The New Century School community had been moving toward establishing a Parent Council for a couple of years. Originally suggested during a TNCS Town Hall meeting, the Parent Council came together as a formal organization during the 2015–2016 school year. Since that time, the Parent Council has continued to develop its identity and hone its mission. A clear distinction is being made, for example, between Classroom Parents, who will act as communication conduits between teachers and parents, and Parent Council members who serve on a broader team in support of the school at large.

With the advent of the 2016–2017 school year, the Parent Council welcomed its new head, Sakina Ligon, who brings loads of both professional and personal experience to bear in her new position. Accepting the role, she said, allows her to get involved in a very direct way in her daughter’s first year at TNCS.

Brief Bio

Sakina Ligon is the Assistant Director of Student Life and an adjunct instructor with the Community College of Baltimore County. Having earned an M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Baruch College—The City University of New York, Ms. Ligon’s professional interests focus on student development and equitable access for all students.

Sakina Ligon, Head of TNCS Parent Council (among many other things!)

In this capacity, she also serves as secretary for the National Council on Student Development and co-chair for the 2016 National Council on Student Development Conference, is a member of the Maryland Community College Association Directors Association, and serves as a mentor for Sister’s Circle™, a local non-profit dedicated to “[empowering] at-risk girls to define success for themselves, make intentional decisions about their futures, and become self-sufficient young women.”

Parent Council Goals and Initiatives

With Ms. Ligon now at the helm, the Parent Council has formalized its mission as well as specific goals for the 2016–2017 school year. They are committed to assisting the TNCS community with enriching the children’s experience by continuing to offer opportunities for their exploration, learning, and development. Their mission is:

• To foster communication between all constituencies
• To provide support to the teachers and administration
• To assist with fundraising initiatives
• To coordinate special school events to help enrich each student experience as well as subsidize the overall cost of the co-curricular experience

In support of these goals, so far this year the Parent Council has launched a LabelDaddy campaign that has not only at least temporarily retired the Lost & Found bin (because student belongings are clearly labeled—use promo code TNCS!), but also raises funds for the school, as well as the Harris Teeter fundraiser, Together in Education (TNCS can now earn a percentage of each purchase when TNCS families link their VIC cards and shop Harris Teeter brands using TNCS Code 3528).

Ms. Ligon says that an ancillary goal she hopes to pursue relates back to a TNCS Core Value—service. “We want to work on giving back not just to the school but also to the community in general,” she said. This involves both community events as well as service projects. Such initiatives the council will help the TNCS community tackle throughout this year are as follows.

• Family Dance Night with the Charles Street Fiddlers on November 5th to support the second annual upper elementary trip to Echo Hill Outdoor School (read about last year’s here). See our Facebook event for more information: Family Dance Night.
• Teacher Appreciation will take place during American Education Week (November 14th through 18th), with the theme that teachers are our real-life superheroes. Parent volunteers will be asked to help out on a teachers’ luncheon, and students will decorate the school and make goodie bags.
• Project Linus: Provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.” Our blanketeers will be TNCS 3rd- through 6th-graders, collaborating on the “No-Sew Fleece Blanket” shown below.
• Random Acts of Kindness: This initiative will target service from TNCS’s younger students and involves decorating bags and filling them with items that might brighten someone’s day.
• Rice: “Most cultures use rice, and they each have particular ways to prepare and eat it,” said Ms. Ligon. So, during Sprit Week in February, the last day of the week will be a cultural day and could serve as a potluck, highlighting rice. Details to come!

In these ways, the new Parent Council adopts a three-pronged approach to much-needed school initiatives: fundraising, community events, and service. In closing, Ms. Ligon very rightly reminds us to stay involved. “I hope everyone will embrace the Parent Council. I’m happy to help out wherever I can, but it’s more than me—it has to be a collective effort,” she said. That collective effort will provide all manner of assistance to the school and to our local community. Importantly, it will also model community-oriented behavior for our kids, helping them to develop into the citizens this world needs.