WANT TO HELP YOUR CHILD OR FURTHER YOUR EDUCATION?

PARENT LEARNING CENTER IS A VALUABLE RESOURCE

  Whenever Julia Weathers has the chance, she enjoys going to Bossier Schools’ Parent Learning Center to write poetry, work on church programs and get a better working knowledge of computers.

  “I love being here. This is a place I can come and spend the day,” Weather said. “My grands love to come here, too. For them it’s like going to Chuck E. Cheese. They love it that much.”

  The Parent Learning Center has been open for 14 years, yet may be one of the community’s best kept secrets. Located behind Charlotte Mitchell Educational Center at 1518 Cox Street, the PLC is open to anyone wanting tips to help their children with their homework, self-esteem and anger issues. Its mission goes far beyond that, though.

  There are also practice testing materials for the ACT and SAT, adults can go there to learn how to type, develop technology proficiency skills, fill out job applications, study for their GED, and even check out computers to take home.

  “Literacy is a family affair,” Willie Blackshire, No Child Left Behind Title I Supervisor, said. “Our focus is to empower parents to help their children. We work so that no child is left behind. We want to make sure no parent is left behind, either; that they are technologically literate.”

  The PLC provides a majority of its services to Title I schools. All pre-school classes schedule two trips a year to the center for “Parent and Child Day.” While students play and are entertained by staff, parents learn about the importance of their involvement and how to help further their child’s education at home.

  As Blackshire pointed out, there are resources for everyone. A Title I interpreter is available for Hispanic speaking families and one night a month, the PLC extends its hours so working parents can drop by.

  The PLC is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. For more information, call 549-7303 or click here. Bossier Parish Parent Education Center

  Weathers said she would love to see more people take advantage of what the center has to offer.

  “I didn’t know much about computers before. I’ve since learned quite a bit. And the more I learned, the more I loved it.”