Courtesy Photo Jean Kowalski, MiFamily engagement coordinator for Region three, is pictured during the filming process for a series of videos to help educators and school staff improve their family engagement.

ALPENA — Family engagement is vital to student success, and MiFamily, a grant funded program with engagement centers throughout Michigan, is helping educators engage families with their students’ learning.

Jean Kowalski is the MiFamily engagement coordinator for Region No. 3, which covers 11 counties in Northeast Michigan. Kowalski works out of the Alpena Montmorency Alcona Educational Service District and covers those three counties as well as Presque Isle County.

The goal of family engagement is to create relationships between families, schools, and communities to nurture children’s success in learning.

“Strong teacher-family relationships create a powerful bridge around the student, where trust, communication, and shared commitment come together to support learning,” Kowalski said in a statement. “When educators and families collaborate, students feel seen, valued, and encouraged from every side, building the confidence and consistency they need to succeed both academically and personally.”

According to the mission statement on the Region No. 3 website, the region is passionately promoting healthy families, schools, and community relationships that support children’s literacy development and help nurture successful students and citizens.

Kowalski said that the MiFamily program promotes quality family engagement at schools and day care centers by encouraging and supporting families and educators and eliminating barriers for students.

“Most schools are adept at engaging the already engaged,” Kowalski said in a video about the family engagement framework. “So if you think of the families that attend events and volunteering opportunities at your school, you’re probably going to see the same faces, most of the time. What we want to do is help you encourage other families to attend such opportunities so that they also can help in their student’s success.”

“Family engagement is a process not an event, so it differs from family involvement,” Kowalski said in the video. “Family engagement is more the communication and the relationship that schools have with their students’ families.”

Family engagement is increasingly emerging as a primary predictor of children’s academic success, Kowalski said in the video. However, only 51% of educator preparation programs provide at least one course on parent and family engagement.

Kowalski has created videos to educate staff members at schools on the value of family engagement. Through MiFamily, she and Lauren Van Almen, literacy hub coordinator and family engagement coach, also provide a monthly newsletter, in-person or virtual presentations, and mini-grants to support schools, programs, and organizations in strengthening family engagement and advancing literacy initiatives.