We are so glad to be back, we have missed our ParentCamp family, but appreciate your grace and patience with us, we felt your love and compassion from all across the globe and are truly grateful. This week’s ParentCamp is special to us, we are celebrating the Daddying Continuum in honor of our father and father-in-law which we lost in the past two weeks. The stars just aligned for us this week around this theme, so we knew we were on the right path. We have to give a shout out to our special friend, Allan Shedlin of DADvocacy (@DadVocacyCG) for helping us pull this week together. The second reason this week is special is that we have partnered with the Kentucky Collaborative for Families and Schools (@KYFamEngage) for Kentucky Family Engagement in Education Week. Thursday’s theme for the week is Fatherhood and Male Role Model Day, so we are kicking that day off the night before with Virtual ParentCamp.
This week is a little bit bigger and longer, we have 9 rooms to choose from and we will be repeating rooms for two rounds so the night will last from 8-9:30 pm ET/5-6:30 pm PT. We are still confirmed a couple of facilitators, but wanted to get the registration information out to you.
Registration is open now! https://www.parentcamp.org/event/2021-11-17-vpc for Wednesday, November 17th from 8 pm ET/5 pm PT to 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.
IMPORTANT – Bring a “bad” dad joke with you to share 😊
Why are fish so smart? They live in schools!
Run of show for the night (in eastern time):
8:00 – 8:20 pm – Welcoming, setting the state, what is “Daddying”
8:20 – 8:50 pm – Round 1
8:50 – 9:20 pm – Round 2
9:20 – 9:30 pm – Sharing, celebration – this is one of our favorite parts, the energy is crazy
Room 1 [Strengthen] – Our littlest ones, the sponges, they absorb everything!
Facilitator: Jenn & Derek Malicoat, Early Learning Specialist, EC Learn and Father Volunteer
Have you ever noticed how the littlest ones absorb everything? 90% of Brain Growth Happens Before Kindergarten. At birth, the average baby’s brain is about a quarter of the size of the average adult brain. Incredibly, it doubles in size in the first year. It keeps growing to about 80% of adult size by age 3 and 90% – nearly full grown – by age 5.
Join the conversation about fun ways to help your child learn and grow those neural connections.
What has ears but cannot hear? A cornfield!
Room 2 [Connect] – Take that first step, engagement in elementary school
Facilitator: Dennis Mathew (@storiesbydennis), Children’s Author, Books by Dennis
Dennis is a seasoned facilitator with us, you will really enjoy the conversation in the elementary school room – our experience is, once you get involved at the elementary school level, you will be hooked! It is also so important for kids to see male role models at the elementary level and often times they are few and far between. Being involved doesn’t mean heading up fundraisers and making copies, from working with your kids at home, coaching a team, volunteering to run a club or activity or just standing out front welcoming kids and giving them high-fives, there are plenty of ways to have a presence at school.
Dennis is an elementary school speech pathologist going into his 15th year working in the public schools. Since 2019, he have also been a children’s author and songwriter. He has three books and one music album published. His content is all integrated with SEL, the 7 mindsets, the growth mindset, trauma informed care, language enrichment, social skills topics etc. To date he have sold over 20,000 copies of his books (90% of which has been distributed to public schools nationwide), presented to around 120 schools and reached 70K+ students with his books and music. Link to Dennis’ music – BooksByDennis.Bandcamp.com
I was going to tell a time-traveling joke, but you didn’t like it.
Room 3 [Connect] – Crossing the moat, engagement at the middle school level
Facilitator: Dr. Ted Huff (@TedHiff), Missouri Leadership Development Specialist, St. Louis Regional Professional Development Center
Facilitator: Ryan Gutter (@rdotgutter), Parent, Boone County Schools (@Boone_County), Kentucky
How many times have you heard the metaphor that there is a moat around middle schools in regards to parent engagement or that they kids do not want their parents there? We do not believe that and we have two strong fathers who are going to share ways that they have been involved in their children’s lives and been engaged at the middle school level. Ted will share his experiences of the dads group which started at Francis Howell Middle School (@FrancisHowell) called “Viking Dads”
Dr. Ted Huff is a retired Middle School Principal who now works alongside school administrators helping them as a professional coach. An avid supporter of family engagement, character education, and academic achievement for all. He was previously named Missouri Middle School Principal of the Year.
Ryan Gutter is a husband and a father and a son. He is engaged in his community and dedicated to leaving things better than how he found them. He is a Project Manager by trade (certified PMP) and a collector of smiles.
You can’t trust atoms. They make up everything!
Room 4 [Connect] – High schoolers, all grown up? You still have a role to play
Facilitator: Clark Earick, Parent, Boone County Schools, Kentucky
They have crossed the teenage threshold of 13, getting their driver’s licenses, senior year, becoming a legal adult at 18. Where does the time go?? All of these lifetime milestones, some may think it is time back off from involvement, but really the opposite should happen, it just looks really different. The high school years are a time where a parent becomes more of an advisor, guider, confidant and safety net. How do you walk that fine line of allowing independence and responsibility but still being a parent. Also, what are ways you can get involved in the high school, with some creativity it can look really different and be very rewarding for your child and you!
Clark Earick is the Chief Operating Officer at a leading IT company, serves on several boards, and is a member of his church’s elder team. Over the past decade, he has served Boone County Schools as a member of the Strong Fathers team, the Site-Based Decision-Making council, the Go Pantry team, the Ment2Be mentoring team, the Family Resource Center advisory council, the Future Business Leaders of America advisory committee, and the Northern Kentucky Education Council. Clark is the proud father of a daughter in high school and a son in elementary school.
I ‘m reading an anti-gravity book. I can’t put it down!
Room 5 [Connect] – The future is bright – college, career and life
Facilitator: Larry Holladay, Parent Advocate, Prichard Committee (@prichardcom), KY CIPL Fellow (@KYCIPL), 2020 Beverly Nickel Raimondo Parent Leader Award Winner
Facilitator: Rick W. Smith Sr., (@ricksmith_66) Associate Vice President for Workforce & Economic Development, Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education (@CPENews)
Kids gone and out of the house? Emptying nesting? Parenting never ends, it just looks different. Once a parent, always a parent. Sometimes this is the phase in your life in which you could really use a support system in trying to figure out how you fit in this new phase.
Larry is a dad with two adult sons and Rick is a dad with three adult sons.
What do houses wear? An address
Room 6 [Connect] – Military – Helping families connect and rebuild dads’ confidence
Facilitator: Ben Killoy (@BenKilloy), Marine Veteran, Keynote Speaker & Coach
We are thrilled to have Ben join us at Virtual ParentCamp this week. This is very special after following Veteran’s Day celebrations. We want to honor the commitment and needs of our military families and dads.
Ben Killoy Is a Marine Veteran, speaker, a coach with a focus on helping dads rebuild confidence in who they are. Ben was spending a great deal of time running on the common path in life, transition out of the military, college, get a job, start a family, all towards American Dream. In 2014 he dropped out of the College of Engineering and left with a big question, what next? From this point, he reconnected with a love of leadership, and a desire to become a better husband and dad. He launched his first podcast Military Veteran Dad In 2019 and now his second podcast The Business of Fatherhood in 2021. He is now a stay-at-home dad and coach spending quality time with his family while still working hard and helping others. Ben now helps other dads rebuild their inner confidence and get them excited to walk through the door of their home.
What did the ocean say to the beach? Nothing, it just waved.
Room 7 [Connect] – Building capacity in dads to navigate the language and maze of the special needs world
Facilitator: Jeremy Bond (@JeremyDBond), Parent Leader, Communications, Media and Publications Manager, Connecticut State Education Resource Center (@ctserc)
Longtime friend of ParentCamp, Jeremy Bond joins us as a facilitator this week. In this room, the dialogue will revolve around building confidence and capacity in parents when it comes to their child with special needs. What are 504s, IEPs, ARCs, how does one go about advocating for services for their child?
Jeremy advocates for the voices of parents and families as a regular Twitter chat moderator and participant, as a guest on online and offline forums and podcasts, and as a graduate of a Parent Leadership Training Institute program, among other roles. Jeremy is communications, media, and publications manager for Connecticut’s State Education Resource Center, whose professional learning opportunities and resources support equity and excellence in education.
Why is Peter Pan always flying? Because he Neverlands.
Room 8 [Connect] – The Craft of Advocating – #DadVoice
Facilitator: Eric Kennedy (@EricKen83), Director of Advocacy, Kentucky School Board Association (@ksbanews)
Would you ever use the word advocate to describe yourself? Is it kind of a scary word to you? Guess, what, if you are a parent, you are an advocate! Are you nervous about talking to a school board member or legislator? You really shouldn’t be, they are people too, but if there is an item for which you are passionate, it is helpful to know how to prepare and approach conversations with them to be effective. You are going to love Eric, he has a great sense of humor and is FULL of great information.
Eric is the KSBA Director of Advocacy. He previously served as nonpartisan legal counsel to the Appropriations and Revenue Committees of the Kentucky General Assembly, where he focused on research, and legislation involving state and local taxes, school finance, and the state budget. Eric holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Louisville, and a Juris Doctorate from the Chase College of Law, and is a member of the Kentucky Bar. He is also a foster and adoptive parent.
How do you throw a party in outer space? You planet.
Room 9 [Connect] – Granddaddying – GrandParent Engagement! The BEST!
Facilitator: Allan Shedlin (@DADvocacyCG), Founding DADvocate, DADvocacy Consulting Group
We saved the best for last, not only in room topic but facilitator. Allan has helped us plan this Virtual ParentCamp and is an amazing grandfather. We love his stories not only from being an educator but being a grandparent.
Make sure you sign up for the Daddying Blog.
Most importantly, Allan Shedlin is the father of and daddy to three daughters and a “bonus son,” as well as five grandchildren, and three “bonus grandchildren.”
Allan is a former teacher, adjunct professor, school principal, advisor to the US Secretary of Education, state superintendents of education, and the White House Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships. He earned a BA in English from Colgate University, MA in both Elementary Education and Special Education from Columbia University Teachers College, and an ABD in Education Administration from Fordham. But he considers his D-A-D the most important “degree” of all.
Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired!
Remember – two rounds of rooms this week, so plenty of opportunities to go to as many session as you want when you want, THAT is ParentCamp!
Register now at https://www.parentcamp.org/event/2021-11-17-vpc and make sure you invite a friend!
#ParentCamp #VirtualParentCamp #KYFamEngage #FSCE #FamilySchoolCommunityEngagement #DadsinEducation #Daddying #Dads #Grandparents #EarlyChildhood #Elementary #DennisMathew #MiddleSchoolMoat #TedHuff #RyanGutter #HighSchool #PostSecondary #Life #Career #LarryHolladay #RickWSnith #KYCPE #Children #Kids #Students #Military #BenKilloy #SpecialNeeds #JeremyBond #Advocacy #KSBA #EricKennedy #Grandparents #Dadvocacy #AllanShedlin
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