Parent liaisons aim to connect parents with support

The Gogebic-Ontonagon Great Start Collaborative recently hired two new parent liaisons to serve communities in both counties.

Laurie Celeski, of Ironwood, will serve families in Gogebic County and Donna Powelson, of White Pine, will cover Ontonagon County.

Parent liaisons work with community agencies, schools and families “to build public support for early childhood planning, provide a customer perspective as a sounding board for the Great Start Collaborative and lend support to the Great Start Collaborative,” Celeski said.

“We serve as a voice between parents and the community and the government,” Powelson said.

The main way parent liaisons serve the community is letting everyone know what support and programs are available.

“My job is to go out into the community and make connections with parents and schools,” Powelson said. “I work with our community to make sure people know what resources are available to them.”

Celeski said parent liaisons serve “to increase parent participation in the early childhood planning and decision-making process for the purpose of building a strong early childhood system within Gogebic and Ontonagon counties.”

Both will run activities to meet community needs and involve as many families as possible. Information, crafts, books and snacks are available at most activities, as well, Powelson said.

The Great Start program helps all families, but specifically assists families with children birth to 8 years old.

“Parents are the child’s first teachers and much of their future success begins at home during these years,” Celeski said.

Many of the activities available through the program target the younger children, and the programs hope to help as many families as possible.

The Great Start program is fully grant-funded, so spreading the word is key to future program continuation and success, Powelson said.

Though both liaisons have only been in their positions for one month, they said they enjoy meeting people in their communities.

Powelson said she likes learning more about her community.

“There’s lots of free resources out there that no one knows about. It’s great,” she said.

Celeski said her favorite part of the job so far is the personal connections she makes with the families and ther job helps “families have a voice.”

For more information about the Gogebic-Ontonagon Great Start Collaborative, visit gogreatstart.org. For available resources contact:

Gogebic: Laurie Celeski at (906) 364-2365 or [email protected].

Ontonagon: Donna Powelson (906) 285-0803 or [email protected].