Grandparents making a difference at BSD
Editor’s Note: Due to a production error, this story did not run in it’s entirety in Thursday’s edition.
On Wednesday morning, a group of dedicated grandparents gathered at Burton School District to visit, learn, and contribute their effort to the cause of education.
That group is called Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, and they are the driving force behind BSD’S backpack giveaway event, which they have held the past two years before the beginning of the school year to provide backpacks and school supplies to families in need. They also hosted their first Christmas party last year, and are currently planning this year’s party.
But the group is about more than backpacks and Christmas parties. During their monthly meetings, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren functions as a true support group by sharing the unique challenges of being a parent or grandparent raising a school-age child, and by arranging different themes and topics for discussion.
Denise Carson, who played a pivotal role in creating the group, brought the idea with her from Southern California when she moved to Porterville three years ago.
“I belonged to a similar group in Corona because I adopted my grandson,” said Carson. “I gave a report about Grandparents Raising Grandchildren as part of Burton’s LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan).”
Carson initially hoped to organize a group just for the school that her grandson attended, but BSD Superintendent Sharon Kamberg liked the idea so much she suggested that it be made available to all interested grandparents in the district. The group now has 20 members from several BSD schools, and their monthly meetings are usually attended by six to 10 members.
The group began Wednesday’s meeting by discussing plans for their upcoming Christmas party and sharing their family holiday traditions. After discussing secret family recipes for tea cakes, elf on the shelf, candy canes on the tree, and Christmas ornament collections, Carson commented on the importance of traditions in the lives of young children.
“All those traditions create memories for our children, and those memories stay in their hearts. You can’t sell them, you can’t buy them, they’re just perfect,” said Carson.
Next, the proactive grandparents learned about cyber security by taking a test drive of the technology that their grandchildren use in the classroom and at home with the assistance of one tech-savvy BSD teacher.
“We’re going to navigate around on the ipads to understand what their grandchildren are using, as well as helping to set some boundaries at home,” said Kirk Stinson, instructional technology coach for BSD. “Just because we say it’s homework doesn’t mean they get free rein on the Internet.”
Stinson explained to the group how students’ online activities are monitored at the schools throughout the district, and shared the district’s policies and philosophy on the use of technology in instruction. “An ipad or Macbook is an incredibly powerful tool. It’s all of the world’s libraries in your kids’ hands,” said Stinson. “Like any individual library, they have to figure out how to use it and where to apply it. Our kids don’t have a lack of knowledge, they have a lack of wisdom.”
Stinson went on to recommend products for the home that monitor Internet usage and filter content, and then led the group on a tour of the apps and programs that students use in the classrooms. The grandparents drew sample pictures on their ipads, then posted and shared them on Seesaw, a social media app that students use to share projects.
Then they tried their hand with Apple’s Clips app, which creates animated captions and titles just by talking into the microphone on the ipad. Stinson said the app is useful for diction as well practicing pronunciation of a second language.
“That’s so cool! I’ve got to download this,” exclaimed one group member.
As they smiled and laughed their way through the crash course in technology, it was clear that the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren group genuinely enjoyed the learning experience, as well as each other’s company.
The group’s motto is, “As grandparents, we are the root of our family tree supporting all the branches and leaves.”
For Carson, who began the adventure of raising a child all over again at age 50 when she adopted her grandson, the group is about supporting and celebrating those in the community who have taken on a similar role in the lives of young children.
“This group is not just for grandparents, it’s for other family members who are raising nieces and nephews, or sometimes you have to raise your brother or sister if they pass away,” said Carson, addressing the group. “I just applaud all of you for stepping up and doing that, because there’s so many kids in the system who aren’t fortunate enough to have family members step up and take them.”