Building a school community through parental involvement

Wendy McKenzie

Wendy is a teacher in an all-boys school in Trinidad who invites parents to participate in projects with their sons. Some parents also serve as coaches. She calls these parents “college parents” because they mentor not only their own children but other students as well. With this active parental involvement, her students have achieved success in sports and academics, with some becoming national athletes and university lecturers. Wendy also organizes sessions with male nurses on adolescent development, during which boys can ask questions privately. She sees correlation between parental presence and student success.

Listen to Wendy

“Those boys whose parents have been present in school, they are usually the boys who excel at school.”

Wendy McKenzie

Wendy McKenzie

Wendy McKenzie is a dedicated educator with 27 years of experience teaching at the secondary school level and serving as UNESCO school coordinator for 15 years. She has also lectured at the tertiary level and is currently the head of the Modern Studies Department at Queen’s Royal College in Trinidad. Wendy is committed to student-centred, collaborative learning, emphasizing sustainability through projects and initiatives with UNESCO, the Centre for Global Education, and TakingITGlobal. She actively engages students in finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint in an oil- and gas-based nation-state. Wendy is passionate about creating a positive impact through education.