Act Right, Do Right: Part 7 with Andria and Brooke from The Prichard Committee

Andria: [00:00:00] I’m Andria Jackson with the Prichard Committee here with my esteemed colleague, Brooke Gill, the director of family engagement. Our friends at Kentucky SPIN, the Kentucky special parent involvement network, have challenged us to an act right, do right video. We have lots to share. How are you Brooke?

Brooke: [00:00:25] I’m good, how are you?

Andria: [00:00:26] I’m doing really good.

How has your family been adjusting to this time?

Brooke: [00:00:32] I would say it’s a roller coaster. Some days I feel like, we’ve got it and I’m actually kind of loving it and getting used to it and just like lots of family time and, it’s kinda great. And then the next day is just like a train wreck from like morning to bedtime. [laughing]

And I haven’t really figured out like the secret sauce or like why some days are smooth and some days are a disaster. But, it’s just a roller coaster. So, my kids are four and eight, so I don’t, I don’t know. I don’t know if [00:01:00] it’s me or them, but sometimes we’ve got it and sometimes we don’t.

Andria: [00:01:04] It’s been an adjustment for my family too. We’re an on-the-go type of family, constantly sports. We have very little time at home and the lots of time eating out. So when that’s reversed to always being at home and constantly having meals at home, it feels so much different. But I think one of my favorite things the bright spot that could come out of this is the togetherness has really forced everyone to get along.

So sometimes when siblings are going at it all the time and now they’re finding ways to get along and play together and share the Xbox. And you know, mine are 15 and eight and there’s an age gap there. But I’ve really enjoyed hearing them get along and have some togetherness. So.

Brooke: [00:01:48] I would agree. I’m really surprised how well mine have gotten along.

Like I thought this would, they would fight and bicker more. But that has been a blessing for us too, is that, I mean, we’re all kind of at our wits end, but I don’t [00:02:00] know if we’ve just reached like the point of crazy and so we’re all just like, wow. [laughing] But I think everybody seems to be in good spirits about it. I mean, we’re bored.

But, but yeah, I mean, they are getting along better than they ever have, so that’s been a bright spot for us too.

Andria: [00:02:17] Good. So from a professional standpoint, I know that at the Prichard Committee, we’ve been working really, really hard to maintain our goals, to make sure that families stay engaged, to make sure that citizens in the community have their voices heard, what’s going on with the world right now.

And I thought it would be important for us to share. And, of course, Kentucky SPIN has invited us to do so of how we’re acting right and doing right. The act right is our ability to change all of our work to a virtual space like that [snaps fingers] we were able to really pick up where we left off and continue our work.

And by doing right, as you can see right now, you and I are, [00:03:00] I’m at home. You’re at home. [laughing] We’re still able to meet and, really, you know, knock out some good work. So can you tell us about what’s going on with the family engagement work and other things.

Brooke: [00:03:11] Yeah. So, we were already doing a lot with our parent cafes, which is one of the deliverables that we’re doing with the grant, the statewide family engagement center grant, and also as part of the strengthening families initiative.

And so we had already hit the ground running with doing different parent cafes in different parts of the state. So we’ve just taken those virtually and we’ve had a lot of success with them. It’s really something I look forward to. I love them. I look forward to them every week. I mean, it’s like a perk for me cause I’m like on the clock for work, but it’s the part of my week that I look forward to the most are every Friday at one o’clock.

And we’re always just telling people, like, invite a friend, bring somebody. And a lot of the stuff we’re hearing out there is like really good tips for like, what to do. Or you watch the news and you get your, you know, updates on, COVID and state updates. But [00:04:00] the parent cafe is really just a time to like laugh and let loose and talk to other parents and you just hear just like what people are doing at home.

That’s like keeping them sane and it’s also helps you feel like, less guilty, I guess. You know, sometimes I’m just like, like I said, sometimes we just can’t get it together and it’s nice to hear other families that feel the same way, but you also pick up like ideas and tips and tricks from other families.

so the way that they work, they’re just an hour, they’re an hour, right?

Andria: [00:04:29] Yes.

Brooke: [00:04:30] One hour. So you just sign on and there’s like 20 or 30 parents, it’s not a huge group. You don’t have to share your screen if you don’t want to. You can just call in and then you have a, you go into separate rooms. So you’re just with like three or four or five other parents and somebody will just like, say three questions.

And then as a group, you pick a question and they’re always like lighthearted and fun questions. Like, what are you doing these days to like, you know, it take time for yourself? And so people just jump in, be like, well, I’ve tried [00:05:00] this and I’ve tried this, and it’s just a really refreshing light way to like connect with people and for me to have some like, adult conversation.

So yeah, those have been cool.

Andria: [00:05:11] Our partner Ludhiana in Western Kentucky, described her as, she described the parent cafe is a safe space where information shared is confidential. No judgment. She even mentioned if you want to show up in your pajamas, or wrapped up in a blanket on your couch. It’s such a comfortable, you know, mom to mom, mom to dad, grandparents can be in there, but it’s just a, a cafe of sorts. But no judgment come as you are.

Brooke: [00:05:38] That’s right. Yeah. The last week I did it, I was out on the swing set with the kids and I just had it on speaker and I was just chitchatting with other parents and the kids were running around and, it’s just good therapy right now.

So, yeah.

Andria: [00:05:52] Awesome.

Brooke: [00:05:52] That’s probably one of the best things.

Andria: [00:05:54] So, we can also share with our viewers how to join the parent cafes cause they’re on [00:06:00] Fridays every week and we would like to see more participation.

Brooke: [00:06:04] Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we didn’t really tell a lot of people and market it really big at first, cause we didn’t really know what we were doing.

So we were trying to kind of get the technology figured out. But now we’re of and running and feel really good about how it’s set up. And so, I guess we can share a link. Maybe the link is at the bottom of this video by now, and you can just click on that and you just go in and register and, every Friday at one.

So I just went in and just registered for all of them at one time. And so it’s like a standing thing in my calendar, every Friday at one now. Okay. So click the link below and register.

Andria: [00:06:40] Yeah, we’ll make sure it’s there.

Brooke: [00:06:42] Okay. [Laughing]

Andria: [00:06:43] Well, I appreciate you taking time to just chat through this, and of course we appreciate our partnership with Kentucky SPIN, they’re fantastic, and they’re doing a lot of great work, providing a lot of great information, and we’ll see who’s challenged next to act right and do right.

Brooke: [00:06:58] Thanks, Andrea.

[00:07:00] Andria: [00:06:59] Thank you.