The Catasauqua Communities That Care members took the next step in addressing a priority from the coalition checkup project during the March 21 meeting.

The CTC members agreed to increase shared understanding among the group and with the community during the Jan. 17 meeting. This connected nicely with the former priority of community outreach by taking the next step with deeper understanding and knowledge.

A particular area of interest was the programming available to students in the district. There was concern that not all of the coalition members, district staff and community members know what is offered to help students.

Denise Continenza, Penn State Extension educator and CTC moderator, said the group has done well reaching out to the community, so they can focus inward and increase knowledge within the coalition itself.

It had been suggested having people attend the meetings, or use members already attending, to share little presentations on the programs to help increase knowledge and understanding.

There had been previous discussion about making short videos or informational documents detailing the various programs used in Catasauqua Area School District. These videos can be put on the website for the public to view and will be used to help coalition members increase their understanding.

It was also noted the group wants to add more information to the website to help with getting more information out to the community.

Melissa Fausey, with Penn State EPISCenter, attended the March meeting to work on action planning to move the effort along.

After discussing what the coalition members believe the next steps should be to make this goal a reality, it was noted the first step should be identifying the programs, services and practices they want explained to the group, as well as the providers. Continenza noted many of the providers are listed on the group’s brochure, which should make it easier to compile a list.

It was agreed the second step includes reaching out and arranging a schedule of presentations.

The CTC members will create a list of potential presenters during the April and May meetings. Once people start responding, the coalition can start scheduling.

It is expected the presentations would start in June. It was noted some people might want to present during the summer months, while it may be more convenient for others to start in September.

Presentations would be made to the coalition members, recorded and then shared with the larger community. The recordings could also be shared with the district faculty and staff in the fall.

The next Catasauqua CTC meeting is set for 9:30 a.m. May 16.