Congrats to New London's PLTI graduates

Click on the photo for a larger view of the June 7 PLTI graduation ceremonies at the New London Senior Center, where 13 parent leaders were honored: Henrietta Adger, Natasha Brown, Roseanne Champlin, Elizabeth Cornish, Krystal Fitzpatrick, Karen Gills, Monica Glickman, Alicia Gonzalez, Lee Luciano-Lecara, Sara Marshall, Sally Price, Abby Rollins, and Rachelle Thornton.

Photos from the statewide PLTI graduation ceremonies

Put 160 smiling parents and their families in a place as beautiful as the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, and you're bound to come up with a few half-way decent photos, even when the camera's in the hands of yours truly:

PLTI statewide graduation 6-29-11

Here's a press release the Commission issued prior to the ceremonies:

More than 160 parents from towns and cities across Connecticut will graduate Wednesday, June 29, from a first-of-its-kind family civics program, the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI).

The graduates—from Bloomfield, Bridgeport, Danbury, East Hartford, Hartford, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Plymouth, and Waterbury—will receive legislative citations after putting in more than 100 hours to develop the skills needed to become leaders in their communities.

A major requirement of PLTI is completing a community project of the student’s choosing. The projects of this year’s graduates showed a wide range of creativity, such as creating educational television programming for parents of children with disabilities (Bloomfield), improving children's financial literacy (Meriden), and holding after-school classes in manners and etiquette (Norwalk).

PLTI was launched in 1992 by the Connecticut Commission on Children, which had seen growing scientific evidence that one of the best ways to improve the health, safety, and learning of Connecticut children is to help their parents develop the skills needed to lead in their communities. PLTI graduates have gone on to lead community organizations, serve on local school boards, and win election to the state legislature.

“With the economy forcing our state and local governments to make very difficult decisions about the health, safety, and learning of children, it’s vital that parents participate as equal partners and make their concerns known,” said Commission on Children Executive Director Elaine Zimmerman. “PLTI gives them the ‘democracy tool kit’ to accomplish just that. As we always say in PLTI, ‘It’s amazing what one parent can do.’”

Liberty Bank Foundation touts PLTI on News Channel 8

The Liberty Bank Foundation has been a vital partner with the Commission on Children in supporting PLTI, and today the Foundation took the opportunity to explain the program on "Connecticut Style," the mid-day program aired by WTNH-TV, News Channel 8. Appearing with the Foundation's Betty Sugerman Weintraub were Donna Marino of the Middletown Public Schools and Ava Hart, 2002 PLTI graduate. Great job by everyone!

Liberty Bank Foundation: wtnh.com

10 parents graduate from Norwalk PLTI

Ten parents from Norwalk and surrounding towns graduated from PLTI last week, in a ceremony covered by the Hour of Norwalk.

The graduates are: Keri Arpino, Eva Beau, Dora Diaz, Mandrita Guha, Gloria Helenese, Randy Heller, Blanca Munoz, Jackie Ocampo, Marcela Talisse, and Blanca Velasquez.

11 Milford parents graduate from PLTI

Milford got itself 11 new parent leaders on Monday, June 13, when 11 local parents graduated from PLTI. Mayor James Richetelli Jr. and state Representatives Kim Rose and Paul Davis were on hand to deliver remarks and congratulate the graduates.

There's a nice article about the graduation on Milford Patch, complete with photos and a good description of the work these parents undertook to win their diplomas.

The graduates are Kristy Brown, Heather Contreras, Carla Farrace, Laura Fetter, Staci Godek, Melanie Hamilton, Stacy Lesperance, Jennifer Marchesseault, Maryellen Schoonmaker, Pritam Sule, and Michelle Zawadski.

Hartford welcomes 16 new PLTI graduates

Sixteen proud Hartford parents received their PLTI diplomas on Tuesday night, at a City Hall ceremony that included congratulatory remarks from Mayor Pedro E. Segarra (pictured below), Councilman Luis Cotto, and Dr. Jose Colon-Rivas, head of the city's Office of Young Children.

Congrats to the grads: Darrel Brown, Precious Ross Ellis, Lourdes Fonseca, Monique Griffin, Virgil Griffin, Giselle Jacobs, Tandra Price, Nyrsa Segui, Lorna Shipp, April Simpson, Christina Morales Smith, Jermaine Torruella, Tanya Walker, Ida Washington, Delicia Arnold Williams, and Ivy Wilson.

Here they are! Click on a photo to enlarge it. More photos here.

Making their presence felt in Stamford

Governor Malloy has been holding "town hall" meetings across Connecticut in order to get the public's feedback on his proposed budget. When he held one such meeting at the University of Connecticut campus in Stamford on March 22, he learned firsthand about the civics skills that parents hone in PLTI, Parents See, and PEP. Parents like Ana Gallegos -- pictured below, speaking on behalf of PLTI alumni -- spoke out on a variety of issues.