Treasure Your Family: Supporting Families by Linking Schools and Community

• Published in: Childhood education Vol. 98; no. 4; pp. 56 - 61
• Main Authors: Morris, Ronald V., Shockley, Denise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Olney Routledge 04.07.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Elementary School Students; Family Programs; Family Relationship; Family School Relationship; Incentives; Low Achievement; School Community Relationship; Secondary School Students; Ohio
• ISSN: 0009-4056; 2162-0725
• DOI: 10.1080/00094056.2022.2108295

The Gallia-Vinton Educational Service Center (ESC) in Ohio, USA, gained some valuable understanding about school and family collaboration through its Treasure Your Family (TYF) program. In partnership with Gallia County Job and Family Services, Gallia County Commissioners, Gallia County Local Schools, and Gallipolis City Schools, the ESC created a Treasure Your Family program in 2021 with the goal of offering experiences that would develop stronger relations between relatives. Through the program, families could engage in a series of events resulting in incentives. The area served was a community that lies along the Ohio River in Appalachia. The first offering of the program demonstrated considerable community support from students and their families, and so the program grew substantially for the second round in the fall of 2021. This article describes the context, procedures, structure, and pitfalls and lessons learned for the TYF program.