►
From YouTube: Parent Connection Feb 2020
Description
Jennifer speaks with Allison Pickard, Chair, Anne Arundel County Council, former member of the Anne Arundel County School Board and a parent volunteer about the importance of volunteering in AACPS.
A
Hello
and
welcome
to
another
edition
of
parent
connection
I'm
your
host
John
Lombardi
during
today's
show
we're
going
to
talk
about
volunteering
in
Anne,
Arundel,
County,
Public,
Schools,
Allison
Picard
has
joined
us
today
to
share
about
her
experiences.
Volunteering
in
our
schools
welcome
Councilwoman
Picard
and
thank
you
for
joining
us.
Thank
you.
So
much
for
having
me
I'm
so
excited
that
you're
here
today
to
share
first,
could
you
share
a
little
bit
about
yourself
with
us
sure.
B
B
A
B
So
I
have
been
volunteering
in
our
schools,
since
we,
since
we
moved
here
and
I
started
with
a
first
grader
and
two
toddlers
and
I
wasn't
exactly
sure
how
to
get
involved.
But
she
can't
Georgia
came
home
with
a
slip
of
blue
paper.
They
needed
a
secretary
for
the
PTA.
I
was
a
little
nervous
because
I
had
these
two
little
ones
in
tow,
but
Oakwood
elementary
current
PTA
made
sure
to
assure
me
that
that
was
fine.
B
They
could
tag
along
if
they
needed
to
so
I
ended
up,
throwing
my
name
in
the
Hat
and
a
few
months
later,
I
was
getting
elected
at
back-to-school
night,
with
literally
all
three
of
my
children
standing
up
there
in
front
of
the
auditorium
of
kids.
So
it
was
a
very
family
friendly
school.
So
they
made
it
very
easy
for
parents
to
be
involved
so.
B
So
I
ended
up
I
sort
of
that
sort
of
launched
my
involvement
and
at
Oakwood
elementary
and
I
got
pretty
pretty
seriously
engaged
there
since,
since
now
campaigning
and
being
on
the
council,
it's
changed
a
little
bit
my
my
day-to-day
involvement
but
I
found
as
a
parent
bringing
some
neat
programming
or
volunteer
opportunities
to
the
school.
It
really
helped
enhance
what
the
teachers
were
already
doing,
and
some
of
that
so
I
thought.
The
volunteering
was
a
great
way
to
make
Oakwood
elementary
a
really
great
little
elementary
school.
Well.
B
So
I
I
was
first
engaged
really
with
PTA,
which
meant
I
was
in
more
of
a
coordinating
role,
but
we
did
everything
from
landscape
the
front
and
deal
with
beautification
to
create
a
LEGO
Club
bring
in
an
artist
in
residence.
So
my
personal
role
was
a
little
more
coordinating
those
bigger
opportunities,
while
other
people
were
there
reading
with
students
or
supporting
teachers
by
helping
laminate
and
cut
things.
B
The
nice
thing
about
volunteering
in
the
school
is
you
can
pretty
much
find
something
that
fits
your
wheelhouse
right
and
your
time
commitment,
there's
lots
of
ways
to
be
engaged
in
the
schools
and
we
had
volunteers
doing
when
I
was
there
on
a
daily
basis.
We
had
volunteers
doing
a
little
bit
and
a
lot
okay.
B
Or
take
it
home,
okay,
I'm
teachers,
you
know
they
have
a
they
put
their
their
work
in
the
bin
and
volunteers
come
in
and
they
take
it
home
and
cut
while
they're
watching
TV
or
I
utilized
volunteers.
One
thing
that
you
could
do
when
you're
trying
to
recruit
parents
to
get
engaged
is
finding
out
skillsets
that
they
have.
We
ended
up
finding
a
parent
who
had
a
full-time
job,
but
she
was
a
graphic
artist,
so
she
helped
us
create
some
of
our
the
imagery
that
we
needed
to
promote
the
school
and
the
programs.
B
A
A
B
As
as
my
as
my
life
got
a
little
busier
and
I'm
no
longer
on
the
PTA,
this
is
a
recent
development
that
I've
found
going
in
for
a
half
an
hour
before
the
school
day
starts
actually
from
8:00
to
8:30
at
oakwood
I
get
to
support
the
chessy
program
and
the
students
come
in
they've
they've
picked
a
book
last
week,
they've
read
it
at
home
and
then
we
come
in
and
we
talk
about
it
and
we
ask
questions
and
it's
a
half
an
hour.
Now.
That's
that's
really!
B
Then
when
I,
when
I
am
in
the
school
they
come
up
and
they
give
me
a
hug
or
they
see
me
or
they
want
to
tell
me
the
book
that
they
picked,
that
they're
reading
I've
had
students
just
because
of
I
mean
it's
a
five-minute
interaction
with
an
individual
student
but
you're
still
building
a
really
positive
relationship
and
it's
someone
other
than
their
mom
or
dad
or
their
teacher,
reminding
them
that
reading
is
important
and
so
building
those
relationships.
It's
it's
been
probably
more
impactful
for
me
than
it
has
been
for
them.
B
A
B
And
it's
a
it's
a
neat
and
tidy
little
half-an-hour
right.
That's
what
you
make
a
commitment
and
if
I'm
you
know,
if
I
can't
be
there
one
morning,
I
just
have
to
let
the
let
the
coordinator
know,
but
I
chose
Monday
morning
because
I
don't
usually
have
an
early-morning
Monday
morning,
but
it's
a
great
way
to
start
the
week
and
I
I
tend
to
sort
of
talk
about
it
on
my
social
media.
So
I
can
show
folks
how
easy
it
is,
but
also
how
fun
and
impactful
it
is.
A
B
I
know
that
Mike,
my
kids
have
all
gone
through
Oakwood,
and
so
will
they
I
know.
Jesse
is
a
big
it's.
It's
really
emphasized
with
the
teachers.
So
as
Jamie,
my
youngest
was
talking
about
starting
Jesse.
I
happened
to
be
at
school
for
his
conference
day
and
the
teacher
that
the
reading
specialist,
who
coordinates
it's
a
tour.
So
we
haven't
started
yet
because
we
don't
have
enough
volunteers,
so
they
couldn't
start
for
almost
a
full
month
because
they
didn't
have
enough
volunteer.
B
B
B
C
B
A
A
Right
and
a
lot
of
times,
there's
a
those
papers
come
home
in
the
beginning
of
the
school
year
and
I
know
as
a
parent
of
two
I
get
tons
of
papers,
so
it
can
easily.
You
don't
have
the
person
there
to
ask
the
questions
about
well,
what
exactly
does
this
entail
right
before
you
say,
yeah
I
can
do
this.
B
When
I
ended
up
being
part
of
the
Council
of
PTAs,
this
is
some
of
the
things
we
trained
new
PTA
leadership.
To
do
it's
easy.
It's
a
little
easier
to
send
home
things
in
a
backpack,
but
sometimes
if
they
PTA
volunteers
and
the
leadership
would
actually
take
a
little
bit
more
time
to
engage
with
parents
or
recruit
them
in
a
with
a
personal
touch.
It
the
it
will
provide
dividends,
they'll
actually
come
out.
You
sort
of
demystify
what
it
really
means.
So.
A
I
hear
you
talking
about
the
Council
of
PTA.
Now
that's
a
little
different
than
the
PTA
or
PTO
I
know.
Oakwood
is
a
PTA
but
also
other
organizations.
Some
other
schools
have
PTO
speeches.
The
Council
of
PTAs
is
Anne
Arundel
County
Council
PGH.
Please
do
you
want
to
share
about
a
little
bit
more
about
that,
so
our
audience
understands
exactly
what
that
is.
Yeah.
B
B
You
know,
there's
there's
always
some
times.
People
think
PTA
is
harder
than
it
is.
It's
pretty
mapped
out,
but
we
also
have
this
group
called
the
Council
of
PTAs
and
there's
a
whole
board
and
leadership
and
they're
there
to
help
support
individual
school
schools
with
the
work
of
forming
and
sustaining
your
PTA.
That's
and.
B
A
We
can
not
only
could
you
get
involved
with
the
PTAs
or
PT
o--'s
at
your
school
level,
but
if
you're
interested
in
working
in
a
more
county
level,
especially
like
you,
you
have
students
in
elementary
level,
middle
and
high
yep,
so
I
mean
you
might
not
want
to
pick
one
of
the
three
schools.
Maybe
you
want
to
do
the
county
level.
A
B
That
was
that
was
a
huge
honor
and
a
huge
surprise.
It
was
sort
of
funny
that
morning
when
that
happened,
but
I
think
I
was
awarded
because
of
the
partnerships
that
I
helped
to
create,
and
we
really
during
the
time
I
was
president.
We
built
many
many
relationships
with
outside
small
businesses
and
the
Arts
Council,
and
we
were
able
to
take
utilize
grant
dollars
and
do
some
pretty
cool.
We
built
a
garden
at
Oakwood.
We
Oakwood
has
three
tile
mosaics
that
we
helped
get
grants
for
for
a
artisan
residents
to
come
and
do
that
with.
B
Third
fourth
and
fifth
graders,
we
even
created
a
partnership
with
the
PVA
students,
the
performing
visual
arts
students
that
is
still
going
on
high
school
theater
students
come
in
and
help
oak
wood
put
on
a
drama
club
in
the
spring.
We
really
wanted
to
do
one
of
my
last
endeavors
when
I
was
more
heavily
involved
in
PTA.
We
really
wanted
to
put
on
a
play,
but
none
of
us
really
felt
secure
with
our
abilities
to
make
that
happen.
So
I
reached
out
to
the
PVA
and
found
out
that
they
were.
B
Actually,
it
was
the
stars
aligned
on
this
one,
but
they
were
looking
for
a
school
for
their
theater
students
to
come,
learn
about
teaching
drama
and
teaching
theater,
and
we
put
on
Treasure
Island
that
spring
and
it
was
really
cool.
You
know,
Oakwood
doesn't
necessarily
have
the
fundraising
capacity
of
some
other
schools
to
bring
in
a
choreographer
or
like
some
of
our
more
fortunate
schools
do
so.
This
was
a
great
way.
It
was
a
win-win
for
the
high
school
students
to
work
with
the
and
they're
still
doing
it.
B
They've
they've
changed
it
a
little
bit
over
the
last
couple
years,
but
they're
still
those
high
school
students
are
still
coming
to
Oakwood
in
the
spring
and
giving
that
experience
to
our
students.
It's
pretty
cool.
That
sounds
amazing,
so
I
think
that's
one
of
the
things
that
caught
the
eye
of
the
the
committee
that
made
those
decisions
was
the
work
that
I
I,
coordinated
with
building
partnerships
and
relationships
to
enhance
our
schools
and.
A
B
Amazing,
so
they
were
able
to
bring
in.
If
you
have
a
broken
bowl
or
a
broken
mug
a
chip
in
a
plate,
you
could
bring
it
to
the
bring
it
with
you
and
the
artist
comes
in
and
you
design
it.
The
artist
would
work.
I
think
this
would
be
I
think
it
happens
in
about
a
week
or
two
no
more
than
two
weeks,
but
the
art
they
design
with
the
students
and
then
they
actually
create
the
mosaic,
and
there
are
three
now
at
Oakwood,
there's
one
on
the
very
front
of
the
building.
B
The
way
those
programs
work
are
always
amazing
to
me:
I
I
was
able
to
be
in
the
room
when
they
would
do
the
circle
time
and
they
would
talk
and
about
what
they
wanted
to
design
it
was.
It
was
powerful
to
watch
the
students,
create
something
and
learn
from
each
other,
and
it
was
pretty
neat
that
happened.
The
students
got
a
little
more
art
time
in
those
two
weeks,
but
the
typically
the
third
fourth
and
fifth
graders
learned
about
color
and
placement
and
they
used
materials,
and
it
was.
It
was
pretty
awesome.
What.
B
C
A
B
A
CPS
does
a
pretty
cool
job
with
acknowledging
the
work
of
volunteers
and
that
T
from
my
understanding
has
grown
from
maybe
80
people
in
its
original
heyday.
To
now,
there's
probably
800
parent
volunteers
that
join
in
on
that
T
and
each
school
invites
their
cadre
of
volunteers
and
they
come
and
then
different
programs
and
different
volunteer
groups
are
acknowledged
and
the
school
system
does
really
does
a
good
job.
I
think
it's
in
May,
highlighting
not
just
the
bigger
larger
programs
but
the
individual
hours.
B
So
there's
a
program
and
people
are
recognized
that
they've,
given
a
hundred
hours
or
twenty-five
hours
and
and
the
years
of
service
and
the
room,
it's
a
pretty
it's
a
pretty
inspiring
event
and
to
watch
the
then
there's.
Then
they
highlight
different
programs
and
different
partnerships,
and
that's
it's
pretty
neat.
So.
A
B
B
A
Are
doing
most
definitely
so
that
way,
that's
a
valuable
experience
that
not
only
to
feel
and
see
the
volume
of
people
that
give
back
to
this
classrooms
and
our
students,
but
also
to
get
ideas.
Definitely
so
what
has
been
your
favorite
job
volunteering?
If
you
had
to
pick
one?
What
do
you
think
your
favorite
thing
to
do
has
been
within
the
schools.
B
There's
so
many
I
really
enjoyed
working
with
the
principal
and
the
teachers
and
the
parents
and
students
to
build
our
garden.
The
raised
beds
that
we
were
able
to
create
were
a
lasting
legacy
for
Oakwood
to
teach
children
how
to
grow
things
in
the
ground
and
I'll.
Never
forget
a
student
coming
up
to
me
with
this
I
have
a
student
coming
up
with
this
bunch
of
radishes
I,
don't
know
that
she
even
knew
what
a
radish
was
but
she's
like
our
radishes.
B
Are
you
know
she
had
this
bunch
of
radishes
in
her
hand,
look
they're
they're
ready
to
eat,
but
it
was
pretty
neat
cuz.
We
don't
not
every
not.
Everybody
has
a
garden
in
their
backyard.
So
those
were
some
simple.
It
was
pretty
fun
to
watch
things
grow
and
see
them,
starting
with
seeds
in
their
classroom
and
then
taking
them
out,
there's
a
butterfly
garden,
and
that
has
been
really
fun
to
watch
the
kids
explore
that
and
it's
not
an
easy
like
it's.
Not
it's
not
easy
to
sustain
a
garden
project
over
time.
A
It
sounds
like
the
function
of
the
garden
had
multi
purposes.
Besides
teaching
the
children.
Also,
it
sounds
the
butterfly,
so
you
have
flowers
and
different
plants,
but
then
you
also
have
produce
I
mean
right
and
I'm
sure
did.
Did
the
students
ever
get
to
taste
any
of
the
produce
or
what
happened
to
the
produce
once
well.
B
The
funny
thing
about
school
gardens
is
when
you're
growing
vegetables.
The
growing
season
tends
to
be
in
the
summer,
but
we
we
did
have
students
all
summer
long.
We
had
a
whole.
We
have
crews
that
would
come
out
and
sustain
that
garden.
They
would
take
the
tomatoes
home
or
so
growing
learning
about
what
you
can
grow
in
the
winter
and
what
has
a
short
germination
life
and
all
that
sort
of
stuff
was
important,
but
they
did
they
got
to
see
how
peppers
grow.
Like
you
know,
it's
amazing,
it's
funny.
B
For
probably
a
few
years
ago,
I'd
never
seen
celery
coming
out
of
the
ground.
You
never
think
of
what
that
looks
like
coming
out
of
the
ground.
So
they
get
to
see
what
peppers
grow
on
a
bush
or
peppers
grow
on
Tomatoes.
You
know
what
it
all
looks
like.
So
it
was
a.
It
was
pretty
educational
because
we
see
food.
What's
this
in
the
grocery
store
right
really
know
what
it.
A
Looks
like
and
whether
it's
it's
a
root
or
whether
a
fruit
right
right,
interesting
right,
interesting,
it's
fun,
fun
project!
So
so
it
sounds
like
you.
You
were
doing
a
lot
of
volunteering
in
the
school
system
and
you
tweet
out
your
pictures
from
your
events
when
you
do
that.
What
is
your
purpose
of
doing
that?
I?
Think
I
have
an
idea,
but
are
you
well.
B
It
sort
of
goes
back
to
my
gardening
days,
where
I
was
always
recruiting
people
to
come
out
and
help
and
I
think
it's
a
great
way
to
just
show.
I
always
tried
to
show
how
easy
it
is.
I
try
to
demystify
the
engagement
and
volunteering,
but
you
know
when
I
started.
Reading
this
fall
with
chessy
students.
I
had
a
student
come
to
school.
He
wasn't
prepared
to
talk
with
me
yet
because
he'd
had
some
things
happen
over
the
weekend
that
he
wanted
to
talk
about
me.
Talk
with
me.
B
First,
we
had
to
get
through
that
to
get
to
the
reading,
but
then,
when
you
know
that
interaction
so
brief
led
to
some
conversations
midweek
when
he
saw
me
in
school
for
another
reason
and
making
that
connection
and
knowing
there
was
an
adult,
so
I
always
wanted.
I
just
want
to
encourage
people
to
get
out,
and
maybe
it's
out
of
their
comfort
zone
at
first,
but
if
I
can
give
up
30
minutes,
I
feel
like
other
people
can,
and
they
just
they
just
maybe
haven't
tried
it
yet
so.
A
Actually,
our
best
recruiters
for
volunteers
are
other
volunteers,
so
I
love
hearing
that
that
that
that
is
the
purpose
and
and
letting
people
know
that
they
can
do
it
so
at.
If
you
were
sitting
around
a
kitchen
table
with
some
of
your
friends
that
haven't
gotten
into
schools.
What
would
you
say
to
a
parent
to
help
encourage
them
if
they
think
there's
not
enough
time?
Well,.
B
There's
there's
lots
of
reasons
to
volunteer
in
our
schools
and
one
that
we
tends
to
be
talked
about
as
the
byproduct
is
getting
to
know
the
teachers,
but
also
your
your
children's
friends
and
their
parents.
Sometimes
we
don't
make
those
connections,
but
when
you're
in
the
school
and
you're,
like
my
son,
comes
home
and
talks
about
different
kids
in
his
class.
Well,
if
I'm,
not
there,
I
don't
really
know
who
they
are.
B
When
I
can
it's
a
way
to
stay
connected
and
in
this
day
and
age
we
need
to
know
who
our
kids
are
hanging
out
with
and
and
getting
to
know
the
families
and
there's
so
much.
We
have
in
common
right
and
how
are
you
doing
with
that?
Common
Core
math
and
you
know
we
can
now
I
know
enough
folks
in
my
children's
class,
that
we
can
text
each
other,
hey
my
he
forgot
his
homework.
B
B
B
B
B
B
The
years
since
I've
had
I
have
three
children
that
have
come
through
school.
You
do
build
those
relationship
and
they
go
on
to
middle
school,
and
you
know
we
have
you,
you
build
those
relationships
and
you
can
rely.
I
can
say
hey
this.
My
kid
said
this
happened
in
class.
Are
you
getting
the
same
story
and
you
can
kind
of
get
down
to
the
facts
right.
A
B
A
B
But
you
take
your
car,
you,
you
open
up
your
trunk,
you
decorate
it
for
Halloween
and
then
they
actually
supplied
the
candy.
And
then
it
was
a
community
of
that
not
just
a
middles,
not
just
for
the
Corcoran
middle
school
students,
but
anybody
in
the
community
could
come
through
and
the
kids
came
through
in
their
costumes.
It
was
a
safe
way
to
trick-or-treat
and
if
you
know
some
people
have
neighborhoods
that
don't
do
as
much
trick-or-treating,
but
this
was
there
were
probably
I.
B
B
A
B
A
You
also
probably
got
to
see
relationships
of
students
that
were
out
and
about
visiting
the
different
trunks
right.
It's
really
fun.
Okay,
well
with
only
two
minutes
left
I
want
to
ask
one
more
question:
I
know
that
you
were
previously
an
Anne
Arundel,
County
Public
Schools
Board
of
Education
member.
Can
you
share
a
little
bit
more
about
that
experience
with
us
and
what
you
took
away
from
that
sure.
B
B
A
Well,
I
I
really
think
with
with
that's
enlightening
for
me,
because
I
attend
the
board
meetings
so
and
I
actually
watch
the
dynamics.
So
that's
interesting
to
hear
from
your
perspective
about
walking
in
and
thinking
well,
I
think
I
know
how
I
feel
about
this
issue.
But
then,
once
you
hear
eight
other
viewpoints
of
view,
it
really
makes
you
look
at
something
differently
and
how
much
we
can
learn
from
people
that
think
differently
than
our.
B
A
A
C
The
writing
on
the
walls
course
was
designed
to
create
an
exciting
experience
for
students
who
might
not
normally
consider
taking
an
art
course.
We
examine
modern
artists
in
a
modern
material
and
may
encourage
students
to
find
their
voice
and
tell
their
story
through
their
work.
Writing
on
the
walls
is
such
a
fun
class.
It's
a
fun
way
to
approach
art.
This
was
the
first
time
I
realized
I
might
have
some
artistic
ability.
You
can
have
fun.