For those of you who don't know what I do these days, the short version is: "I provide support for school and families to help children learn and be successful in life." That means I write books, do workshops and coach individuals and groups to help children be successful primarily in school.

I've been doing this work for several years now and occasionally there's a situation in which all the stars align. Such was the case with Omega Charter District in Glendale, Arizona. Have there been other situations in which things went well? You bet, and as I do this work, it happens more and more often. And, as I mentioned, occasionally everything works like clockwork.

So what happened in Omega? Well, first it was attitude. Omega is geared for working with their parents. The staff has a high respect for the children as well as their families. Staff and parents believe it's a joint effort so they were excited about the prospect of learning ways of working together. They believe they have the skills and desire to work collaboratively. It isn't an "us" and "them" mentality. And they also believe that, regardless of circumstances, children can learn.

In that attitude, a theme reflected in their motto: "Rekindling the Spirit of Learning and Work", teams from each of the schools came together on a Friday and Saturday to learn more how to engage parents in learning. We spent two full days together, learning, planning, and designing. One group will have a career fair, while another will landscape their campus, and a third will upgrade their computer lab. Each project is unique to their campus and their needs. The results, as one of the participants put it, will be determined by the way they carry out their plans. But the intention to work together--staff and parents--is there. The will to complete a project with the parents engaged in the development and implementation already exists.

We also began getting parents ready for the next stage, their engagement in their child's learning, by conducting a parent workshop. More than 30 parents showed up on a Friday night three weeks before Christmas. Now that's dedication. Their participation also says we're here, we're interested, and we want to be involved.

And so you have Omega... Ready to go, willing to learn, and able to work together for the success of their kids.