well as workshops on parenting and learning at home, communication and decision-making, and volunteering and collaborating.

A parent panel moderated by Javier Torrijos, former chair of the Delaware Hispanic Commission, will gather insights from parents on challenges or barriers they face, strategies to talk with children about their school experience, and resources needed to strengthen parent participation.

“Our goal is to bring parents together in a unified way to support their children. The continuum of parent engagement begins with understanding what you can do to help your child,” said Alina Ferrer, La Esperanza board president. “It continues to understanding and acting upon some of the bigger issues related to supporting multilingual learners – having input on the decisions made in our schools.”

A light breakfast, lunch, coffee and raffles will be offered. A resource fair featuring organizations that work with Hispanic families will conclude the event. Groups interested in participating should contact La Esperanza at 302-854-9262.

La Colectiva de Delaware is an initiative of La Esperanza, the only bicultural and bilingual multi-service nonprofit agency in Sussex County that provides free services in family development, immigration, victim services, and education for Hispanic adults, children and families. La Colectiva is sponsored by the Arsht-Cannon Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation.