February Latinx Coalition Meeting – Relaxation

We kicked off the new year with an amazing Latinx Coalition Meeting on February 6th at Alger Head Start. Sabor Latino catered the event with their Puerto Rican rice, empanadas and beef stuffed potatoes which were the size of baseballs! There was also plenty of dessert to top off this amazing meal.

Veronica Quintino-Aranda, Program Coordinator for MSU Extension, was our speaker and she was beyond amazing! The meeting was held entirely in Spanish and started off with an ice breaker by Reyna, one of our parent representatives.

This meeting was like no other that I have seen during our Latinx coalition meetings. If participants were expecting to come to this meeting to sit and be talked to – they were mistaken! Veronica had numerous signs and giant post it notes on the walls throughout the room. As she started her presentation participants were encouraged to get up and write on the post it notes. Her presentation centered around relaxation techniques and things that parents can do in stressful situations that would enable them to relax.

Later in her presentation she had everyone get up and stand in a huge circle. During this activity she demonstrated relaxation techniques and had the participants try them out as well. The group even started singing in Spanish. It was an amazing sound to hear – absolutely beautiful.

This meeting was full of action, interaction and information. The parents in attendance left with an abundance of information and techniques they can use in their lives and in the care of their children!

At the conclusion of our meeting every child in attendance received a book that was either completely in Spanish or bilingual as we continue to promote literacy. We also gave away five Meijer gift cards.

“Relaxation”

We kicked off the new year with an amazing Latinx Coalition Meeting on February 6th at Alger Head Start. Sabor Latino catered the event with their Puerto Rican rice, empanadas and beef stuffed potatoes which were the size of baseballs! There was also plenty of dessert to top off this amazing meal.

Veronica Quintino-Aranda, Program Coordinator for MSU Extension, was our speaker and she was beyond amazing! The meeting was held entirely in Spanish and started off with an ice breaker by Reyna, one of our parent representatives.

This meeting was like no other that I have seen during our Latinx coalition meetings. If participants were expecting to come to this meeting to sit and be talked to – they were mistaken! Veronica had numerous signs and giant post it notes on the walls throughout the room. As she started her presentation participants were encouraged to get up and write on the post it notes. Her presentation centered around relaxation techniques and things that parents can do in stressful situations that would enable them to relax.

Later in her presentation she had everyone get up and stand in a huge circle. During this activity she demonstrated relaxation techniques and had the participants try them out as well. The group even started singing in Spanish. It was an amazing sound to hear – absolutely beautiful.

This meeting was full of action, interaction and information. The parents in attendance left with an abundance of information and techniques they can use in their lives and in the care of their children!

At the conclusion of our meeting every child in attendance received a book that was either completely in Spanish or bilingual as we continue to promote literacy. We also gave away five Meijer gift cards.

GREAT START COLLABORATIVE KENT COUNTY

Funding from the Office of Great Start within the Michigan Department of Education supports the implementation of Great Start.