It’s day two of Champions Week! Today we meet the 2024 WeTHRIVE!℠ Champion for Family Engagement, Rhiana Hubbard from Reading Community City Schools.
About the award
“The WeTHRIVE! Champion Award for Family Engagement is given to an individual or team that strives to engage families and creates partnerships to promote positive youth and family development,” says Mary Ellen Knaebel, director of Health Promotion and Education with Hamilton County Public Health. “They demonstrate a commitment to connecting all families to health and safety resources and provide unique ways for families to participate in activities designed to improve health, safety, and shared learning.”
The 2024 WeTHRIVE! Champion for Family Engagement is Rhiana Hubbard, school psychologist with Reading Community City Schools. Rhiana accepted the award at the annual WeTHRIVE! Recognition Event in December 2024.
Involving families in school wellness
Rhiana is a trustworthy and valuable leader for the Reading district’s WeTHRIVE! Wellness Team. In this role, she works hard to ensure that conversations are not had about families, but rather with the district’s families.
For example, Rhiana noted that to accurately gather the information for the School Health Index assessment, she needed to hear from families and students directly. So she has engaged parents and students with the Wellness Team so that they can share their valuable perspectives.
Rhiana also spearheaded in 2024 the Reading Schools afterschool club initiative, which created a support system for families and fostered students’ overall social and emotional wellbeing.
When asked what winning the WeTHRIVE! Champion Award means to her, Rhiana said:
“Receiving one of the WeTHRIVE! Champion Awards was such a welcome surprise! It felt amazing being recognized for the work put forth to expand social-emotional wellness opportunities for our district’s students and families.”