Take-Home Letters
Getting families and communities involved can greatly enhance the success of your prevention program implementation. To make your case to families and community members, try the following:
Show Them Why the Program Is Needed
Conduct a needs assessment and disseminate the results in a family-friendly format.
Keep Them Informed
Conduct an overview or family session and talk about the program during parent/teacher conferences. This would be a great time to display program-related posters or bulletin boards made by the students. Find out how to encourage families to attend the overview and familiy sessions.
You can also invite parents in to observe classroom lessons or host a "SECOND STEP/STEPS TO RESPECT Talent Night" with student skits, skill practices, songs, art, and writing that highlight the program.
Send home the parent take-home letters found in the curricula.
Have Families Reinforce Skills at Home
Send home recommendations for adult and children's books that support your prevention program. You can find these in the Teacher's Guide of your curriculum or the book review and recommended books sections of our Web site.
You might also want to create a family project homework assignment. Provide parents with examples of how the program skills or concepts can be applied in parenting or everyday situations.
Take It Online
Profile the program on your school Web site or newsletter. If your school has the technological resources, create an online parent forum on your school's Web server.
