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Date: 6/7/2023
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Public Schools’ Family & Community Engagement Office will host their first Family Education Expo on June 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the MassMutual Center.
Families get a chance to enjoy free books, raffles, giveaways, workshops, and vendor tables. There’ll be hands-on computer science activities for children and live performances from various artists, including the Community Music School. In addition, there will be an art exhibit in celebration of Juneteenth, featuring works from Springfield Public Schools students.
Chief of Family & Community Engagement Jose Escribano said, “Our goal is to engage families, community organizations, and businesses to support Springfield Public School students.” He continued, “We’re expecting at least a thousand families to attend this event. We’re hoping to learn through surveys what workshops parents are really interested in and see if we can expand more topics for families next year.”
The Family & Community Engagement have the Back-to-School celebration every year. This inaugural expo event comes out of a district initiative called the Parent Academy. Springfield Public Schools partners with community organizations to offer free workshops for families. This year was the launch of their new strategic plan Portrait of a Graduate. During the planning process, there were a lot of meetings with the community to understand what was important to them. One of the things they learned was that the community wanted more engagement and involvement in the schools. The district created a new department called The Family & Community Engagement last year. Escribano was selected to take on this role and engage the community to better support the school system.
“Coming out of COVID, we decided to re-launch our Parent Academy by having this family- friendly event,” Escribano responded. “During the day we’re going to be offering ten workshops that include literacy, parents with autistic children and beginners’ yoga and mindfulness. We’ve partnered with different organizations to host those workshops at the MassMutual Center.”
So far, they have 85 community organizations that will have tables to provide families with resources that are available in the community. The event is being sponsored by Helix, Public Health Institute, New North Citizens Council, Springfield Works, Way Finders, Baystate, Springfield Partners and Springfield College, Scholastic, Massachusetts Behavioral Health, Verizon, Hudson Financial, Vox Church, Springfield Housing and Stages Learning. As part of the event, there’ll be performances and raffle prizes for families throughout that day.
“We received good responses from the community around the Expo and we’re already planning another expo for next year,” said Escribano. “Our focus is to expand the relationship with community organizations and establish those relationships so when their families need support around various areas or situations the Family & Community Engagement Office can be that resource for Springfield Public School parents.”
The expo is a free event to attend. Go to https://tinyurl.com/FamilyEducationExpo to reserve your tickets. For more information about the Family Education Expo, vendor tables, or sponsorship contact Family & Community Engagement at 413-787-7100, ext. 55670.