Learning Curve
Starting off with a Chat
Posted on January 3, 2022, by GAPMP
Meet Megan Wilhoit from Stephens County
Megan worked with her district’s Department of Exceptional Children (DEC) staff and school administrators at each of their six schools to organize Coffee Chat events to kick off the school year in an effort to make people feel welcome.
We sent a personal letter to each family inviting them to join us for coffee and pastries at their student’s school. We wanted them to get to know the people who would be working with their student throughout the year and learn more about the organization of our department, the role each member plays, and things like that.
We have six schools in our county, divided by grade level, and each one has a coordinator who works directly underneath the director. Since this is a new position and we have some new faces within our department, we decided to host a “coffee chat” at each of the schools. We had a goal of completing all of them within the first month of school.
We wrote a fun, catchy letter explaining a little about the GaPMP and my role and then inviting the family to join us at the school to learn more and to meet the rest of the DEC team.
The letters felt personal to the families because we attached a sticker with “to the parent/guardian of ___________” and had the student deliver it.
Our attendance has been outstanding! The events were simple to put on and the families really enjoyed the fellowship!