Our mission is to empower educators, school leaders and youth-serving agencies working with schools in the K-12 setting to build trust and partnerships with the families they serve for the success of all youth.
Schools and youth serving agencies are inspired and empowered to connect, communicate and collaborate with their diverse guardians.
We are passionate about equity and social justice. In her role as educator, advocate and volunteer, our Founder visited all the homes of her students including the newcomers to learn about them and serve as support. Along that journey she gained tremendous insight from the families, their needs and challenges. Discovering the cultural misunderstanding that exists between educators and the diverse families they serve, she was inspired to establish Parents 2 Partners to address issues that result from cultural and linguistic misunderstandings.
Since the creation of P2P, we have been working to empower educators with cultural responsiveness and avoiding cultural assumptions to promote partnerships between diverse parents and educators for academic achievement, social equity, and the overall best interest of students.
Our team is comprised of professional educators and community leaders and other experts. We aspire to promote a greater cultural understanding and educational support for families, educators and students in order to achieve better learning outcomes and greater success.
Dr. Widad Mousa has been an educator at North Olmsted High School since 2004. A native of Palestine, she teaches EL English, Arabic, and coordinates the World Languages and Cultures Department. She is also a lecturer at Cleveland State University. Previously, she worked as a TESOL instructor for the United Nations Educational Institutions in the Middle East.Dr. Mousa holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education: Learning and Development with an emphasis on TESOL. She holds an M.A. in Teaching Methods/TESOL, and a B.A. in Linguistics, a translation diploma, and an inspired leadership certificate.
Dr. Mousa presented at different conferences and facilitated workshops on supporting newcomers, exploring the Arab culture, becoming a culturally responsive educator, and research-based pedagogical strategies for working with linguistically and culturally diverse learners. Dr. Mousa co-authored and published a chapter titled “A Framework for engaging Language Learners in Online Courses”. She also serves on the Ohio English Language Advisory Committee, the Ohio Seal of Biliteracy Advisory Committee, and serves as a member at the professional development committee for Ohio Foreign Language Association (OFLA). Her interests includes serving ELs, understanding their unique stories and valuing their funds of knowledge and linguistic and cultural assets and experiences, promoting diversity, equity, languages and cultures, and promoting cultural awareness
Donna serves as a resource. She works at the Ohio Department of Education as a program specialist in the Office of Integrated Student Supports. She completed a masters in Multicultural Education at Akron University in 1989 and worked in the Lau Resource Center. She has taught TESOL in adult basic literacy, vocational, and special education settings K-12. She served as assistant professor of Special Education at Ashland University from 2008-2014. In 2015, she completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (200 RYT) with Esther Ekhart and returned to work as a program specialist at the Lau Resource Center, where she continues to promote consistent supports for English learners and multilingual families. We regularly enlist her expertise to ensure we offer value to English learners, their parents and teachers.