photo by Hannah Reel

Monica Cannon leads the group on the topic of behavioral styles during the Parents for Public Schools workshop at the Judge George W. Armstrong Library Saturday. The group composed of parents, school leaders, teachers and community leaders participated in different exercises that taught them to work effectively with each other.

Community gets involved with school

By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Sunday, June 28, 2009

NATCHEZ — When dealing with difficult people, it’s not usually the person that upsets you — it’s their behavior.

That was the message Parents for Public Schools facilitator Monica Cannon brought to Natchez Saturday.

Cannon met with a group of concerned citizens and educators at the Armstrong Library to discuss ways to form better lines of communication between the schools and the community.

“Our goal is to get out at a grassroots level and engage the parents in an effort to create parent leaders,” Cannon said.

Having raised four children of his own, John Isaac said he attended Saturday’s session in hopes he could get involved in the community.

“The main thing is to find out what we can do for our young people,” Isaac said.

The focus of Saturday’s session was specifically to learn the different behavior styles, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each style and learn to recognize what kind of interaction is needed when dealing with a person who has a particular behavior style.

“Once you realize (the person you are addressing) is different, you can adjust your behavior to work with them,” Cannon said.

Workshop participant Barbara Hoskins said she works in the public schools and sees a lot of different behavior patterns.

“I am here to see what I can do to better myself for interacting with the children,” she said.

After the participants learned the different behavior styles, Cannon reminded them that there are other factors, like the setup of a room, that can unintentionally determine how people interact.

“When I go to my daughter’s parent-teacher conference, they have me sit in the big chair and the teacher sits behind a desk,” Cannon said. “How can I be comfortable if I feel like I am back in the principal’s office?”