Back to School
A celebration of Parents Challenge's 20th Anniversary honoring
|
|
Betsy DeVos
11th United States Secretary of Education
|
|
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
James Irwin Charter School
5525 Astrozon Blvd
Colorado Springs, CO 80916
|
|
Thanks to
Richard King Brown and Mary Graham, Premiere Sponsors,
there is no cost to attend.
|
|
Advance registration is required for admission.
|
|
Parents Challenge empowers low-income families with educational choice through the generous support of over 200 individual, corporate, and foundation donors, including event sponsors
Richard King Brown and Mary Graham (CIC), Joe Woodford, Luke Ragland (Ready Colorado), Bob Lucia (Waypoint Bank), El Pomar Foundation, and Jack Damioli (The Broadmoor Hotel). Additional sponsors are pending and will be appropriately recognized.
|
|
Betsy DeVos, a champion for underserved students seeking to gain a quality education
|
|
Betsy DeVos serves as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Education. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 7, 2017 after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump. Secretary DeVos has been involved in education policy for nearly three decades as an advocate for children and a voice for parents. She is especially passionate about reforms that help underserved children gain access to a quality education.
DeVos' interest in education was sparked at an early age by her mother, a public school teacher. It grew when she sent her own children to school and was confronted with the reality that not every child in America is granted an equal opportunity to receive a great education. DeVos saw firsthand the work leaders in her hometown were doing to increase educational opportunities for students and choices for parents, and she has been involved in the fight to provide better educational options across the nation ever since.
For 15 years, DeVos served as an in-school mentor for at-risk children in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Public Schools. Her interactions there with students, families and teachers, according to DeVos, "changed my life and my perspective about education forever."
|
|
Parents Challenge empowers parents to help their children succeed in school and in life
|
|
Parents Challenge, founded in 2000, empowers low-income parents in the Pikes Peak Region with the financial, informational, and personal support that help them choose the schools
they
think are best for
their
children -- be it traditional public, private, charter public, or home.
Parents Challenge partners with the families being served.
Students are expected to outperform their low-income peers academically, achieve high attendance rates, volunteer in their communities, take part in extra-curricular activities, and graduate from high school. Parents Challenge's commitment is to provide financial resources as well as information shared through 15-20 evening empowerment sessions, open to the public, covering subjects that parents themselves identify as being important to them. Free childcare and meals are provided and parents commit to attend an agreed-upon number of sessions.
While currently serving 200 students from 119 families, Parents Challenge has empowered the
parents of 2,400 students with the financial and informational resources needed to choose the education they determine will prepare their students to succeed in school and in life. Additional financial resources will enable Parents Challenge to serve students currently on our waiting list.
|
|
James Irwin Charter School focuses on Honesty, Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Excellence
|
|
James Irwin Charter Schools (JICS) is a network with a proven track record of creating successful schools with superior academic achievement for students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. Presently, it has five schools on three campuses.
Even more important than academic excellence is a commitment to character development. All schools share a similar culture that focuses on 5 “pillars” of character: Honesty, Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, and Excellence. James Irwin Charter School is built on the character and life example of the man for whom it is named.
This year,
US News and World Report
rated 18-year old James Irwin Charter High School as the 7th best high school in Colorado.
Please note: there are two James Irwin Charter School campuses in Colorado Springs. The Back to School event with Betsy DeVos is at the Atrozon Campus, near the Colorado Springs Airport.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
