JULIA MYRICK

Studies reveal that children with involved parents are more likely to succeed academically and have increased social skills. They also indicate that parents do not always know how to help their children. With this as a platform Julia Myrick created a study skills program, Read, Organize, Study Skills (ROSS) a little more than two years ago. ROSS is a tool that enables parents to help their children with homework.

Myrick has presented ROSS to parents, teachers and students throughout the state of Virginia strictly as a volunteer. Whenever she receives monetary donations or gifts, she donates them to the national PTA of which she is a member. In addition to presenting ROSS to these entities, Myrick has made the program available through her website: www.juliamyrick.com. She also shares her personal story as a struggling student and tells of her success in graduating from college with an education degree.

Myrick has continued her work with parents as a partner for Virginia Governor Warner’s Partnership for Successful Schools (PASS) Program. PASS is an educational initiative in Virginia that focuses on three specific areas: healthcare for children, alignment of businesses with education and parental involvement in education. PASS Partner volunteers support the program through one of the core areas. Myrick worked with parents through motivational speaking and giving ROSS seminars. This led to her selection one year later to the Governor’s Fellows Program where she worked for two months in the Governor’s Office in Richmond, Virginia as a PASS spokesperson and volunteer. She helped to orchestrate a parent incentives program in Richmond and is presently assisting the Governor’s Office with parent rallies and a parent’s day in Virginia.

Myrick is an advocate for parents in education. In 2004, she lobbied in Richmond, the Committee on Commerce and Labor, in favor of Senate Bill 27, a parental leave time from work bill. That bill passed.

Myrick has made great strides in meeting critical needs in her community. Her work focuses on schools not meeting the No Child Left Behind law and realizes she is only one piece of the puzzle; however, it takes all the pieces to complete the puzzle. Myrick also volunteers with the Reading Enhances All Children (REACH) organization where she reads once a month to children in homeless shelters.