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| | Cipriano Mejia with his Children |
Parent Leadership is a strengths-based approach to family support founded on the belief that parents are most knowledgeable about their families and communities. They can provide valuable insight into programs and community efforts that will benefit all children and families. Parent leadership begins when organizations support the development of leadership skills in parents at the initiation of services and promote active parent participation in the organization's program planning, program implementation and continuous quality improvement activities. How are we celebrating this year in Florida? Our Circle of Parents facilitators nominated two parent leaders for this year's recognition. We recognized Michelle Hoehn and Gail Dush from groups 327 and 328 from Ocala with a Parent Leadership Certificate and provided a gift card for these two groups. Congratulations to both of you!
We would also like to recognize three of our parent leaders from the Florida Redlands Christian Migrant Association.
Javier Hernandez was born on August 8, 1985 in Mexico City. He immigrated to the United States when he was 19 years old and started working in the fields, picking strawberries,
something he had never done before. Javier got married when he was 21 years old and has four children. He continues to follow the harvest of crops, crossing state lines in search of agricultural work, migrating from Florida to New York every year. He got involved at the Florida Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA) about 5 years ago when he enrolled his kids in the Migrant Head Start (MHS) program. He started participating at his children's center as a parent representative of the MHS program and was later elected as the President of the Policy Council at the state level. This is the year he took the Parent Leadership Ambassador Training (PLAT) which he believes gave him an awareness that he did not have before. He currently serves, as a Parent Ambassador at the Policy Council and serving as an advisor to the Parent Executive Committee. Javier states that "this position continues to give me the opportunity to develop my leadership skills and mentor other parents. I am very grateful to RCMA, this organization has helped me in many ways like become a better parent and how to help my children in school."
Cipriano Mejia emigrated from Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico, to the United States with his family several years ago. He works harvesting strawberries in Plant City, Florida with his wife. He is the proud parent of three wonderful children, who attend the Migrant Head Start programs at the Florida RCMA. Cipriano is part of the parent executive committee at state level. He is the parliamentarian, whose role is to ensure that order is kept at the state level Policy Council meetings. Cipriano took the Parent Leadership Ambassador Training in 2014 and has continued to ask for leadership opportunities at RCMA. He conducts the meetings at the center and trainings at the Policy Council. He has served RCMA in various capacities, at the center level and as a trainer to other parents and staff. He loves that RCMA has given him the opportunities to develop his skills and states that RCMA has given a voice to the migrant population who lives in oppression. Cipriano and Javier Hernandez have started a Folkloric Dance Group in their community. Cipriano is very active in his community. Cipriano is also a trainer for the Abriendo Puertas Literacy Curriculum.
Filomena Ramirez is a former parent and a member of the Policy Council as a Parent Ambassador. Filomena will soon be a parent instructor for the Abriendo Puertas Literacy Curriculum. Filomena is a farmworker who works in the harvest of strawberries in Plant City, Florida. She is a mother of three, with her oldest child living in Oaxaca, Mexico. She started with RCMA three years ago and attended the parent meetings and volunteered at the center. During the parent meetings, the staff brought different speakers to talk about topics that help developed her skills and knowledge. In 2011, she was elected by the other parents as the Parent President and served in the Policy Council, where she became part of the executive committee and served as treasurer. She was involved in the agency's federal review and self assessment processes. She participated in the Parent Leadership Ambassador Training in 2013.
In February 2015, these three parent leaders that have gone through the Parent Leadership Ambassador Training provided by Prevent Child Abuse Florida, presented three workshop sessions on building protective factors at the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association Conference in Tampa, Florida. Congratulations to RCMA and to these wonderful parent leaders! We are so proud of you!
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