CHS Open House strengthens bonds between school, parents
Coppell High School Mandarin/Chinese teacher Andrea Voelker listens to a parent’s questions during Open House on Tuesday night. Parents of students at CHS had the opportunity to meet their children’s teachers and understand what their classes will be like for the 2019-20 school year.
August 30, 2019
Talking eloquently with a smile on her face, Coppell High School IB math and honors pre-calculus teacher Kari Kosh shares an anecdote about Principal Laura Springer and a personal YouTube shoutout to her fifth period class.
Unlike any other school day, students are replaced by parents and classes are only 10 minutes long during Open House.
With changes in administration and new policies in effect such as the cell phone use policy and Friday Night Live, changes in the annual Coppell High School Open House also occurred. Rather than going through classes in order from first through eighth, parents followed their student’s C day schedule.
“Going to the classes and meeting the teachers is enjoyable,” mother of CHS junior and Lakeside Elementary school teacher Ummehani Bohri said. “But the hard part is going from one place to another. First period is in C hallway in second period is in B hallway. It does give me [a glimpse of what my student goes through].”
Within the 10 minutes allocated to each class, teachers introduced themselves, expectations of students and parents, course requirements and answered questions from parents.
Establishing a name-to-face connection was also a goal for teachers and parents.
“When the kid goes home and talks about class, the parent can remember, ‘She had that on the wall of her room’ or ‘Oh yeah, she would say a joke like that,’” Kosh said. “That way the stories can go home and be a bit more real.”
As parents made their way from class to class, Red Jackets members lined the hallways to assist parents with the locations of classes.
“I liked getting to know the parents better and helping them learn about and better [the school],” CHS senior Red Jacket Cole Krautkramer said. “Everytime the [parents] come up to [the Red Jackets], we have little conversations about their students and what classes they are taking and from there I can direct them to their class.”
Throughout Open House, Springer smiled and greeted parents and students with open arms.
“[The staff] needs to be personal and [parents and teachers] need to be partners to make life great for [students],” Springer said. “I just like it when [parents] come up and say ‘I’m so and so’s mom or dad,’ I can put a name to a face and say ‘It’s so nice to meet you, thank you for sharing them with me.’”
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