The WEC Blog
Featured news pieces involving education and our community
Worcester Education Collaborative is seeking a Manager of Communications and Development who is passionate about education and community engagement. As a key member of our nimble team, the Manager of Communications and Development will have responsibility for supporting the work of the organization in the areas of development, communications, programming, and administration.
On May 1st, Worcester Education Collaborative, along with our local and state partners, hosted Undersecretary & Chief Operating Officer of the MA Executive Office of Education, Mark Reilly, for a public screening of the film The Right to Read at the AC Hotel by Marriott Worcester. Massachusetts State Senator Robyn Kennedy and Dr. Rachel Monárrez, Worcester Superintendent of Schools, also spoke to highlight the importance of literacy as a foundational building block for academic and professional success.
This film screening was offered as part of the Raising Readers Together Initiative, a collaborative effort to address the literacy crisis facing our communities locally, and across the United States. Partners for the initiative include Worcester Education Collaborative, City of Worcester Division of Youth Opportunities, Education Reform Now Massachusetts, Edward Street, Friendly House, Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, The Reading League of Massachusetts, United Way of Central Massachusetts, Worcester Family Partnership, Worcester Public Library, Worcester Public Schools, and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The event was generously sponsored by United Way of Central Massachusetts, Fontaine Brothers, Inc., and Webster Five.
Check out some of our favorite photos from the event below!
On March 21st, parents who completed the Powerful Parent workshop series celebrated the culmination of their journey with a small graduation ceremony at the Durkin Administration Building in Worcester. Hosted by C-PLAN and Worcester Education Collaborative, the six-session series was designed to empower local parents with crucial knowledge about challenges in today's educational landscape and the tools necessary to address unfair differences in education with a solution-oriented mindset.
Throughout the sessions, offered in both English and Spanish, participants engaged in interactive activities and discussions aimed to help foster a sense of community and explore strategies to support their child.
“I believe that this [experience] will help me understand [my child’s] learning style, any areas where they may be struggling, and how I can support them outside of school,” said one parent, “Ultimately, my goal is to work together with their teachers to ensure that my child is receiving the best possible education and achieving their academic goals.”
The group of dedicated parents is now better equipped with the tools to open doors for their child along their educational journey and the confidence to do so, exemplifying what it means to be a powerful parent. Their graduation marks not just the end of a series, but the beginning of a more informed and proactive approach to their child’s education.
On March 22nd, members of WEC’s FACES team attended the Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s (NMEF) Advancing Community-School Partnerships Conference in Norwood, MA.
The one-day in-person event focused on elevating the collective efforts of NMEF’s community of practice members who are working to advance community-school partnerships for racial equity in education across the region. The diverse group included educators, leaders, families, students, and community partners.
Attendees engaged in interactive learning experiences, reflection, and celebrated their shared progress together, fostering new relationships to help support the work being done at each of their organizations.
"The Nellie Mae Conference was an incredibly eye-opening experience: seeing the challenges, obstacles, and radical and progressive actions taken distinctly affecting school districts, families, and communities - for better and for worse,” said Dina Tedeschi, member of the FACES Team at WEC. “As many improvements and strides WPS has made over the last few years, I was reminded that it is critical for caregivers and communities to stay focused on advocacy and diligently attentive to all that impacts our schools, our educators, and most importantly, our students. It was also a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow WEC colleagues, and build upon new relationships."
More about the FACES Team at WEC
The FACES Team works to involve the parents of Worcester Public School students and community members in the advocacy efforts and events of the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable. They play a pivotal role in fostering meaningful partnerships between families, the community, the Roundtable, WEC, and WPS by helping to facilitate regular parent meetings and educational events, sharing pertinent information and resources, and developing and nurturing partnerships with local organizations, leaders, and businesses to broaden equitable access to opportunities for all WPS students and families.
To contact the FACES Team, please email Julia Kilgore, Senior Deputy Director, at jkilgore@wecollaborative.org.
The EdRedesign Lab’s Institute for Success Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced its third cohort of cross-sector teams from across the country joining its 2024 Success Planning Community of Practice and Worcester has been chosen.
There are sixteen total communities invited to participate in the 2024-2025 Success Planning Community of Practice, including six communities from cohort 2 returning for their second year and ten new communities representing cohort 3. The returning communities are Cambridge, MA; Chelsea, MA; Dayton, OH; Memphis, TN; San Francisco, CA; and Spartanburg, SC. The new cohort 3 Community of Practice communities are Birmingham, AL; Berea, KY; NY, NY (Children’s Aid Society); Oakland, CA; Orlando, FL; Salt Lake City, UT; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; Toledo, OH; and Worcester, MA. The multisector community teams include leaders from school systems, health and human services agencies, out-of-school-time and other community- and faith-based organizations, backbone organizations, place-based partnerships, and mayors and other local officials.
Your donation supports public education in Worcester through programs like Reading Together and our Worcester Education Equity Roundtable partnership.
