As a mother of two already very involved in supporting her children’s learning, both at home and at school, Mary Canchola was drawn to the SLI team after participating in the Learning & Sharing Connection, the pilot program for SLI’s Scaling Up Best Practice at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy in the Little Village neighborhood. Mary’s gift for relating to and motivating her fellow parents coupled with her skill at relating SLI concepts and strategies for parents resulted in her being named SLI’s Parent Engagement Manager.

A native Chicagoan of Mexican heritage and graduate of John Spry Community School and Ellen H. Richards Career Academy High School, Mary is fluently bilingual and successfully trains parents in both Spanish and English. She is also adept at relating to parents with limited reading skills in either language, and helps them to see how they can still play an instrumental role in promoting their children’s learning.

Mary is a certified facilitator for Family Math, and has also formerly served as PTO Secretary at and a Headstart Parent Advocate at Saucedo. She also finds time to serve as office manager of the Frame Factory in Skokie, Illinois.