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Mrs. Strickland conducts forum
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FIRST LADY SPEAKS: Frances Strickland, Ohio’s First lady and chairwoman of Ohio Family and Children First Council, addresses a “Dialogue on Education and Collaboration” session Tuesday at the Oakhill Renaissance Center in Youngstown. About two dozen educators from Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties participated.
‘The goal is to improve relationships among educators,’ the first lady said.
YOUNGSTOWN — Frances Strickland, the state’s first lady, is on a mission.
As chairwoman of Ohio Family and Children First Council, she is traveling the state getting local educators together to discuss how to best help children succeed.
“We get people to pool their knowledge and resources so each child can improve their educational performance,” Strickland said. “The goal is to improve relationships among educators, which will improve education.”
A forum Tuesday at the Oakhill Renaissance Center on the city’s South Side included representatives from Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties. About 25 attended the event.
The council will make recommendations to the state Legislature next month after about 25 meetings are held throughout Ohio.
The idea of these forums is an off-shoot from Gov. Ted Strickland’s 12 education forums held last year, his wife said. Educators wanted more of a say in the state’s education programs and that’s the information being collected by the council, she said.
Among those at Tuesday’s forum was Rich Denamen, superintendent of the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.
“My hope is we can coordinate and collaborate rather than duplicate,” he said. “It’s important we don’t duplicate. That’s one of my goals.”
For example, Denamen said he wants to see all school districts in the county have a coordinated mental-health program.
“If we have a list in Mahoning County of programs for a child in kindergarten with disabilities, we’d be able to best address those needs,” he said. “Also, a district that is struggling financially wouldn’t have to start a program. We don’t have a [central location] for resources for kids. That means there’s a duplication of efforts.”
Because there are so many needs for children and limited funding, money should be spent wisely, Denamen said.
skolnick@vindy.com