MARCH 10-17, 1994Connecting families and schools to help our children succeedEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA'S MINORITY VOICE - SINCE 1987Raising a child is tough. So is models for their children. As their children Ts first teach- child choose programs for view- that parents who are consistently self confidence and broaden theireducating a child. Research confirms that, regard- ers, parents and families can: ing, Select programs to watch to- informed about their children Ts interests.The day-to-day reality of the less of the economic, racial, or cul- 1. Schedule daily homework gether and discuss, progress can contribute to higher 6. Talk to your teenager. Talk toAmerican family isdifferenttoday tural background of the family, time, Establish a timeeach day for ~ achievement. The partnership be- your teenager. Know who yourthan a generation ago. Parents whenparentsare partnersintheir your child to be engaged in aca- Parents need to use TV wisely tween parents and teachersis key teen Ts friends are and keep tabs onand children spend far less time children Ts education, the results demic work Review it by both limiting the amount of tocreatingaclimate athome and their whereabouts. Support yourtogether and almost all parents are improved student achieve- recularly. Provide a quiet, wel]. viewing and helping children se- at school conducive tolearning. teensin their school and extracur-face an ongoing struggle to bal- ment, better school attendance, -lightedplaceforstudy.CutoffTVs lect educational programs. When _ 5. Offer praise and encourage- ricular activities. Keep them in-ance the demands of their family reduced dropout rates, and de- andradios, Also, discourage phone chosen carefully, some television ment. Encourage your child to put volved in family activities. Con-life with their jobs. Atatime when creased delinquency. calls during work time, Encour- programs can help increase inter- in the time and effort to complete tinue to set and enforce rules.parents are under tremendous Parents and families can make age yourchild Ts efforts and beavail- est in learning. assignments, to _ work Stress their importance as a rolepressures thatmakethemlessable abigdifferencein the education of able for questions. Spend time 4. Keepintouchwith theschool, hard. Encouragehimtopersevere. model to younger siblings.to participate in their children Ts young people. The U.S. Depart- discussing what she has learned. Don Ttleaveitup tothe school tolet Cultivate a warmand supporting § Children and parents,can learnlives, there is a greater need for mentofEducationis committed to While schools have the respon- you know how and what your child home atmosphere while also set- alot about each other just by talk-them to be involved, particularly dealing with this issue byempha- sibility of assigning meaningful is doing, Stay aware of what your ting and enforcing standards for ing. Parents should communicatein education. sizing the importance of family- work, students have the responsi- school work. their values openly with their teen-Parents recognize this need.According to a Newsweek "PTApoll, some 40 percent of parents allacross the country believe they arenot devoting enough time to theirchildren Ts education. This issue -one of the biggest and most impor-tant affecting education today -will only be solved through a jointeffort involving parents, schoolsand the community.Schools must respond to theneeds of parents and provide thesupports necessary for them to beinvolved in their children Ts learn-ing. At the same time, parentsneed to slow down their lives, stressthe life-long importance of gettinga good education, and serve as role.school partnerships in its majorlegislative initiatives: GOALS2000 and the reauthorization ofthe Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act (ESEA). In addi-tion, Secretary Riley is asking par-ents to become partners in a na-tional family involvement cam-paign. This joint effort will con-nect families, schools, and com-munities to enable all children tomeet high standards.People who have worked withfamilies and schools have sug-gested a number of concrete ac-tions that parents, schools andcommunities can take now to helpall children learn.bility to complete it. Time spenton academic work at home is di-rectly related to achievement.2. iStudies show that when parentsread to their children or listen tothem read on a regular basis,achievementimproves. Taking thetime to read with children is themost successful way to encouragekids to read and is critical to achild Ts education.3. iUse TV wisely, Establish aTV watching bud thelPictured (right to left) with Jim Rouse are: William Nobles, owner ofthe DuBois Center, PastorJames Corbett of Community Christian Church, Darius Shackleford and Rev. A.C. Batchelorof Phillipi Missionary Baptist Church. They accompany Jim Rouse as he announces hiscandidacy.Greenville Alumni Chapter of Kappa AlphaPsi Fraternity Inc. starts Guide Right Programrapidly changing society.~ The Kappa League/Guide Rightconsists of any program under-taken by the members of the fra-ternity that attempts to broadenthe horizon of young. people. It| helps develop programs for theyouth, primarily, inspirational and| informational in character. Any omale with a two (2.0) point aver-_age (age 12-18) can join, The meet-fing time is the first Saturday| monthly at 11.a.m. The place is| 200 Hooker Road Greenville, NC| 27834. Proposed activities are of-| fice work, Buddy Tutorial Pro-gram, Yearly Province Conven-GUIDE RIGHT DIRECTOR |The Greenville Chapter of KappaAlpha Psi Fraternity Inc., orga-nized a youth group for boys in thetion, community service projects,sports and cultural events. :Sunday, February 13, theGreenville Silhouettes of KappaAlpha Psi Fraternity were veryGreenville and Pitt County area T supportive by planning a Tea Sipnamely the Kappa League/Guide for the new members and theirRight Program, which has been a - parents at 200 Hooker Roadin the "part of the National Service Pro- s Center, Gi pagram ofthe Kappa Alpha Psi Fra- The spsince 1922. It is an infor-mal program of educational and| analtions, award program for educa- -The Greenville Alumni ChapterPole march Leroy James is a greatsupporter of the Guide Right Pro-gram. Director Monty Frizzell,Advisor Carlton Floyd D.H. ConleyHigh School area; Taft, DavidBarnhill, Darin White, Greenvillearea,Group off to a good start.CrimePreventio:Fal 0 ifa Ay h i p ceaoon eeEta Psi members of Kappa Al-pha Psi Fraternity attending |ECU's Mike Moore, Reggie Jones, ~Ron Villines, andChris Smith werevery supportive in getting the Boys\ aigsResearch on the performance ofhigh school students has shownThe oSteel Bandits, � a seven-°| member musical family, will| present a varied program for allages in an East Carolina Univer-sity appearance scheduled for Sat-urday, March 19, in Wright Audi-torium. :The 2 p.m. concert is part of theUniversity Unions Young Audi-ences performing Art Series andwill last about an hour.In their concerts, the oBandits �present musical styles rangingfrom classical to calypso, contem-porary to big band jazz, as well asoldies, country and western andBroadway show tunes, The bandmembers play 10 handcrafted, 55-gallon chrome-plated steel drums,Parents play a dominant role ininfluencingachild Ts confidence andmotivation to become a successfullearner. Parents should encour-age children to complete assign-ments as well as introduce them to. enrichment programs and outsideexperiences that will enhance theirSTEEL BANDITSalong with woodwinds, electronicmusic synthesizer and rhythmmachines. Adding to their showare vocal and dance routines andbright, colorful costumes.The band members are all broth-ers and sisters, ranging in agesfrom 11 to 21 "the children of Jo-seph and Inez George of Perry, Ga.Their music began when InezGeorge bought steel drums duringa Caribbean visit as a gift for herfamily. What began as a mother Tsplan for wholesome recreation de-veloped into a professional careerand success.During the past three years, theBandits have performed in con-cert halls and clubs "even at aager. By talking about the impor-tance of values such as honesty,self-reliance, and responsibility,parents are helping their childrenmake good decisions.cting Wi ar-ents(continued on page six)Steel Bandits' to appear at ECUpolitical fundraiser attended byformer President Ronald Reagan.They have also completed anunprecedent six-month engage-ment at the Myrtle Beach HiltonHotel. oWhen the Steel Bandits takethe stage, sights and souds followthat are very unusual in this dayof ill-conceived and overhyped en-tertainment, � said a UnversityUnions official. oIt Ts an hour of thekind of honest and unaffected per-formance that comes so naturallyto children "and it Ts put acrosswith the kind of polish and musi-cal virtuosity that defies perform-