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01/22/2012 11:00 PMCLINTON - On Feb. 1, the Clinton Parent Teacher Association (CPTA) is hosting yet another educational meeting with an established guest speaker-Alicia Farrell, Ph.D., is back again, this time talking about the unique challenges parents and teachers of boys face.
"This speaker we have coming up is pretty dynamic and interesting. She is going to be talking about boys in the school system and how they learn differently and how to advocate for them, which is something some of us struggle with," CPTA President Andrea Reu said. "Something like this will typically draw a different kind of audience."
The meetings are open to the public and the CPTA is hoping to attract a large crowd, especially parents.
The 90-member CPTA was founded in 2008 by past president Cynthia Daley and past vice president Kathleen Skoczen. The two founders, who focused on the nutritional aspects in the town's public schools, helped to implement a district-wide food service director.
Unique to other shoreline towns, the CPTA covers all Clinton grades. According to its website, the association's mission is "to be a collective voice for Clinton Public School students, parents, and teachers."
"We cover grades K through 12 and we are a component of the National Parent Teachers Association as a state Parent Teacher Association, so we have those resources," Reu said. "We focus more on the educational issues and concerns and parents having a right and a choice in their children's education."
The group meets once a month at the Henry Carter Hull Library and its main component of those meetings is providing a guest speaker with knowledge on a certain subject that pertains to the school system that will provide proper resources for parents.
Last March, Farrell was a guest speaker who highlighted information on mental fitness and memory enhancement techniques for students.
Although the group has only been around for four years, membership has grown dramatically.
"We have a two-year board term and we have 10 members on our board. Two years ago when we started there were 25 members and we got it up to 90, so it's kind of exciting," Reu said. "We've always had one or two teachers and we did a push for teachers this year-now we have nine."
For a list of upcoming meetings and guest speakers as well as to learn more about what CPTA has to offer, visit www.clintonpta.org.