Garrett Apland MHS teacher

Juntos and its partner groups Together and Papalaxsimisha have proven to be wonderful opportunities for families to get together and connect. It is an amazing experience to talk to families and establish positive routines that assist with bringing their learners a high school diploma and a plan for the future. Meeting regularly in a comfortable environment as a community to support one another in reaching our goals feels fantastic. Questions are answered, policies and requirements are explained, but more than that, families spend time together and together we work towards that which matters the most, the success of our learners.

I have been fortunate enough to be a facilitator for the Together group here at Madras High School. I was immediately taken aback by the potential of truly obtaining family involvement in a positive way that lets everyone work together towards the same goals. It is sometimes hard to ask for family involvement as a teacher because you fear what added work you may need to do to support the involvement of family members. With Juntos, there is a clear plan that everyone gets to participate in working towards. With the facilitator roles, there is no added work for anyone and yet families can be regularly and actively involved in their learner’s education. Families are empowered with exactly how to support their learners and they get to do it collectively for the benefit of all. Having multiple families participate allows us to build on each other’s strengths and share common experiences. Teachers, families, and learners seem to feel more and more like reaching graduation with a plan for the future is not an impossible task, it is something truly attainable that we do together. It is.

Working with Juntos is a great experience that I will continue to support and work towards for learners and their families everywhere.

https://create.osufoundation.org/juntos