October 1, 2010

Governor’s Weekly Message to Delawareans

Our Children - Our Schools - Our Future

October is Parental Involvement Month in Delaware

(Newark, DE)  In his weekly message, Governor Markell focused on the ongoing need for parental involvement in our schools and in children's lives.  This week, the Governor along with Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery kicked off a series of public conversations on stronger public schools that will continue through the end of this calendar year.  Teachers, students, private sector employers and community leaders are coming together to talk about what we are doing to improve student achievement in Delaware.

“These conversations are happening around kitchen tables all over Delaware, but it’s great that we have the chance to have them together to share and learn from each other,” said Governor Markell.  “One point that’s made over and over is how critical parental involvement is to student success.” 

This Monday, educators and employers, PTA members and policy makers will be getting together to proclaim October “Parental Involvement Month” in Delaware. 

“Ensuring we have the strongest economy now is critical to economic opportunity in the future.  That means making sure we’re working every day to make sure we have more and better jobs available – to make sure people have the resources to invest in themselves and their children’s future," said Governor Markell. "It also means having the strongest public schools possible, because employers want to locate in places where employees can feel great about sending their kids to schools and where students can graduate ready to succeed."

“Conversation About Stronger Schools” are taking place up and down the state between now and the end of the year.  You can find the full schedule at http://governor.delaware.gov/educationconversations or on Facebook.

At noon every Friday, a new video message is posted to the Governor’s website and YouTube channel and is distributed to Delaware media outlets. Transcripts of the messages are posted and the audio version of the Governor’s message is available on iTunes as a podcast for distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers. The Governor’s weekly message is currently being carried on the air and posted on websites by various media outlets, and the direct link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nVHjhla5GQ

Constituents, media outlets and others are free to link to the Governor’s video message on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/GovernorMarkell - or on his Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/governormarkell - or on the Delaware State website at http://governor.delaware.gov/information/podcast_video.shtml. All are also invited to follow him on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/governormarkell- and submit ideas through http://ideas.delaware.gov.