The City of Troy, Troy City Schools and Troy University are inviting everyone to the table Monday and Tuesday to discuss opportunities and resources to educate students from “cradle to career.”

Councilwoman Stephanie Baker, who serves as head of the city’s education committee, said the forum is for everyone in the community because everyone has a stake in ensuring that children receive the bet possible education.

“We recognized that there are resources within our community that could be invested into our school system,” Baker said. “We really just wanted to have a space to have a conversation about our community making an investment into our schools; funding is just one aspect of that.”

The “cradle to career forums will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 7, and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 8 at the Troy Recreation Center.

“It’s an effort to really bring people together and remind us all what an integral part our school system plays in our community,” Baker said. “Strong schools make for strong communities. We would like to see parents, staff, alumni, business and industry representatives, community organizations and nonprofits, churches – really anyone and everyone in our community. Our tax dollars go into the school system; we are all stakeholders and the product of our school systems are the people who make up our community.”

Baker said the forum will follow a roundtable discussion format so that the floor is open to everybody. The forums will be moderated by the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. A series of detailed discussion questions are being prepared to spark conversation.

“Everyone is encouraged to participate and actively listening will be just as important as speaking,” Baker said. “We want to talk to people about their own cradle to career stories and how community education has impacted them in positive and negative ways.”

­Dr. Lee Hicks, Troy City Schools superintendent, said it is always beneficial to hear feedback.

“We’re happy any time we can work with the city and Troy University to improve all aspects of the city,” Hicks said. “We’re looking forward to it and getting the input. We’ll learn a lot; I think it’s always good to hear from the citizens and to improve.”

Light refreshments will be available Monday night and guests are encouraged to bring their own lunches Tuesday.

Childcare is available for preschool and elementary students upon request during the Tuesday meeting. Please email c2ctroy@gmail.com to RSVP for childcare.