By Kate Smigelski ’15 | Staff Writer

Parents of struggling students now have the option to attend a special seminar tonight where they can learn new ways to motivate and help their children and be more proactive in their education, Assistant Principal Terry Flint said.

All parents wanting to take the next step in their children’s education at South should come to a seminar called 60 Minutes to Success tonight, Oct. 1, Flint said.

“We want kids to feel supported,” said Flint.  “Cool things are happening to help kids do a better job at school.”

The idea behind this seminar is to impact students by reaching out to their parents who think South is not a friendly place and who are unaware about the resources available, social studies teacher Liz Rabidoux said. They will learn how to change their outlook on South and how to support their children.

“This is an all hands on deck situation,” said Rabidoux.

The seminar consists of different speakers coming up on stage and explaining different resources available around the school and in the community, Flint said. One of the most interesting parts of the seminar will be the interviews of students and their parents who have had a huge turnaround in their academics.

“We’ve got some kids in the school who have taken their grade point average from a 1.8 to a 4.0,” said Flint. “We want to see that radical of an improvement more.”

There will be a representative from the Grosse Pointe Public Library and other faculty members at the seminar to talk about opportunities for taking the next step in academics, he said.

“There’s a ton of resources out there that honestly I didn’t even know about,” said Flint.

Some of the resources being discussed are academic lunches, tutoring, Text Remind and the library resources, Flint said. Text Remind is one of the newest resources South has. It allows teachers to send a text out to their students with any information regarding the class, so students know what is going on at all times.

“For the parents, we’re getting them information on things they might not know anything about,” said Flint.

One of the biggest advantages of electronic resources is Pinnacle, Flint said. Parents can sign up to get an automatic e-mail when their student’s grade has dropped below a certain point. This will keep parents who do not check Pinnacle regularly up to date on their student’s grades.

“We want kids to feel supported and know that there are resources out there,” said Flint.

The Mother’s Club will also be at the seminar, said Rabidoux. They want parents to know that anyone can be involved and what they do for the school.

“The Mother’s Club really wants to reach out to parents who might not be involved,” said Rabidoux.

60 Minutes to Success is all about the changes parents can make to help their kids, Rabidoux said. They will have the opportunity to learn about how to change the way they look at the school and how to help their child feel more included in the student body.

“Mr. Pascoe will be there to talk about Link Crew and how that will connect the older and younger students, especially Freshmen,” said Rabidoux.

There will also be a follow-up meeting planned for the first week of February with an adolescent specialist from Grace Counseling Center, Flint said. It will be more of a workshop where parents learn how to motivate their child if he or she is unmotivated.

The cheerleading squad will be available in the gym for games and other activities during the seminar for any parents with young children.

[info]

Anybody is welcome to come to 60 Minutes to Success. It begins at 6 p.m. and will end at 7:30 p.m., with refreshments from 6 to 6:30 p.m.[/info]