Wyoming — While Krystal Arguello helped students glue sparkles and feathers on Mardi Gras masks during a recent Friday activity, she reflected on being both an employee and a parent at West Elementary.
Mom to a kindergartner and two older children who previously attended West, Arguello said she saw the need five years ago for more parent involvement. She became a recess aid and then a paraprofessional with a broader plan in mind: Get other parents into the building.
“That was always the goal. I am very passionate when it comes to the community here,” she said.
Arguello also served as a Spanish translator at conferences and began to get to know parents at a personal level. Some were a bit shy about communicating, she recalled, and overall, parents seemed unsure about how to get involved.
“I don’t know if they thought they weren’t welcomed here or if they could only come for a Valentine’s or Halloween party,” she said.
So far this school year, West has had 44 parent volunteers as of the end of February who have pitched during Friday events. Principal Brian Hartigan has a goal to have 60 volunteers by the end of the school year.
A Warm Welcome
When Hartigan began as principal the year before the pandemic, parent involvement was minimal, he said. Rebuilding since COVID has been an ongoing process.
He sees two main reasons for the increase.
The first: As part of the school’s den system, implemented last school year, students participate in “den meetings,” every Friday, which are activities and celebrations that are ideal for parent involvement. The second: Arguello and nine other parents are also employees at West, creating a connecting presence for other parents. They are parapros, food service professionals and a secretary. Two teachers also have their children enrolled at the school.
While hiring parents wasn’t exactly by design, Hartigan said, it’s proven invaluable.
“I think they have a very unique perspective,” he said. “If anything, they hear more of the questions or complaints, and they are able to first-hand share what is going on in the school. They invite them to come in and be a part of the school.”
Parapro Brittany Harrison, who has a first-grade daughter at West and had two others attend who are now in high school, said she regularly talks with other parents to get a sense of how they are feeling.
“I live across the street, and so I know a lot of the parents. Even those parents that are hesitant to have their kids in school in this day and age, with me and the other (parapros) they feel a little more comfortable. … It is a safe place.”
Harrison said parents who volunteer on Fridays tend to want to return.
“Hopefully that will spark more involvement, so they want to come in and read to the kids for March is Reading Month,” she said. “It’s been great seeing them grow.”
Celebrating Each Other
English learner paraprofessional Nayeli Botello, who has worked at West since 2022 and has two third-graders and a fourth-grader at the school, said parent-parapros have also worked to show parents how they can be involved. She thinks the den meetings are a great entry point for non-English speakers.
“Since we started working here we have tried to bring more families together and more family inclusion with the students,” said Botello, who has two third-graders and a fourth-grader at the school. “We have brought in a lot more of the Spanish-speaking families that were a little more shy.”
The fact that parent involvement is celebratory is also part of the equation, said fourth-grade teacher Trevor DeWaard, who enrolled his two daughters, who are in first and third grade, at West this year.
One daughter was recognized during a Leader of the Pack ceremony, which honors students recommended by their teachers for being responsible, helpful and kind.
“It was cool to see (the parent) side of it. … I felt really proud. It was really awesome to hear the words from a colleague about my daughter,” he said.
There’s also just something special about having a crew of parents that are also employees, said secretary Belinda Saucedo, who has a third-grader at West. They become parents to all, she said.
“We look out for all of the children, knowing that they are your friends’ and colleagues’ children.”
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