The Shelby County English-as-a-Second Language Department recently held several parent workshops to teach parents how to help their children be successful in school.  One of the community partners for the workshops was the Safe and Drug Free Coalition, who provided guest speakers to help parents understand about drug abuse warning signs and prevention methods.

About 200 parents attended the parenting workshops, which were held at Calera Middle School, Valley Intermediate, Oak Mountain Elementary and Meadow View Elementary.   Leah Dobbs-Black, Supervisor for Shelby County ESL Department, said the parenting workshops are held each year in conjunction with the two-week ESL Summer Camp program.

“We always include community partners and this year we decided to invite Jan Corbett and the Safe and Drug Free Coalition,” she said. “The presentations they made were very eye-opening.  Obviously, having our students stay drug free is a very important aspect of helping them be successful in school.”

In addition to the Safe and Drug Free Coalition presentation, parents also heard presentations from the Girl Scouts and from the ESL Department regarding school success tips dealing with school enrollment and attendance.