On Thursday, November 7, 2024, nearly a dozen families of Owen-Withee Elementary students gathered to take part in the Title 1 Family Literacy Night. Parents were shown strategies for helping their children at home.

“The night went really well,” reported Reading Specialist Katie Hatlestad, however, “The turnout was a lot lower than expected. We only had 11 families show up. The goal of the evening was to demonstrate for parents a writing curriculum that was implemented last year (Self-Regulated Strategy Development). We gave them an overview of the curriculum, gave them a small writing activity that could be practiced at home, and then they watched their students, and a teacher demonstrate the curriculum in the classroom.”

Two other goals of the night were to inform parents of the Title I program at O-W and update them on how Act 20 is being implemented. All parents with children in grades K-5 are invited to attend a Title I schoolwide meeting on November 25 at 4 p.m. in the elementary conference room. The schoolwide plan will be reviewed and updated for improvement at this meeting. One of the provisions of Act 20 is to inform parents of the screening scores. Students who score under the 25th percentile will need a Personal Reading Plan.

“We are required to send home information about dyslexia and how to refer children for special education. The first time we need to do this is in January,” Hatlestad said.

Many hands helped make this night a success for the O-W Elementary Title 1 program and teachers Katie Hatlestad and Rachel Devine. A free lunch was served, teachers and other staff volunteered to run the teaching sessions and greet the families.

“We would like to thank the businesses that donated towards our raffle prizes. We had over $150 worth of prizes to give away,” said Devine. “These businesses were A&W, Forward Financial Bank, and Kwik Trip.”