Refugee Family Literacy, formerly Mommy & Me, a program of Friends of Refugees, is one of CDF’s strategic partners. The program provides ESL classes for the parents according to ability and, while the parents are in class, the children (ages birth to 4 ) participate in an early learning program.
Assemblies are an opportunity for the Refugee Family Literacy program participants to come together to discuss topics of interest and to learn about resources in the community. So far in October two assemblies were held. One was conducted by Emory School of Nursing students on yoga, with stretching and breathing demonstrations and easy to read handouts.
A second assembly on education in Clarkston, was facilitated by the ESL teachers and program staff. One of the objectives of the assembly was to gather information on families’ ideas and issues about education to be shared with the Clarkston Education Task Force. For this assembly, Jennifer Green, director, divided the groups based on where their older children go to school, including Head Start, elementary, and middle school–and those who go to non-Clarkston schools, including schools run by the Mosques.
According to Jennifer, there was a lot of lively discussion and lots of notes taken. Several participants expressed interest in getting more involved in the school’s PTA (Indian Creek), expressed interest in knowing more about what is happening in the schools, and many were interested in attending future Clarkston Education Task Force meetings.
The Assemblies, which are new this year, are funded in part by CDF’s W. K. Kellogg Foundation grant, Clarkston’s Families Decide.
The Assemblies are held for about an hour in length and child care is provided. The topics are suggested by families and attendance is voluntary.
For more information on the Refugee Literacy Program, click HERE.