Hello! My name is Marissa Wagner and I am a senior Community Healthcare Education major at Mansfield University. I am from Allentown, PA. My internship at the Tioga County Partnership for Community Health will focus on the Fit for Life program that takes place in various locations around the county from June to August. I am working diligently to create a program that is fun and educational for the kids attending. Aside from class work and my internship, I hold two jobs on campus. I work in the Admissions Office and am a fitness instructor at the fitness center on campus. When I'm not working or studying, I love spending time with my family hiking, exercising, and volunteering at different community events.

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We are excited to welcome Marissa to a Partnership adventure! If you see her out and about thank her for helping to make Tioga County a healthy place to live, work, and play! Welcome, Marissa!

     A local chapter of Macaroni Kid International, organized by Blossburg resident and mom author, Annie Brooks, is focusing on social media safety through a series of educational presentations in Tioga County. The first event of the series was a collaborative effort held at the Blossburg Memorial Library, with support from the Friends of the Blossburg Memorial Library, the Safe Kids Workgroup of the Tioga County Partnership for Community Health, and with generous funding from the local Patterson Foundation.

The evening featured  father of five,  former teacher and youth pastor, Jerry Ackerman, speaking about the myriad of different social media apps available to teens today in a presentation called "Parenting the Snapchat Generation." He outlined the functions and capabilities of a list of popular apps; ones he considered safe, ones that he deemed questionable, and ones he doesn't allow his own kids to use. He described how to set commonsense technology rules, provided helpful parenting techniques and practical tips and tools to govern internet usage in your own household. By the way, have you ever heard of Circle (with Disney) or Life360 ??  Although only 15 people were able to attend the Thursday evening event, the presentation video was posted on Facebook and  garnered the attention of almost 900 people within a couple days. If you were unable to attend you can  view "Parenting the Snapchat Generation" slides here.  Pay special attention to slide 17. These are the red zone "thumbs down" apps. Maybe you don't recognize these icons? You're not alone! 

See the cheat sheet here:  Red Zone Icon Identification List . 

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Slides and presentation information courtesy of speaker, Jerry Ackerman. Visit him online at  http://www.jerryackerman.net/.) 

The next Macaroni Kid social media series event will focus on cyber-bullying.  If you are interested in learning more  visit Macaroni Kid Tioga Bradford PA  online and/or subscribe to the Macaroni Kid newsletter here. 

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There are thousands of apps out there! Protect your family by educating yourself about technology. Here are some resource links to help you get started:

• CommonSenseMedia.org's Digital Glossary 
• Center on Media and Child Health- for Parents
• Contact Jerry Ackerman to speak at your educational event.

     This month, Prevention Specialist, Coleen Evert will be teaching the  evidence-based drug prevention program,  "Too Good For Drugs" to second graders in the Blossburg Elementary School. Prevention science tells us that getting a drug-free message to kids early is of the utmost importance. Local data finds that almost 19% of Tioga County 6th graders (i.e.12 year olds) have already tried alcohol  (Pa Youth Survey-Tioga County Profile 2015) . Mendez Foundation, the developers of the Too Good For Drugs program explains, "Second graders enjoy learning skills for safe and healthy living in this interactive prevention curriculum.  With the help of their good friend, Wagner, children learn how to handle frustration, manage their emotions, and identify consequences, in order to make good decisions and avoid problem behavior. Second graders are also introduced to prescription and over the counter drugs, and safe and appropriate ways to use them." To learn more about the Mendez Foundation and Too Good for Drugs, visit www.toogoodprograms.org. 

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The  Partnership is able to do this valuable work in the community and schools thanks to a contract with  Tioga County Dept. of Human Services. We look forward to continue working together to affect positive change for our Tioga County kids!