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From YouTube: Parent Connection - Crystal Apple Award Winners
Description
Teresa Tudor has conversations with parent, AACPS staff, parents, and business volunteers about the importance of being involved with students and schools in AACPS. This month, Teresa interviews Kelsa Mclaughlin and Kathy Shaffer, parent volunteers from Hillsmere Elementary School and recipients of this years Crystal Apple Award. Originally aired October 1, 2015.
A
Thank
you
for
joining
us
for
Parent
Connection.
Today,
our
guests
are
our
crystal
Apple
Award
winners
from
Hills
mirror
elementary
school
Thank,
You,
kelsye
and
Cathy
for
joining
us
today.
First
of
all,
before
we
get
into
a
lot
of
talking
about
the
publishing
company,
which
we
really
want
to
focus
on
today,
tell
us
how
a
little
bit
about
yourself
and
how
you
got
involved
in
volunteering.
Okay,
my.
B
Name
is
kelson
McLaughlin
and
I
am
a
former
elementary
education
teacher
I
worked
in
the
county
for
two
and
a
half
years.
When
we
moved
down
from
New
England,
we
have
two
little
girls,
so
that
kept
me
at
home
with
them
and
I
also
took
a
position
with
the
Box
terrain
foundation.
Currently
now
going
forward,
I
am
going
looking
at
more
volunteer
opportunities
at
Hills
mirror
and
just
helping
the
publishing
company
to
grow
great.
C
And
I'm
Kathy
Schaffer
my
career
background
was
public
relations
and
marketing.
I
spent
15
years
working
in
big
agencies
in
LA
and
New
York
City,
but
since
moving
to
an
Arundel,
County
I've,
basically
focused
on
being
a
stay-at-home
mom.
I
have
a
rising
first
grader
and
rising
second
grader,
and
volunteering
has
always
been
important
to
me,
have
always
been
a
doer
getting
involved
in
the
school,
and
last
year
was
the
first
year
that
my
kids
were
actually
in
school
together,
full
time
so
I
had
the
available
hours
to
be
able
to
do
that.
So
well.
A
A
So
talk
to
us
a
little
bit
about
here,
ellesmere
publishing
company,
because
that's
what
the
Chris,
what
you
won,
the
award
for
of
the
school
did
for
the
crystal
Apple
Award
winner,
but
lots
of
our
viewers
might
not
know
exactly
what
that
is,
so
tell
us
a
little
bit
about
it
and
how
it
got
started.
Sure.
C
It's
actually
the
first
in
school
school-wide
publishing
company
in
the
county,
the
publishing
company.
It
was
really
originally
the
vision
of
our
formal
former
principal
mrs.
Helen
Maddie
oski,
and
when
she
was
a
classroom
teacher,
she
had
published
with
her
fifth
grade
class.
So
when
she
arrived
at
Hills
mere,
she
really
had
the
vision
to
spread
that
school
wide.
So
it's
one
year
old
at
this
point
last
year,
was
our
inaugural
year.
So
last
spring
and
last
summer
we
really
spent
a
lot
of
time
laying
the
foundation
I'm
getting
our
volunteer
team
in
place.
C
There
were
four
parent
volunteers
that
ran
it
last
year,
kelson
myself,
Morgan
Dwyer
and
Stacey
Elwood.
We
also
spend
a
lot
of
time
getting
our
materials
ready,
different
checklists,
that
the
kids
could
take
home.
Writing
guides
a
checklist
for
what
each
book
needed
to
have
to
be
published.
We
wanted
to
base
it
on
what
an
actual
book
has
a
dedication,
a
table
of
contents,
a
cover,
page
illustrations,
and
then
we
also
went
and
purchased.
C
It
purchased
special
author
chairs
for
each
classroom
that
when
the
books
were
delivered
to
the
kids
in
the
classroom,
they
were
able
to
sit
in
the
chair
and
read
the
books
aloud
to
their
classmates,
so
that
was
sort
of
our
pre
prep.
And
then,
in
October
of
last
year,
we
launched
with
a
single
white
postal
mailbox
in
the
lobby
of
the
school
on
a
draped
table
so
that
when
the
kids
are
arriving,
leaving
walking
through
the
halls,
it
was
always
a
presence.
C
We
invited
the
students
to
submit
original
drafts
into
the
mailbox,
and
then
we
hosted
in
school
editing
sessions
twice
a
week
over
lunch
periods,
Tuesdays
and
Thursdays.
The
kids
could
come
in
bring
their
drafts
with
them
and
sit
down
and
edit
with
a
parent
volunteer,
and
it
was
everything
from
you
know.
We
have
kindergarteners
through
fifth-graders,
so
everything
from
the
little
kids
punctuation
grammar
sentence,
structure
to
story,
development,
plot
development,
character,
development,
making
sure
the
story
had
a
beginning,
a
middle
and
an
end.
So
once
we
edited
with
them,
we
then
took
the
the
drafts.
C
Again,
they
came
in
handwritten
parent
volunteers
would
take
them
home
type
them
up
on
cardstock.
We
turn
them
to
the
students
for
the
final
illustrations
and
then
laminate
and
bind,
and
then
we
would
give
them
to
our
principal
and
every
book
received
a
special
in
class
book
delivery.
There
was
a
special
publishing
company
bag
and
our
principal
would
drop
them
off
sort
of
make
a
big
to-do
about
it.
C
Student
get
to
sit
in
the
author
chair
and
read
their
books
to
the
classroom,
so
it
was
very
exciting
and-
and
you
know
we-
we
went
in
wanting
to
instill
a
love
of
writing
with
the
students
and
really
foster
creativity
and
imagination.
And
you
know
we
joked
a
lot
about
the
fever
spreading
through
the
halls
and-
and
there
really
was
I
mean
Celso
and
I
are
in
school
often
and
we
couldn't
make
it
down
a
corner
without
one
of
the
students
coming
up
saying
is
my
book
ready?
Is
my
book
ready.
A
B
A
B
B
Like
we
said
volunteers
were
there
doing
the
editing
sessions.
Volunteers
were
doing
the
typing.
Volunteers
were
doing
the
laminating
and
binding
of
the
books.
So
what
we
did
was
we
really
were
there
for
the
kids
and
to
support
the
teachers
because,
as
we
know,
there's
so
much
teachers
have
to
do
during
their
normal
day
that
they
can
guide
the
children,
but
they
know
they
have
us
and
the
other
volunteers
to
help
them
actually
get
the
books
into
publication.
Yeah.
C
It
was
a
hundred
percent
volunteer
run
for
the
ban
hours,
because
when
we
went
into
it,
we
didn't
want
to
put
a
program
into
the
school.
That
would
require
any
extra
time,
as
kelsa
mention
from
the
teachers,
because
they're
already
overburdened,
but
we
did
need,
even
though
it
was
volunteer-run.
We
did
need
acceptance
and
buy-in
from
the
teachers
to
encourage
the
students
they
have
a.
C
They
have
a
period
I
believe
almost
every
day
in
class
words
for
free
writing
time
and
to
sort
of
keep
track
of
which
students
have
published,
which
students
haven't
and
encouraged
them
to
meet
with
us
and
come
into
the
editing
sessions.
We
had
a
first
grade
teacher
who
worked
with
her
class
all
year
and
was
a
hundred
percent
published
every
single
student
in.
C
At
a
special
award
and
her
class
got
a
pizza
party
at
the
end
of
the
year,
but
I
think
it's
also
important
to
have
buy-in
from
the
administration
as
well
and
have
a
big
support
system
there,
because
a
lot
of
what
we
did
was
after
hours
typing,
but
we
were
able
to
get
in
and
meet
directly
with
the
students
inside
of
the
schoolhouse
over
lunch
periods.
So
we
needed
the
buy-in
from
the
administration
and
staff
to
really
make
that
happen
and
open
the
doors
for
us
now.
A
B
For
myself,
wouldn't
we
had
our
first
daughter
who's,
a
rising
third
grader.
It
was
the
decision
we
made
as
a
family
that
I
would
stay
home
and
with
the
background
in
education,
I
am
home,
but
do
as
much
as
I
can
in
the
school
to
be
involved
with
my
kids,
education,
it's
a
passion
and
love
of
mine
and
when
mrs.
mattie
oski
came
aboard
and
had
this
vision,
I
immediately
said
you
know:
I
want
to
be
involved
right.
B
This
is
a
great
way
for
me
to
get
the
teaching
aspect
and
the
volunteer
aspect
put
together
and
do
some
great
things
for
our
students
and
our
school
and
I
also
like
to
make
sure
I
have
friends
with
me
and
at
that
point,
Kathy
son
was
starting
school
and
I
said
hey,
you
know.
What
do
you
think
yeah?
You
always.
C
To
find
away
from
my
heart
I
know
exactly
yeah
cuz
I
write
the
school
newsletter
too,
so
you
know,
as
you
know,
there's
always
volunteer
needs
that
need
to
happen,
but
what
we
found
also
to
is
using
our
network,
you
know
going
out
there
and
using
the
communications
vehicles
the
facebook
page,
the
newsletter,
but
then
also
sending
personal
emails
to
our
network
of
mom
friends.
All
right.
C
Looked
at
expanding
it
further,
you
know
there
are
a
lot
of
retired
educators
in
our
community.
There
are
grandparents
in
our
community
getting
the
dads
more
involved,
you
know
it's
not
inside
of
the
school
house
or
the
at
home
typing
or
whatever
volunteer
needs.
A
school
has
doesn't
necessarily
need
to
be
the
stay-at-home
moms.
It
can
be
anybody.
You
know
and
I
think
the
thing
about
the
publishing
company
that
is
so
great
is
that
you
can
volunteer
and
it
doesn't
necessarily
have
to
be
over
lunch
time.
You
can
do
at
home
typing.
C
A
Involved
and
I
think
involving
the
community
in
this
would
be
great
too
because
I,
like
you,
said,
there's
so
many
retired,
educators
or
just
community
members
who
really
want
to
give
back,
but
they
don't
really
know
how.
So
if
somebody
asked
them
and
then
we
also
know
that
what
volunteers
tell
us
that
they
want
a
job
specific,
they
don't
want
to
just
come
in,
and
oh
well,
maybe
we'll
you'll
make
copies
today
tomorrow.
Maybe
they'd
really
like
to
know
what
they're
going
to
do
and
be
able
to
focus
on
something.
A
So
I
think
this
opportunity
with
the
publishing
company
is,
is
just
wonderful.
Tell
us
a
little
bit
about
you
mentioned
it
a
little
at
the
beginning,
but
some
of
the
successes
that
you've
had
this
year
because
for
a
first
year
you
have
really
done
some
amazing
things.
So,
let's
talk
about
some
of
those.
I.
C
Think
we
went
into
it
with
a
hope
and
to
see
the
reality
of
it.
Come
to
life
was
phenomenal.
I
think
there's
antidotal
successes
that
we
had
and
there's
also
number
successes
that
we
had
just
from
a
straight
publishing
standpoint
over
the
course
of
again
it
was
our
first
year
out
we
had
230,
published
authors
and
Maisy.
C
Students,
it
was,
if
you
look
at
our
student
population
in
total,
it's
about
forty
percent
of
our
students
were
published.
You
know
the
four
of
us
joke.
You
know
we
have
to
rest
our
fingers
over
the
summer
to
kind
of
put
him
in
traction
because
of
the
amount
of
typing
that
we
did,
because
a
number
of
the
students
were
also
repeat
authors
and
we
had
a
total
of
three
hundred
fifty
books.
That.
C
Last
year,
so
I
think
from
from
a
numbers
standpoint.
You
know
winning
the
crystal
Apple
was
phenomenal,
the
first
year
out
for
a
countywide
volunteer
program,
and
then
you
know
I
always
go
back
to
because
we
were
in
school
and
working
directly
with
the
students,
which
is
what
I
really
liked
about.
This
volunteer
opportunity
to
take
a
skill
set
of
mine
from
my
career
and
then
meet
with
the
kids.
B
C
Not
be
one
step
removed,
you
know
there
was
just
an
totally
a
student,
probably
second
grade
who
his
first
time
in
editing
cuz.
It
takes
a
lot
of
initiative,
they
come
in
by
themselves,
they
bring
their
own
drafts
and
he
sat
down
with
us
and
the
first
time
it
came
into
edit
was
so
shy.
He
could
barely
talk.
You
know
he
wasn't
even
really
looking
up.
It
was
hard
to
hear
what
he
was
saying
and
one
of
the
last
days
of
school.
We
were
in
for
a
volunteer
recognition.
C
Tea
and
I
felt
someone
come
up
and
give
me
a
big
hug
from
behind
and
I
turned
around.
It
was
him
and
we
had
a
whole
conversation
about
publishing
of
his
books
and
how
great
he
did
this
year
and
I
said.
Well,
don't
forget,
you
know
we're
open
for
business
again
in
the
fall,
and
he
said.
Oh
yes,
I'm
already
working
on
I
have
a
couple
of
drafts,
so.
B
B
C
Think
you
know,
above
and
beyond
just
the
numbers,
the
the
kids
that
you're
reaching
directly
or
you
know
there
was
one
time-
a
girl
in
my
son's
class
in
first
grade
who
I
just
loved
and
I
was
not
in
one
of
the
days
that
she
came
to
edit.
But
I
happened
to
be
in
school
the
day
that
we
would
give
the
books
to
the
students
and
then
they
could
take
him
home
for
the
night
to
show
their
parents
and
then
bring
him
back
in
and
they
existed
in
the
classroom
until
the
end
of
the
year.
C
So
I
happened
to
walk
into
school,
I
had
something
to
drop
off
and
she
didn't
know
that
I
was
there,
but
she
literally
was
holding
her
book.
She
was
bringing
it
back
into
school
like
this,
with
a
huge
smile
on
her
face
and
I
saw
her
and
I
burst
into
tears,
and
you
know
she
said.
Oh
my
mom
wishes
that
this
book
could
stay
home
forever
and
I
said
well.
I
can
again
just
the
excitement
level
right.
A
B
I
believe-
and
we've
talked
about
this:
every
single
child
in
the
school
had
the
ability
to
publish
a
book
from
kindergarten
who
were
creating
picture
stories
or
classes
that
took
a
play
on
I
know
in
our
children,
our
daughter's
kindergarten
class.
They
took
Santa's
stuck
and
each
child
made
their
own
ending.
So
you
have
kindergartners
they're
able
to
do
that.
There
were
boys
who
were
big
fan
to
making
comic
books.
I
know.
B
Into
that
lots
of
kids
were
able
to
do
nonfiction
or
use
their
creativity,
any
one
child,
no
matter.
You
know
what
your
home
life
was
like.
What
your
school
life
was
like,
you
could
go
in
come
to
an
editing
session
with
your
ideas,
and
those
ideas
at
the
end
of
the
process
would
be
in
a
bound
book
which.
A
Is
really
that
finished
product
and
that
sense
of
accomplishment?
I
guess,
is
what
we're
really
thinking
they
are
so
proud,
because
one
of
the
things
that
we
know
is
self-esteem
is
not
really
built
by
saying
you
did
a
great
job.
You
did
a
wonderful
job,
it's
by
an
accomplishment
it's
by
actually
doing
something,
and
they
had
that
tangible
item
right
in
their
hand,
so
I
think
that
would
really
be
important
to
students
to
build
that
self-esteem.
I.
C
Would
always
say
to
each
student
that
I
edited
with
when
we
were
done,
editing
I,
would
say
you
know
you're
an
author.
Now.
Are
you
proud
of
yourself?
Because
it
doesn't
matter
if
we're
proud
of
you,
it
matters
a
proud
of
yourself
and
I.
You
know
I
think
we
really
tried
to
install
them
in
them
all.
So
this
is
a
big
accomplishment
and
I
think
one
of
the
beauties,
in
addition
to
the
accessibility
for
these
kids,
that
it
didn't
matter.
C
Creativity-
and
we
also
made
an
effort
to
keep
it
simple.
It
was
all
done
in
house
with
the
school's
laminator
in
the
school's
binder,
but
I
think
that,
for
for
many
of
our
student
population
wasn't
overwhelming
it
was
something
that
they
could
accomplish.
So
we
didn't
focus
on
fancy
bindings
or
over-the-top
ideas.
We
really
kept
it
simple
and
kept
it
down
to
the
basic
level
of
just
creating
and
putting
pen
to
paper
so.
A
C
Really
a
sense
of
community,
a
program
that
went
school-wide
that
didn't
require
an
extra
fee
did
it
require
a
drop
off
before
school
or
after
school
that
all
of
the
students
could
take
advantage
of
was
great
for
the
school
that
reached
out
to
parents
reached
out
to
teachers.
We
actually
had
a
selection
of
the
books
at
our
local
library
over
children's
book
week,
so
the
community
could
see
it
so
I
think
the
fact
that
it
was
a
level
playing
field
for
everyone
and
something
that
everyone
could
take
advantage
of
I
think
the
sense
of
pride.
C
We
ended
the
year
because
we
were
so
entrenched
in
it.
So
we
knew
what
was
happening.
We
knew
the
numbers.
We
knew,
how
many
kids,
we
knew
the
excitement
inside
the
school
house,
but
I
think
you
know,
as
as
a
parent
who
is
not
in
there
as
much
that's
hard
to
see
and
hard
to
translate
and
hard
to
communicate
in
a
newsletter
item.
So
we
actually
had
an
author
celebration
red
carpet
musician.
You
know
cake
everything
else
at
the
end
of
the
year,
it
was
an
evening
event.
C
We
invited
all
of
our
230
student
authors
and
their
families
to
come.
We
had
a
smile
award
ceremony
and
then
we
had
a
book
display.
We
had
tables
of
books,
down
primary
tables
of
books,
dawn
secondary
tables
of
books
set
up
in
the
media
center.
All
three
hundred
and
fifty
books
out
and
I
think
you
know
once
the
parents
came
in
and
grand
parents
and
teachers
and
everything
else
saw
the
immense
pneus
of
it.
C
C
B
Expect
more
volunteers,
we
expect
even
more
books.
We're
really
hoping
this
year
will
get
closer
to
our
goal
of
100
percent
participation
that
each
child
will
have
a
published
book
and,
like
we
said
they
started
with
the
editing
sessions
liked
last
October
and
they
really
heated
up
from
january
to
may.
We
expect
kids
coming
in
the
door
the
first
day
of
school
with
their
books
this
year
as
well
as
you
know,
for
our
volunteers,
we're
making
it
very
accessible.
B
You
know
it's
a
lunchtime
if
you're
working,
maybe
you
can
pick
that
one
Tuesday
a
month
that
you
come
in
during
your
lunch
break
or
you
know,
we've
had
parents
come
in
with
younger
siblings
and
it's
great
for
them
to
see
because
then
they're
excited
like
when
I
get
to
go
to
Hills
mirror
I
can
publish
my
own
right
as
well.
So
I
think
this
year
and
like
kathy
said
with
the
celebration
evening,
people
really
got
a
feel
of
what
the
end
product
was
across
the
board.
C
B
B
B
A
The
opportunity
to
sit
in
front
of
your
class
and
read
something
that
you
published.
Not
a
lot
of
people,
get
to
do
that.
So
that's
really
I
love
the
idea
of
the
author's
chair,
I.
Think
I,
don't
know
who
came
up
with
that,
but
that's
a
really
great
idea
that
they
have
a
special
place
and
they
know
that
that's
kind
of
going
to
be
there
their
place
when
they
get
to
read
that.
Yes,.
C
C
C
C
Kids
come
into
the
editing
session
as
together
as
groups
and
worked
on
books.
Together,
we
had
one
student
who
was
an
illustrative.
We
named
him
the
illustrator
and
demand
he
had
done
number
of
his
own
books
and
illustrated
those
and
then
the
other
students
saw
what
a
great
artist
he
was
and
started
using
him
and
co-writing
with
him.
They
were
the
author
and
he
was
dealing.
Oh.
C
A
It's
been
such
a
success
and,
of
course
we
we
spotlighted
it
with
the
crystal
Apple
Award,
because
we
read
about
it
and
heard
about
it.
We
were
so
impressed
with
it
and
I
know
that
lots
of
schools
that
were
at
the
event
celebrating
the
program
heard
about
it,
but
people
who
are
listening
to
it
now,
what
advice
would
you
give
schools
who
are
saying
I'd
like
to
do
that?
How
can
we
do
that?
How
would
you
tell
them
to
start
I.
B
Think
the
number
one
two
things
you
need
our
teacher
support,
but
you
really
need
a
large
volunteer
workforce,
because
this
the
way
this
program
is
set
up
within
our
school
house.
Is
it's
not
going
to
work
without
the
volunteers,
because
it
is
somewhat
of
an
extra
it's
benefiting
our
learners
with
the
reading
and
writing
making
them
stronger.
But
you
need.
B
A
I
think
you've,
given
us
a
lot
to
think
about,
and
you
certainly
have
given
our
viewers
a
lot
of
information.
We
thank
you
so
much
truly
for
starting
this
program,
sticking
with
it
all
year
and
publishing
so
many
wonderful
authors
now
at
Hills
mere
Elementary.
So
again,
thank
you
so
much
for
joining
us
today.
We
really
appreciate
it
and
thank.