How To Be a Partner in Your Child’s Education: Presented at the very start of the new school year, this was particularly useful for parents of teens making the challenging transition from middle school to high school. In addition to nuts-and-bolts guidance on beginning the college-prep process such as taking AP and honors classes, it also included suggestions on how to provide students with supportive structure, encouraging involvement in extracurricular activities and becoming a self-advocate.
Positive Parent Partnerships: A common challenge for parents of high-schoolers is knowing how much to stay involved in their education and personal lives while simultaneously allowing them the room to mature into confident, self-sufficient young adults. Topics included whether and how much to monitor internet and social media use; steps to being an educator and ally at home; and maintaining a proper balance of involvement in kids’ lives both inside and outside of school.
Wellness Workshop: This two-part presentation (the second will be presented in November) delved into issues of emotional, psychological and social well-being. Covering things such as common mental health struggles of students, such as anxiety and mood, attention and behavioral disorders, it’s a heavier topic, to be sure, but an extremely important one, given that every year, 1 in 6 youth ages 6 to 17 experience a mental health disorder.
Principal Ochoa is pleased with the presentations and her community’s response. “All of us care,” she says, “but we need to build skills and engage in ongoing discussions about our youth, and this is a wonderful opportunity to be able to have an interactive presentation on a Saturday morning together."
Educators and administrators interested in these types of programs are invited to contact us. ■
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