PSP hosted two parent workshops in April. We held our first annual Lennox parent night and our second annual El Monte night, run in partnership with El Monte Promise Foundation. We welcomed the parents of our scholars from 7th-12th grade for dinner and workshops about paying for college and how to prepare for their children’s transition into to college. We were also joined by PSP scholars, who participated in their own sessions where they learned about UC admissions and how to build strong study habits, and participated in a service project for Project Angel Food.

Parents in both Lennox and El Monte came together to discuss college admissions and financial planning for college. Parents were assigned to workshops based on the grade their child is in so that they could get to know their fellow PSP parents.  Discussions were tailored so that parents got the most relevant information for their children’s age group. All parents received information about the college admissions and financial aid process as a whole and were able to voice their questions and concerns about their children going to college. Thanks to a partnership with El Monte Promise Foundation, PSP was able to offer parents in El Monte customized information about planning for college and parents will get continued support from the EMP. In Lennox we partnered with Cash for College to provide comprehensive financial aid information to parents.

In Lennox, scholars were treated to workshops by three of our board members; Ms. Terryl Martin, Mrs. Gretchen Ondrozeck, and Ms. Meg Sanchez. Ms. Sanchez taught scholars how to correctly write on and address a post card. PSP scholars visit so many exciting places and they can take advantage of this skill by writing post cards from the fun places they visit. Ms. Martin led an activity on how to properly address envelopes for our scholars. They took the time to write a note to their parents and address their envelopes. PSP has addressed the art of letter-writing in previous scholar meetings, building the communications skills they’ll need throughout their lives.

Mrs. Ondrozeck worked with scholars on a service project for Project Angel Food. Project Angel Food delivers meals to people who are too ill to get their own meals; often times this is the only interaction for their clients. Scholars decorated the bags used to deliver Project Angel Food’s birthday meals. They got to be creative and write nice messages for people and decorate the bags with stickers and markers.

El Monte scholars participated in a workshop by a longtime PSP mentor and sponsor Dr. George Ferenczi. Dr. Ferenczi lead the scholars in a discussion about how to improve their study skills. Some of the important topics that he covered included an emphasis on planning ahead and creating the space and time that students require to do their work well. The group also talked about the need to balance the many demands on their time, from after-school jobs to extra-curricular activities and more. They also got to talk with our very own PSP alum from the El Monte community who now works at UC, Santa Barbara as an Admissions Counselor. Armando shared his own story about applying to colleges and then provided an in-depth look at the UC admissions process. Students were able to ask questions about not only how to get into college, but what college is like once they get there.

PSP looks forward to these parent sessions becoming annual events for our parent community.