By Hipolito R. Corella
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
The Wrights of Winterhaven are making involvement in their kids' education a family way of life.
It shows on the living room ceiling, which is pockmarked by the flagpole, mock-rifle and scepter that daughter Holly uses to practice for the Flowing Wells High School color guard.
It's demonstrated by Kitsie Wright, who became a substitute teacher two years ago to start an afterschool science club at Flowing Wells Junior High School, 4545 N. La Cholla Blvd.
And it's displayed by Burt Wright, who hangs graded calculus tests by son, Buzz, a University of Arizona engineering major, at his office like others would hang photos or awards.
"I can't think of anything I'd rather do than go to one of my kids' performances," Burt Wright says of his six musical children - two UA students, three high schoolers and a seventh-grader.
To educators and researchers, parental involvement like the Wrights' is crucial to improving a community's educational system and helping students improve classroom performance.
That sentiment is echoed by Flowing Wells Superintendent John Pedicone, who says family involvement and a relevant curriculum are the two most important factors in improving school performance.
"Without strong parental involvement, schools struggle," he said. "Could the schools still educate children? Yes, but it's much more difficult."
A survey last spring by the Public Education Network, a national school reform organization, and Education Week, a publication for educators, said half of its respondents wanted to get more involved in education. But the same percentage of people said their work schedules keep them from doing so.
To Kitsie Wright, it's simply a matter of parents forcing themselves to make the time.
When she was a stay-at-home mom, Wright said she'd hire a sitter to watch her children so she could volunteer weekly. She also gave summer safety classes at school as a certified CPR, first-aid and baby-sitting instructor.
She said the family's hectic schedule starts at 5:30 a.m. and is filled with work, band practices and errands. Sunday is the only day they have a sit-down dinner together.
Still, Kitsie Wright said busy parents don't have to be at the school to get involved.
Barbara Benton, director of school and community relations for Tucson Unified School District, agrees.
A designated time
At the Devecchio home, there is a designated homework time when Karen Devecchio sits at the kitchen table with her children as she is doing here, watching over her 6-year-old daughter Tina.
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"I advise parents that their focus should be with their children at home, having them ready for school, helping them with homework and knowing their friends."
Benton said parents who do that are as important to raising student achievement as the 33,000 volunteers who logged 266,000 hours in TUSD last year.
"The payoff for us is that kids do better at school and their attendance goes up," Benton said.
"You're not necessarily making an 'A' student out of a 'C' student, but they start coming to school more often and care more about their education."
Sunnyside School District mom Karen Devecchio said, however, that helping a child improve her letter grade makes volunteering worth the effort.
Devecchio helped prepare classroom supplies and catch kids up on their homework. She's also tutored children in reading and math.
"One girl . . . told me her grade in reading had gone from a 'C' to an 'A'. She was so happy," Devecchio said.
Devecchio's volunteerism started in a family literacy program at Craycroft Elementary in 1998. Helping in classrooms was part of required vocational training as she worked toward a General Educational Development certificate.
The program was held on campus during the regular school day. Preschool was provided for the participants' younger children.
Devecchio said the training she received, such as using phonics to help children read, has carried over into her home. Her youngest daughter, Tina, 6, started reading before she entered kindergarten last year.
And she's already signed on to volunteer in the afternoons this school year.
HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILDREN:
* Remember you are your child's first teacher.
* Send your child to school rested and fed.
* Read and write with your child.
* Take your child to the library, have books in your home.
* Meet your child's teacher early in the year and keep in touch.
* Volunteer to help with school projects (some tasks can be done at home).
* Have high expectations for your child's learning and behavior, both at home and at school.
* Praise and encourage your child, display child's work at home.
* Establish rules and routines in the home, support school rules and goals.
* Provide a special place to do homework and talk to your child about homework - but do not do your child's work yourself.
SOURCE: Florida Center for Parent Involvement, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida
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Cochelle Dubs, principal of Magee Middle School, said schools need to welcome volunteers such as Devecchio.
One event her school uses is a "Promise Dinner" that allows parents and out-going eighth-graders to celebrate each spring.
The students also pledge to stay drug-free while the parents promise to communicate openly with their children through high school. Last year, about 260 people participated in the event held at the school, 8300 E. Speedway.
Dubs said she can't prove the dinner works, but she has plenty of letters from parents who appreciate the effort.
Guadalupe Romero, principal of Davis Bilingual Magnet School, said she's so eager for volunteers that she spends mornings in the first week of school greeting parents, encouraging them to get involved.
It has worked, leading to about 50 volunteers a week at the school at 500 W. St. Mary's Road.
Anne T. Henderson, senior consultant for the Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University, said schools will "never raise achievement if they don't get parents involved."
"You've got to be smart about this, talk to parents. Ask them, 'How can we get you more involved?' "
For example, she said, open houses need to be held after work and include child care for preschool children.
"People don't want to go to a school and hear a report. They want to know how they can help their kids learn. They want to see the children perform. They want to see their child's work."
Henderson said schools have to let parents help shape the curriculum, involve them in teacher training, teach them how to decipher test scores.
Jaimie Leopold, senior program consultant for an Arizona group helping 15 schools better utilize parents, agrees.
Karen Devecchio works with daughter Nicky,12, while Teddy, 13, and Tina, 6, also do their homework.
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The Arizona Community Foundation's three-year pilot program, the Learning Community Initiative, supports school efforts to be open to the community outside the school day.
Erickson Elementary is the only Tucson school involved in the 18-month-old initiative.
Erickson pupils get overnight leadership classes through a program with the National Guard, and the school has started an anti-bullying program. Principal David Overstreet organizes an annual peace rally with pupils from other schools.
Overstreet said he uses family movie nights and an annual neighborhood harvest festival to get the community into the school, 6750 E. Stella Road.
He said his goal is to have classes and activities for pupils, their families and the community from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
"I'd like to be overrun with volunteers," he said.
