Family Involvement Conference
October 28-29, 2024
 
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The 49th Annual Family Involvement Conference will be held October 22-24, 2023 at the Renaissance Allentown Hotel, Allentown, PA. In keeping with the exemplary standards of the Family Involvement Conference, four prestigious awards will be presented at lunch on Monday, Oct. 23rd.

The Nicole "Nikki" Hines award will be presented to a parent in memory of a longtime Family Involvement Conference advocate whose unbridled enthusiasm, endless compassion and unwavering commitment to student success symbolized the heart and soul of parent involvement. This award is established as a lasting tribute to Nikki Hines and her relentless support of family, school and community engagement. The recipient of this award will be selected based on his or her extraordinary efforts to make a positive impact on their community through volunteering in their neighborhoods, faith communities, schools, or social service agencies.

The Bonita Allen Leadership Award: Bonita Allen engaged with education systems as a mother when her children were young. Gaining confidence in her own ability to advocate for her children she saw a new focus for herself to help all parents to be partners with educators and education systems and to address inequities in the systems; to advocate for justice. The Award will be presented to someone who began their journey in leadership as family leader in local community. The candidate's role as a leader in family-school-community partnerships is that of a relationship builder supporting other family members to serve as leaders in their communities. The candidate's impact will include mentoring other family members to feel confident in their role as their child's most influential advocate and facilitator with community and school staff to understand and appreciate family members contributions in family-school-community partnerships particularly involving Title I programs or schools.

The Caroline Allen Advocate Award: Caroline Allen touched the lives of innumerable parent/caregivers with her amazing positivity and strength. She acted with a "can do" energy to address issues of concern at first in her children's school community, then as a more formal volunteer leader. Caroline represented concerns of parents in multiple settings as she began a professional career promoting family-school-community partnerships and out of school time programs. The Award will be presented to someone who began their journey in leadership began as family leader in local community. The candidate's role as a leader in family-school-community partnerships is that of a relationship builder and advocate for an equitable education system (early education through college). The candidate's impact will include advocacy activities that promote family strengths as partners in work with family members, community and school staff.

Paul Rinaldi Principal Award: Paul F. Rinaldi will always be remembered as the epitome of a true child advocate. He began his career as a teacher and later became the enrichment coordinator at the Franklin Township School in Broadway, NJ. Recognizing his deep commitment to working with children and parents, he promoted to Principal and later Chief School Administrator of the same school. Throughout his career as an educator, Paul was actively involved with the PTA of NJ. Upon his retirement, the Warren County PTA established a scholarship in his name for a student that demonstrates outstanding respect and character-building traits. In 2003, Paul joined the Pennsylvania Coalition for Parent Involvement which hosts the annual Family Involvement Conference. Candidates will be principals who go above and beyond to demonstrate strong servant leadership skills and passion for advocacy that support students and their families.

General Information

  • Review the Award categories to determine which award matches the person to be nominated.
  • Nominations must be submitted by September 1, 2023.
  • Award winners may attend the conference on Monday, October 23 at no charge.
  • Click here to get the printable nomination form.
  • Save the form with name of nominee (Ex. FIC-Award-kshanoski)
  • Please email the form to Karen Shanoski at kshanoski@csc.csiu.org or print and postal mail to Karen Shanoski, Center for Schools and Communities, 275 Grandview Avenue, Suite 200, Camp Hill, PA 17011.
  • Awardees will be selected and nominators will be notified by September 15, 2023.
  • For additional information, contact Ms. Karen Shanoski at kshanoski@csc.csiu.org, or by telephone at (717) 763-1661 ext. 139