The Tennessee Parent Teacher Association Winter Conference will come to Johnson City Thursday night.
The conference will be held at Towne Acres Elementary, 2310 Lakespur Drive, from 6-8 p.m. The theme is “Family Engagement.”
“Family involvement is very important,” Johnson City Council of PTAs president Theresa Shaw said. “We would love to see more families, and more people from the community, involved in our children’s education.”
The winter conference is an annual event for the state PTA association, but the format this year is slightly different, Shaw said. Usually the conference focuses on training exercises for the PTA members. This year, it will center around a presentation from a special guest speaker; Sherri Wilson, National PTA senior manager of family and community development.
“We are very fortunate to have Sherri be our guest speaker at our Tennessee PTA Winter Conferences this year,” Shaw said. “Sherri is the recipient of the 2014 Bammy Award and Educators Voice Award from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International.”
The Bammy Award is a cross-discipline honor that identifies and acknowledges the extraordinary work being done across the entire education field every day.
Wilson is responsible also for the development and implementation of all programs related to family and community engagement. She oversees the National PTA Standards of Family School Partnership and the National Family Reading Experiences, Powered by Kindle.
PTA members, parents, educators and others interested in education from all around the Tri-Cities are invited to attend the conference. No reservations are required; interested people are invited to simply come the night of the meeting, Shaw said.
“This is open for anyone who wants to know more about how they can get involved in the education process,” she said. “I hope we can share that with everyone, about family engagement and community engagement and how that can have an impact on education.”
For more information, call Shaw, Johnson City Council of PTA’s president at 423.767.6286 or visit the JCCPTA Facebook page.