The SCCoop:
Words on Wellness
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As is typical this time of year, we are seeking more Board members to join us. We believe we’ve weathered the pandemic changes to in-person events and built multiple new programs that will last into the future. But we are only as good as our volunteers and can only do as much as our volunteers can do. Many current Board members are parents of high school and college students, and we want to be able to address the needs of families with younger children, primarily in our public schools. So while we especially need these volunteers to step up to keep our group going, we welcome anyone with some time on their hands to share their talents with the community!
For those who’ve done PTA/PTO work in the past, know that the SCC is much smaller and a lighter workload. We have options for leaders, event organizers, writers and editors, youth workers and trainers, fundraisers, mental health providers, experts in public relations and technology, and just about anything else you can do! We have current volunteers in the public eye and behind the scenes.
We meet monthly in the evenings (hopefully back in person soon!) and occasional subcommittee meetings to plan individual events. And we take the summer off to rest and recharge!
Elizabeth Hale, President
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Tips for Talking to Your Kids: Getting Past the Silent Treatment
Monday, February 28 from 7 to 8 p.m. via Zoom
We all want to keep current with our kids’ lives, and it can be challenging to get kids to open up. Whether it’s little things like knowing how their day was or big things like raising concerns for their wellbeing, it can be hard to get the conversation flowing.
Join local mental health professionals Mimi Weisberg and Heather Tedesco for a one-hour virtual program dedicated to family communication. We’ ll use this article from the Washington Post as a jumping off point to share concrete tips and strategies for connecting with your kids through conversation.
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How to Raise an Adult Author Returns April 26
We are excited to welcome Julie back to McLean on April 26! Returning this time in a partnership with The Potomac School, the focus of Julie’s talk “Throw Out the Checklisted Childhood: Tips and Strategies for Raising Successful Kids” combines the insight from her first book How to Raise an Adult and her findings from her latest book Your Turn: How to be an Adult.
Drawing on research, on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers, and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean, Julie highlights the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large.
While empathizing with the parental hopes and, especially, fears that lead to overhelping, Julie offers practical strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.
When Julie visited in 2016, it was to a packed, standing-room only auditorium (and some crazy thunderstorm and power outage, for those who remember!). Julie is an amazing and entertaining speaker; she tailors her talks to her audience (and comes to us from Palo Alto, California, a very similar community to ours), and shares actionable ideas from her own experience as a parent, college dean of freshman, and woman of color.
This event is free to the public and is recommended for parents and young adults. Space is limited and registration is required. To register and for more information, visit the SCC website. This program will also be livestreamed for anyone unable to attend in person.
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FCPS Superintendent Dr. Brabrand Q&A with Fairfax County Students*
This is an opportunity for area students to ask question of the Superintendent. Students rarely get an opportunity to discuss of general education policy, and their perspectives can be both interesting and valuable. The event is March 9, 7 pm in-person at the McLean Community Center. Registration is not required, but please confirm with MCC’ s latest Covid policy before arrival.
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SCC Book Talk
In anticipation of best-selling author Julie Lythcott-Haims’ April visit to McLean to present the talk, “Throw out the Checklisted Childhood: Tips and Strategies for Raising Successful Kids,” McLean psychologists Heather Tedesco, PhD, and Melissa Sporn, PhD, will host a virtual parent book club on Julie’s most-acclaimed book, How to Raise an Adult on Friday, March 18, at noon. Dr. Tedesco and Dr. Sporn will share their thoughts on the aspects of the book that are especially relevant to families in our area. Click here to purchase the book from bookshop.org, which can connect you with a local bookstore anywhere in the country.
Find the Zoom link on our website just prior to the event.
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Middle School Forum Returns to In-Person this Spring
Our Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) has been planning, training, and getting to know--including an epic game of rock-paper-scissors--new members to hold a more traditional Middle School Forum (MSF) for our two middle schools in January. Middle School Forum is a program where YAC students from Langley and McLean High Schools visit Cooper and Longfellow Middle Schools to talk everything high school. Middle schoolers can ask about academics, athletics, social events in and out of school, boys, girls, lunch time--anything. YAC-ers answer with candor and speak from their individual perspectives, showing middle schoolers that there are many different ways to navigate high school, and choices are theirs to make. YAC responses point to the value of knowing yourself, making choices that are right for you, and being prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions.
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Sixth Grade Ethics Day
Sixth Grade Ethics Day also returns mostly in-person this year! The SCC Board has been working with elementary counselors to see which schools are able to host Sixth Grade Ethics Day at their schools. Our longtime facilitator and former Board member, Dr. Melissa Sporn, will work with volunteers to run our Could-Should-Would Model of ethical decision making with sixth graders at several elementary schools.
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How Four Deep Breaths Can Help Kids Calm Down
A new study shows that a one-minute breathing video helps reduce stress in kids’ bodies. It’s one of the first things parents and teachers tell a child who gets upset: “Take a deep breath.” But research into the effect of deep breathing on the body’s stress response has overwhelmingly ignored young children—and studies done with adults typically take place in a university lab, making them even less applicable to children’s actual lives.
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9 Essential Skills That Make You Resilient
We all have the ability to be resilient, but we need to know and grow the skills that boost that quality. The resilience and well-being expert Amit Sood, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, explains which skills to focus on.
Resilience is our ability to withstand life’s challenges and bounce back. It’s a child with a disability trying her best to solve a puzzle. It’s a nurse serving patients with a smile despite struggling with depression himself. It’s a patient with advanced cancer choosing to find gratitude every single day. It’s cleaning the house, paying the bills, doing the laundry, going to your job, and finding time to laugh with your family and friends even in the moments when you don’t feel like it.
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Videos to Help Kids Recognize Their Emotions
The California Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project features a series of free videos and print resources for parents, educators and students, all available in English and Spanish. Developed in partnership with the state of California, this project promotes children’s emotional health and teaches essential coping skills through five topics.
The first topic in the series is Understanding Feelings. These videos can help kids learn to better understand and recognize their emotions — an important first step toward healthy coping and deeper relationships.
The videos feature the voices and lived experiences of caregivers, teachers and kids today. Videos for the elementary school age group use a whimsical story-telling approach to engage younger viewers and make the lessons more memorable.
“While kids are back to school and many other activities, this is far from ‘business as usual.’ We believe these new resources will offer effective tools — and ignite new hope — to make this and future school years more positive, productive and healthy for everyone.”
— Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, President, Child Mind Institute
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The SCC thrives in its 26th year as an all-volunteer organization with funding from community grants and individual donors including the New Dominion Women’s Club, Rotary Club of McLean, McLean Community Foundation, the Zavela Foundation, and through the SCC Mental Health Committee. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and welcome all donations. |
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*SCC occasionally promotes events and programs outside of the SCC that align with our mission. However, this does not imply sponsorship by or any connection to the SCC unless noted. We simply offer them as a community resource. Others are welcome to share the information about such events or programs, but the SCC name or logo should not be added unless it’s an actual SCC program. |
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Safe Community Coalition | mcleanscc.org |
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