Mary Canchola

Mary Canchola was drawn to the SLI team after participating in the Learning and Sharing Connection, the pilot program for SLI's Scaling Up Best Practice at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy in the Little Village Neighborhood.  Mary's gift for relating to and motivating parents coupled with her skill at relating SLI concepts and strategies for parents resulted in her being named SLI's Parent Engagement Manager in 2003.

 

Prior to coming to Strategic Learning Initiatives, Mary was very involved in the school where her two children attended. She was a Headstart Parent Advocate and served on the Policy Committee, assisted the kindergarten teacher to assess student’s school readiness skills, served on The Local School Council, and was the secretary of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO).

Mary supports the SLI model that encourages parents to understand that Home is a Place of Learning and that parents have a vital role in helping their children be better prepared for school and become better learners. She encourages parents to model learning as a continuous process, and that this is crucial in fostering a life-long love of learning in their children.

Mary facilitates a variety of educational, fun and hands-on workshops ranging from Reading, Math, Homework, Self Esteem, Science Fair Projects, Reading Comprehension and Writing. She is fluent in English/Spanish and recruits and trains parents to lead the workshops and coordinate ongoing parent involvement after the SLI network partnerships ends. Since 2005, Mary has facilitated Early Childhood Workshops which are intended for families with children ages 3-5. She also facilitates parent workshops that are connected to the Illinois Reading Standards.

Mary was born and raised in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. She is a graduate of John Spry Community School and Ellen H. Richards Career Academy High School.

Mary is a member of The National Association for The Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) and The Chicago Association for The Education of Young Children (CAEYC). She is a certified facilitator for Family Math, and certified in Color Me Healthy training for preschoolers.