Strengthening family ties at WHS Parent Club paint night

It was more than just fun at the Wasco High School Tiger Parent Club Spring Paint Night – it was an evening of information to guide parents on better connecting with their children.

Led by trained social workers, parents took home tools to inspire and motivate them to build stronger ties and closer relationships with their young ones.

"The event aimed to provide a creative outlet for parents and students while offering practical strategies to help better serve their child at home," WHS Principal Rusvel Prado said in an interview. ""We had an impressive turnout of over 200 parents, indicating a growing involvement in their children's education.

"These events play a crucial role in fostering a sense of community within our school. The Tiger Parent Club typically holds events twice a year. Our last event, a presentation on mental health, attracted over 100 participants."

Dayana Mendoza is a social worker for Wasco High School.

"Today, we are talking about having positive conversations with your child and showing our parents a positive strategy they can do at home, like painting," she said.

Some of the key parenting strategies discussed at the event included doing things together like sharing regular meals as a family, talking about how your day was, and how spending time as a family improves communication and connection to build healthy relationships.

Other ideas included the importance of praising your child and acknowledging the positive things they do, noting that teens need praise to boost their self-esteem; teens still want parents' approval. They also advised being specific about the action and not the outcome, and being positive and sincere.

Parent Sergio Barba said events like these are essential. "Parents need to be involved in their child's education, and attending these meetings is a step in that direction," he said. "Parents need to interact with their kids' activities and instructors. Most parents send their kids to school, and that's it."

He said he participates in the parent group to show his daughter Hailey he cares about her. "It's another way to demonstrate that I support her, love her and that I'm going to be there with her along her education journey."

During the presentations, helpful information was intertwined with a lively guided painting lesson for the parents and students to tune into their creativity. Food, raffles and prizes were part of the festivities.

"It was cool to hang out with my parents because we don't go out that much, and doing an activity like painting together was special for us," sophomore Marisela Domingo said.

"Knowing that they would come to the meeting with me makes me feel that they really love me and want to spend more time together. I'm happy we came. It was a fun night."