On Tuesday May 15, our Parents Group sponsoring an opportunity to hear Erin Walsh at the Owatonna Country Club. 76 People came together to learn about how we can have positive relationships with our teenagers. There has been such positive feedback to the event! For further opportunity to connect with Erin and her the organization that she and her father, David Walsh have created, go to http://drdavewalsh.com/
Erin Walsh, M.A. is a dynamic, knowledgeable speaker who has addressed a wide range of audienceson topics related to brain development and raising resilient young people in the 21st century. Erin was instrumental to the development of the MediaWise movement and enjoyed working with her father, David Walsh, for the past 10 years at the National Institute on Media and the Family before creating Mind Positive Parenting in 2010. Erin presents on adolescent brain development as well as the powerful role of media in youth and children’s lives. She explains how to use this information to understand, communicate with and stay connected with young people. In addition to working with Mind Positive Parenting, Erin is a keynote speaker for Search Institute, an organization that provides leadership, knowledge and resources to promote healthy families, youth,and communities. She also teaches undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota and the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs, an off-campus study organization dedicated to education for social justice. Erin taps into her experience counseling and leading young people in outdoor and wilderness experiences. She has consulted with schools, school districts, parent groups and other youth serving organizations throughout the country on issues related to children’s health and development.
For the Second year in a row, the Steele County Safe and Drug Free Coalition is proud to be a Sponsor of Centro Campesino's family-friendly community celebration. We will have voluteers available to answer any questions and provide good resources for community members. Members of Centro Campesino's College Access program will be partnering with us to talk to community members via a short survey. Look for us in our lime green shirts or at the Coalition Table near the Jump House. Show your support by wearing your coalition shirt if you have one!
On February 23, 2012 the Coalition hosted a teacher training for the Owatonna school district's 6th grade teaching and counseling staff and the Owatonna and Blooming Prairie Schools 7th grade counseling staff. Students in 6th grade in Blooming Prairie have already received the first year of a muti-year (6-8th grade) curriculum. Willow Creek students will be beginning this curriculum when they return to school after Spring Break. The coalition is proud to provide this curriculum to the schools at no cost. Students who receive the 3 years of prevention curriculum show a 30% decrease in data measuring regular teen drinking. Although the curriculum is focused on alcohol prevention, it has also been shown to reduce the use of tobacco by 37% and marijuana by 50% in 9th graders who have completed the program.
At our Panel presentation for parents on Janury 23, members of the coalition shared some resources and information for Parents about things we can do within our families to strengthen prevention. A packet was passed out for families to adapt and use. this packet covers MANY topics, and is not intended to be used all at once. We encourage you instead to look at the exerccise on defining your family's values and expectations and then using those items that apply to your family and your children at this time. Later you may want to add additional contracts as your children begin to drive, for example. A downloadable version fo the packet can be found by clicking here. This is a big file, so paper copies are also available at the Coalition office at 110 N Main inside the United Way in Owatonna.
The Safe Homes Program consists of a pledge that confirms that ONE family CAN do something to prevent teenage alcohol and drug use in a simple and positive way by agreeing to always supervise parties in their home, and to not allow alcohol or tobacco to be used in their home by underage youths, nor to allow any illegal drug to be accessible or available in their home. Many parents together can make prevention a school and community standard and support each other through the SAFE HOMES Directory.
