Written by : Beri Gebrehiwot

The global pandemic of 2020 has shifted our lives in more ways than we’d like to think about. One of the most drastic changes has been for households with school aged children.

In March of 2020, schools across North America scrambled to make decisions on whether or not to shut campuses down in the wake of a deadly pandemic. Luckily, most schools did their due diligence in protecting their students and staff members.

Although that was a positive, the downside to that was the strain it put on families to now figure out how to manage the children’s school work, while managing their own responsibilities at work. This stress, coupled with the fear of what was happening around the world and the emotional exhaustion of balancing work life and home life at the exact same time was a challenge for families across the country. For some families, the pandemic was the cause of far greater challenges, such as financial struggle, an increase in domestic violence, family tensions and much more.

 This Fall, most schools across the country are moving towards a Virtual Learning model where kids, once again, will be home instead of resuming their learning in person. Once again, this is a great challenge for families to ensure their children do well in this new environment and model for learning.

On August 29th, we are providing a solution to this great challenge.

The objective of the Back to School Forum is to equip parents in our community with tools, resources and best practices for doing well during the 2020-21 school year.

We are grateful for our amazing panelists, Hana Seyoum, Selam Habte and Tizita Seifu who will be sharing from their respective expertise. Please see below to learn more about each panelist.

We hope you will gather your Mom Friends and join us for this timely forum.

Date: Saturday, August 29th
Time: 11am PST - 1pm PST | 1pm CST - 3pm CST | 2pm EST - 4pm EST
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8333635118
Zoom Meeting ID: 833 363 5118

Meet The Panelists:

Hana Seyoum is an entrepreneur, wife and mother. She has a passion for youth, their education and success. She was born in Ethiopia and came to the US when she was 5 where she grew up in Dallas. She graduated from Baylor University with a double major in Psychology and Biology. She then went on to spend 10 years with Bank of America as part of the Market Leadership Team. She now home schools her children while running her educational services business including Amharic classes and volunteering with Young Ethiopian American Ambassadors.
You can learn more about Hana at: shebasjewels.com
Topic of Discussion: Managing your home + Organizing your day

Selam Habte is a parent and an educator who believes in the family-school partnership. She is passionate about youth empowerment and engages in student and parent advocacy. Selam also coordinates opportunities for Immigrant parents to come together and advocate for their kids. To learn more about Selam and her work visit her Youtube Channel: Selam Habte
Topic of Discussion: Making meaningful connections with teachers

Tizita Seifu is licensed by the State of Texas as a Licensed Professional Counselor.  She counsels individuals and families with children ages 4 years and older.  She provides supervision for Master’s level students studying professional counseling.  Tizita also provides services including Speaking, Training and Writing on topics of Mental Health and Mental Health’s intersectionality with Spirituality. You can learn more about Tizita and her work at: The Journey Inspired.
Topic of Discussion: Nurturing Mental Health for parents + kids

Have questions you’d like answered during this forum? Please share them in advance by sending them to almazandco@gmail.com