Youth Guidance Set to Host 22nd Annual Parent Leadership Conference

J. Kirby
Published: January 21, 2015

Youth Guidance, a 90-year-old, school-based agency working in conjunction with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), will hold its 22nd Annual Parent Leadership Conference in Oakbrook, Illinois, January 23-24, 2015. The event will feature engaging parenting workshops emphasizing tools and strategies to implement in the home, school and community. Last year’s event brought nearly 200 mothers, fathers, and educational experts together for networking and discussions about parenting best-practices.

Della Ezell, Youth Guidance Parent and Family Engagement Program Manager and conference organizer, is thrilled to see the event enter its 22nd year: "We carefully picked topics for this year’s conference, focusing on tools that parents need most. We are covering areas such as Common Core Standards, support for fathers, and how to parent for the social and emotional well-being of children both in home and in school. Parents will leave with new ideas to help their sons and daughters succeed.”

The 2015 Parent Leadership Conference theme, Parenting with Knowledge, Action and Transformation, includes interactive workshops to empower parent leaders, school administrators and community members to take more significant roles in the lives of youth. Workshops will be offered in both English and Spanish.

Youth Guidance specifically focuses on serving many of Chicago’s most disadvantaged areas – including Little Village, Englewood, Roseland, Austin, and East Garfield Park - where the challenges of community violence, unemployment, and academic failure for youth are paramount. The agency directly served more than 8,000 youth in FY14, and through auxiliary services touches the lives of more than 14,000 youth, parents, teachers and community members.

Programs such as Becoming a Man (B.A.M.) and Working on Womanhood (W.O.W.) provide counseling, mentoring, violence prevention and educational enrichment for 7th -12th graders. Other Youth Guidance offerings include After-School care, Project Prepare for workforce readiness and support for wards of the state of IL through the agency’s S.T.R.I.V.E. program. Collectively, the programs operate in 78 schools across Chicago.

One of last year’s parent participants noted, “I would encourage others to attend this event. I learned a great deal and many principals also came out. They are parents too! As parents, we are all especially interested in learning about resources that are out there for us.”

For more information regarding the 22nd Annual Youth Guidance Parent Leadership Conference, visit the Youth Guidance website at: http://www.youth-guidance.org/event/2015-parent-leadership-conference or phone 312-253-4900.

Keywords: CPS, education, family, parents, youth