OP-ED

Humans of Cranston

Posted 10/25/22

Humans of Cranston is a recurring column showcasing the stories of Cranston residents’ community involvement, diversity and unique life perspectives.

Rocio Poirier is the co-chair of the …

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OP-ED

Humans of Cranston

Posted

Humans of Cranston is a recurring column showcasing the stories of Cranston residents’ community involvement, diversity and unique life perspectives.


Rocio Poirier is the co-chair of the Parents and Teachers of Gladstone (PTG) out of Gladstone Elementary School and has lived in Cranston for 15 years.

“My name is Rocio Poirier, and I have a blended family of six beautiful children – they range from 19 to seven. I have one in college, two in high school, one in middle school and two here at Gladstone. I’m originally from the Dominican Republic, I went to URI for my Bachelor’s Degree and I do work for Easterseals Rhode Island, which is part of the Fedcap Group, and then I’m also the co-chair here at Gladstone for the PTG [Parents and Teachers of Gladstone]. I just love the community of Cranston. Once you get involved, everyone is very helpful to each other, and you have a sense of community. They’re [Cranston Schools] are focused on the students and make sure they have the right learning environment. They’re investing in the infrastructure which is good, technology and they’ve always been focused on what’s best for the student.

We as a family found it important to get involved at Gladstone; it started with my husband getting involved with the PTG and then became a family affair. The collaboration between parents, teachers, faculty and the community are very important to me and our family. The team at Gladstone and community members have always been amazing in all aspects of their jobs and have become an extended family. As a team, you can achieve more for your community and children’s foundation. It’s important to lead by example and show my children to actively participate in their community. As a family, we are actively involved in the community engagement efforts at Gladstone through the PTG. Just interacting with the community itself is my favorite part. It’s really great having collaborations with the teachers and staff here is definitely helpful and we love engaging with the community. It’s awesome just to see these kids grow and, because you’re so invested in the school, you kinda know the parents, you know their kids and it’s great to see them just smile at the events that we host. We have our Trunk or Treat coming up on the 28th which will be the second year we’ve hosted!

Parent involvement during the actual meetings and planning stages has been low. However, we have had a steady group of parent and student volunteers throughout the years. This year at the Open House we had 28 parents fill out volunteer applications to help out during the school year – thanks to collaboration with Family Center. But the support from the Gladstone community (parents, teachers, staff and community members) at the community engagement events and fundraising has always been tremendously helpful and made the events a success for the community as a whole. Any member of the building, they’re always contributing and helping. It’s like a collective team. And the parents also help with fundraising and participating in those events and also donating to those events to make them successful. So they don’t have to physically be a member of the PTG, but they’re involved in some sort of way by helping make the event successful for the community.”


This project has been made possible by a Rhode Island Foundation Community Grant, and the efforts of the OneCranston Health Equity Zone of Comprehensive Community Action, Inc. in partnership with the Cranston Herald and Timothy McFate. Want to nominate a Cranston resident to be featured? Email JB at jfulbright@comcap.org.

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