SOCOACH

In My Own Words

Past parochial (private) school student and parent. Past parochial school athletic coach, school board member and school board president. Current academic coach (Science Olympiad) at junior high level in a small parochial school environment. I am a major supporter of small, parochial schools, where parents are actively engaged in helping to foster a loving and challenging academic environment. Many private schools are suffering in this bleak economic environment. Parents find it more difficult to pay the cost of tuition, teachers are often paid less that their public school counterparts, and education foundations find it more difficult to provide the financial aid that would help parents keep their children in such a unique educational environment. Yet these schools forge on, finding creative ways to attract and keep students, offer innovative and challenging programs during the school day and after-school, and find the dollars that will keep them running.

Parents I'd Like to Meet

Parents supportive of parochial school environments, parent volunteers who help the teaching staff stretch the educational dollar a little farther, parents who are helping to find creative ways of marketing and funding these schools.