Page 19 - Salesianum - Winter 2019

NEW PARENTS ASSOCIATION STRUCTURE
The start of the 2019–20 school year will mark the re-launch of the Salesianum Parents Association (SPA), an initiative that has been 12 months in the making and was born of a desire to align Salesianum’s needs more closely with the families who support the school.
The shift will bring the SPA under the auspices of the Advancement Office, which monitors and tracks volunteerism across campus. As the arm of the school tasked with securing resources for Salesianum, the Advancement Office is a natural fit to strengthen the strong ties between Salesianum and its parents. “People want to be helpful,” remarked John Helmick, Chief Advancement Officer. “We didn’t always have good answers when parents asked, ‘how can I help?’ Thus, we began looking at institutions similar to our own to see how they leveraged the skills and passion of their parents. That investigation helped determine the scope and structure of some of what we’re planning to do.”
The plenary meetings of the SPA will be supported by an array of committees, which will meet independently. There will be five new sub-committees: Admissions, Development, Social, Spirituality and Hospitality. Each of the committees will work to build upon the work the SPA has done for years, but also add new programs and activities to strengthen the ties between the school and its families.
ALEX WALSH, DIRECTOR OF PARENT GIVING, explained: “There will always be some parents who are willing to give extraordinary amounts of
time to the school. We’ll always rely on people like that, but I felt like we might be missing out on the people who might only be able to give a few hours over the whole school year. It’s those folks — men and women — that
I think this new structure will appeal to. In the new committee structure, service to Salesianum can be quick and focused without making a long-term commitment to chair this or that.”
While the calendar for 2019–20 is still coming together, Walsh shared that the parent community can expect many of the events that define the Salesian experience for parents, such as the Freshman Family Cookout and the Senior Parent Fiesta. There will also be some new additions, including a Fall Food Truck Festival, Family Mass and Grade Level Parent Socials.
The Salesian Brotherhood is strong. The new SPA seeks to foster a similar sense of fellowship among the parent community through service and common goals. If you have questions, ideas or want to help, please contact Alex Walsh, Director of Parent Giving, at alwalsh@salesianum.org or 302-356-2682.
I am a lifelong Delaware resident and was born in Rehoboth Beach. I worked in New York and Washington as a news writer, but moved back to Wilmington in 2001 and have been working as an event planner. I have three children and my son, Sam, is a freshman at Salesianum. —Alex Walsh, Director of Parent Giving
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