Some Liberty County parents are taking and comparing notes as they learn — but there is no break for recess.

The Liberty County School System has opened a Parent University, a program designed to help parents be better parents and to help their children become better students.

“When parents thrive, families and children thrive too,” said Michael O’Neal, executive director of Parent University Savannah.

Prospective parents gathered at the board central office on a Saturday morning to find out what they were getting into with Parent University and what Parent University hoped they could learn from each other.

O’Neal, who spent 41 years as an electrical technician at a paper mill, said he got training at his job constantly.

“If you don’t have training every day, you could have a short career,” he joked.

But as a parent, O’Neal said, he had no training for that endeavor.

“Parenting might be the most important job we do,” he said.

As for the parents who enrolled in Parent University, what they learn and what they try to get more information and knowledge about is up to them, O’Neal said. Research from Harvard University has shown family engagement is a strong predictor of student success.

Alisa Leckie, an assistant dean for partnerships and outreach at Georgia Southern University’s College of Education, has been involved with Parent University since just before the COVID-19 pandemic. She told fellow parents they are the ones who will decide what is important and drive the exploration and learning.

She is a graduate of Parent University too and learned some things she didn’t anticipate.

“I’ve learned more about my finances and learned about indoor gardening,” she said.

Parents chose six topics for more discussion and exploration, and school system leaders encouraged parents to be ready to engage in discussions and the issues they’ve chosen.

“I believe we have to invest in our children,” said Superintendent Debra Frazier. “My goal is to prepare our scholars to be college ready or career ready. Now my goal is for you to graduate from Parent University. You’ve got to set the standard. We have a lot to offer and you have a lot to offer.”

Frazier, who spent nearly 40 years as a teacher and administrator, said dealing with students today is much different than how educators dealt with them before. She also said it was apparent to teachers that some children didn’t know basics about adulthood, such as balancing a checkbook, before heading off into the world.

Frazier also told the parents that vaping remains a problem among teens and they would be surprised at the implements kids use in order to vape. Depression also is a serious issue among young people today, she said.

“Depression is real,” she said. “I’ve seen it firsthand in middle school. I’ve seen it first-hand in high school.”

Parent University can help parents develop resources to deal with those situations and can help show parents how to monitor their children’s screen time on personal devices.

“I wish they all came with a manual,” Frazier said. “But there isn’t one.”

Parent University proctors will take the data received from Liberty County parents and help them put that information to use. Parent University’s targets are to help parents develop tools and strategies to support learning at home, get a better understanding of school expectations and available resources, connect with other families and prepare kids for life beyond school.

Among the topics the parents are going to learn when it comes to their children are life skills and real world preparation, drug prevention, dating violence awareness, and understanding academic and college entrance requirements.

“We want to do our best so that when they become adults, we can say we did our best,” Frazier said.

“You are the tip of the spear for success,” O’Neal added.

O’Neal also told parents that they will learn — and they will have fun doing it — along the way.

“Believe me, graduation is fun. I’ve got to have fun,” he said. “It’s built in over and over.”