TASTE BUDDIES + Abriendo Puertas for GRPS Caregivers
Abriendo Puertas, or Opening Doors in English, has officially arrived in Grand Rapids Public Schools!
Abriendo Puertas is based on the idea of funds of knowledge, believing that parents are the first and best teachers their kids can have, using a two-generation approach toward meaningful parenting practices. When parents are supported, informed, confident, and educated, they can more effectively navigate their community’s systems and advocate for their families in these systems, creating a greater quality of life for both themselves and their children.
Read more about this program, which just wrapped up its second GRPS cohort at Buchanan Elementary!
Here is a snippet from the news article:
Taste Buddies is an initiative of the GRPS Family & Community Engagement Department which supports parents, guardians, and community stakeholders by building a cooperative link between home, school, and the community with a goal of removing barriers that impede scholar growth and success.
Katie Joseph, GRPS Family & Community Engagement Coordinator, began Taste Buddies with her supervisor, Jamie Masco, during the pandemic as a virtual activity, a time to maintain connections with district families when in-person contact had stopped.
It went so well that Joseph and Masco jumped at the opportunity to get Taste Buddies connected to Roy and her work with Abriendo Puertas.
“Our goal when partnering with the (Abriendo Puertas) initiative was to launch FACE’s first-ever Spanish language Taste Buddies family cooking class,” Joseph said with a broad smile. “And we aimed to provide a nutritional and culturally responsive cooking class for Buchanan Elementary’s Abriendo Puertas cohort.”
Joseph added that because session four of Abriendo Puertas’ curriculum teaches participants about the importance of balanced nutrition – and helps Abriendo Puertas participants to better promote healthy habits in their home – it was a natural for Taste Buddies which also promotes family togetherness and healthy eating.
Great news – this program is coming soon to a GRPS Cultural Center near you! To learn more about how Abriendo Puertas might look at your Cultural Center, contact Karrie Roy, GRPS’ EL/Refugee Parent Community Liaison, at RoyK@grps.org or 616-819-5374.