RILEY CALLS FOR FAMILY INVOLVEMENT WHEN
"AMERICA GOES BACK TO SCHOOL"

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley is calling on parents and community leaders and members across the country to celebrate "America Goes Back to School" when children nationwide return to classrooms in the Fall.

"Children know when their parents and other adults take something seriously," said Riley. "And nothing is more serious than investing time in a child's education. We must reinforce the message that improving our schools and all education is very important."

Now in its fourth year, America Goes Back to School is an initiative of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education -- a coalition of more than 4,000 business, community, religious and education organizations.

Riley said the initiative seeks to draw attention to the critical need for parents and communities to support their schools. "The most effective schools draw their strength from the parents and other adults in the surrounding communities. There is simply no substitute for the attention of families, neighbors, youth and civic groups when it comes to shaping the lives and improving the learning of children."

This annual effort focuses on improving education across America and takes place during the months of August through October when students around the nation head back to the classrooms. "America Goes Back to School" is a special time for communities to reaffirm a commitment to learning and education. I hope parents, and business, cultural, civic and religious leaders, as well as elected officials, will seize this opportunity to go back to school and get and stay involved."

Last year, America Goes Back to School events took place in every state across the nation. For example, the Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama sponsored a Back To School Rally at the Alabama Fairgrounds. They celebrated with over 10,000 children who read a total of 82,000 books over the summer months in the READ*WRITE*NOW program. They also laid out their plan to continue their commitment to reading in 38 after-school programs and many churches.

CNN took their Emmy nominated educational program CNN Newsroom "on the road" to five cities across the U.S. to give students a national voice on educational issues. Among the America Goes Back to School activities scheduled this year:

• The Central Kitsap Goes Back to School Fair in Silverdale, Washington, will be a day long event where parents, students, community members, and schools can unite in their awareness and understanding of the powerful impact of becoming actively involved in children's academic success. 150 community, business and educational booths will be set up to provide information on: new concepts of partnerships with families, communities and educational staff in public education; skills and strategies to develop and coordinate strong family-school-community partnerships; and an awareness and knowledge of community and Central Kitsap School District programs for schools and students. Last year there were approximately 5,500 participants in the fair.

• Project PACE (Parents and Children in Education) in Brooklyn, New York, will hold a kick-off breakfast at the John J. Pershing Intermediate School on October 21 to celebrate the opening of their Satellite Learning Center. The center is opening under the auspices of Pershing's Beacon School Program, which provides community access to the school weekdays from 3pm to 10pm and for five hours on Saturday. The center provides community access to their state of the art technology infrastructure, which includes distance learning, multimedia, Internet, e-mail and video-conferencing capabilities. PACE allows parents to take an active role in their children's school experience by directly participating in the day-to-day learning activities of the classroom, as well as offers parents the opportunity to develop job skills through technology training.

• America Dreams Through the Decades, a project created through the Library of Congress by two Teaching Fellows, Leni Donlan and Kathleen Ferenz, will kick-off October 12 via the Internet. This 6 week long project challenges students to explore the American Dream from three perspectives: historian, storyteller and celebrant. Students nationwide will examine the American Dream through the decades of America's past, capture their own community's Dream and enter it on a digital "Portrait of America", then share their personal Dream on the "Wall of Dreams" via the World Wide Web. This will culminate in a "Celebration of America" in classrooms across the nation. Students will invite family and community members to share and celebrate their Dreams with other participating classes and communities.

• The Georgia Partnership for Education will sponsor its 6th annual Bus Trip Across Georgia. From September 28 to October 2, leaders from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, local and national business, government and education leaders will visit 18 examples of the best practices in Education. The five day trip visits public schools in every part of Georgia to witness successful programs positively impacting student achievement. The Partnership commits itself every year to the promotion of higher standards, to celebrate success and to recognize excellence. As a result, participating schools have gained involvement from their community and local businesses. The event generates pride in the schools and creates and awareness of the school system needs.

For more information on America Goes Back to School, including a free activity kit that gives concrete ideas, resources and examples of how parents, families, community groups, employers and educators can help children learn and improve our schools, visit the U.S. Department of Education's homepage, http://www.ed.gov/Family/agbts/ or call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327).

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