Family & Community

Ari Gerzon-Kessler is a sought-after speaker and professional learning provider working with schools and districts committed to forging stronger school-family partnerships. He’s presented at national and international conferences and his writings have been featured in a variety of educational publications.

In this webinar, we'll explore the crucial difference between family involvement and building authentic partnerships. Education expert Ari Gerzon-Kessler will introduce the Families and Educators Together framework from his book On The Same Team, offering insights into the strategies, research, and practical applications that bring this approach to life. Discover why every school can benefit from a dedicated team focused on fostering stronger, more reciprocal relationships between educators and underrepresented families.

During this 1-Day Workshop, participants will gain strategies for how to build better parent engagement and collaboration with your school community to better support all of your students. Each participant will learn about a “Parentship” and how to purposely build a guiding coalition to move this work forward in their schools. Participants will also be given several easy-to-implement strategies for their own collaborative teams and school communities along with time and tools to think through that process.

Deborah Ricker is principal at Cedar Trails Exploration Center: Early Childhood in Kansas. She previously led Glenwood Ridge Elementary and has 19 years of experience as a school psychologist, serving early childhood through high school in both public and private school settings.

Theodore Goergen, EdD, is the director of student activities at the award-winning Adlai E. Stevenson High School. A practitioner for nearly 20 years, he has served as a middle school and high school science teacher as well as a curriculum team leader.