Parents Step Ahead's First Event of 2011 is a Success!

USA - English

• Latin America - español

DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Parents Step Ahead, a Dallas area non-profit organization, had their first school event for 2011 on January 20 in Irving, Texas. Approximately 700 people attended this free event that had food sponsored by McDonald's, seminars for parents, childcare, clowns entertaining children, and a community resource fair. The event was organized in conjunction with the Irving Independent School District and held at Sam Houston Middle School.

Parents Step Ahead's mission is to, "recognize, educate, enable and empower parents to take a proactive role in the educational and personal development of their children." The organization works with schools, school districts, and community organizations to create school seminars for parents throughout the school year. Programs focus on ways parents and legal guardians can be more actively involved in their child's educational life and the huge difference their involvement can make.

The event kicked off with a presentation by Raul Magdaleno, Parents Step Ahead board member, who encouraged parents to become leaders in their children's lives and most importantly in their education. After the presentation, the parents attended three seminars that focused on understanding bullying, parents' role in developing their child's assets, and parental involvement in college preparation. The community resource fair followed the seminars and featured booths from organizations like Metrocare and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and colleges that included the University of North Texas and Southern Methodist University among many others.

Attendees had the opportunity to win various raffle prizes throughout the night. The last raffle of the night was a desktop computer for one lucky attendee and two laptop computers for two of the school's teachers that volunteered at the event. Jessica Garcia was the happy winner of the desktop computer while Melanie Maine and Rachelle Palmer were the two laptop winners.

Ms. Garcia has a daughter in the seventh grade at Sam Houston Middle School. "I felt very happy to win the computer because my daughter wanted a desktop. We were excited when our number was called," said Garcia. "It was a very memorable night and we really enjoyed the program."  

All of the volunteers and staff at Sam Houston Middle School believe the event was a success due to the information that the parents received on bullying, preparing their children for college, and a parent's role in developing their child's assets. "It was wonderful to see so many parents, staff, students, community members, and vendors all be brought together with the common purpose of improving kids' lives and strengthening families. The entire building was filled with a sense of community and family as we welcomed over 400 parents, hundreds of children and students, and almost 50 vendors to the program," said Robert Abel, principal of Sam Houston Middle School. "Ms. Lupita Colmenero and her Parents Step Ahead staff were amazing to work with and they delivered a wonderful program for our families."    

About Parents Step Ahead

Parents Step Ahead is a 501-C3 nonprofit organization with a mission "to recognize, educate, enable and empower parents to take a proactive role in the educational and personal development of their children." The organization works in partnership with school districts, corporations and community organizations to offer a series of school-based programs for parents of all backgrounds throughout the school calendar year. Educators, motivational speakers, community volunteers and parenting experts present seminars on topics such as gang awareness, drug use prevention, underage drinking, computer literacy, Internet safety, raising kids with love and logic, and health and financial issues. Programs focus on ways parents and legal guardians can be involved in their child's life and the difference their involvement can make. www.parentsstepahead.org.

SOURCE Parents Step Ahead