Mercy College and Rivertown Parents to Present Workshop to Encourage Self-Advocacy Skills in K-12 Students

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Event flyer

Mercy College, in partnership with Rivertown Parents, a consortium of five school districts that provides educational resources for parents, students and teachers, will host a panel of experts to discuss how parents can guide their children toward greater independence in communicating with teachers and other adults.

“Self-Advocacy Skills for Your Child: Learn Tips from a Panel of Experts” will be held on Tuesday, May 24, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Mercy College Rotunda in Dobbs Ferry. The event will also be livestreamed for participants who prefer to attend remotely. Pre-registration is required to attend either in-person or on Zoom.  

For more than a decade, Mercy College has collaborated with Rivertown Parents in hosting and developing programs on topics of interest to parents and teachers in the five districts. “Our objective is to equip parents with ways to support their school-age children in learning skills that will help them thrive in school, work and life,” said Dr. JungKang Miller, associate professor and chair of the Department of Literacy and Multilingual Studies, who helped organize the event. “While it may be easier for parents to intervene on their child’s behalf, it doesn’t help the child develop independence and self-advocacy.”

Moderating the panel will be Dr. Victoria Núñez, assistant professor of literacy and multilingual studies at Mercy College. The panelists are:

  • Dr. Cynthia Walley, chair of the Mercy College Counseling Department and Program director of the master’s program in school counseling
  • Michelleann DeFilippis, MEd ’20, assistant principal at Irvington High School and an alumna of Mercy’s Educational Leadership and Administration program
  • Dr. Jeff Cohen, director of the master’s program in school psychology at Mercy and former school psychologist with the Ardsley School District

The panelists will present briefly on their respective areas of expertise and will field questions from the audience. Participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance to help shape the direction of the discussion. Send questions to jkmiller@mercy.edu. For more information or to register, visit the event website.