Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, November 1, 2010

Two parents in Fayette County Public Schools were among 23 from across Kentucky who participated in this fall’s Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, which focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

Angela Brant of Ashland Elementary and Debra Smalley of William Wells Brown Elementary completed three two-day training sessions to increase their understanding of school performance and how to improve it.

Each will conduct a follow-up project designed to accelerate the academic achievement of students at her child’s school and to involve more parents in the effort while concentrating on the STEM areas.

The CIPL is an initiative of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a nonprofit citizens’ organization that works to improve education for all Kentuckians. The institute is designed in partnership with the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science and The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University. Primary support comes from a grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation.

The 2010 fall institute concluded Oct. 22 in Bowling Green. Since it was established in 1997, the CIPL has trained more than 1,500 Kentucky parents as education advocates.

For more information or to register for the next institute, visit http://www.cipl.org/ or call (859) 233-9849, ext. 231.