FSCA NEWS

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/uon-rpp072507.php

Public release date: 25-Jul-2007

Contact: Tomas Paus
tomas.paus@nottingham.ac.uk
University of Nottingham

Resisting peer pressure -- New findings shed light on adolescent decision-making

The capacity to resist peer pressure in early adolescence may depend on the strength of connections between certain areas of the brain, according to a study carried out by University of Nottingham researchers.

New findings suggest that enhanced connections across brain regions involved in decision-making may underlie an individual’s ability to resist the influence of peers.

The study, published in the July 25 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that brain regions which regulate different aspects of behaviour are more interconnected in children with high resistance to peer influence.

Professor Tomas Paus and colleagues at The University of Nottingham used functional neuroimaging to scan adolescents while they watched video clips of neutral or angry hand and face movements. Previous research has shown that anger is the most easily recognised emotion.

Professor Paus and his team observed 35 ten-year-olds with high and low resistance to peer influence, measured by a questionnaire. The researchers then showed the children video clips of angry hand movements and angry faces and measured their brain activity.

They found that the brains of all children showed activity in regions important for planning and extracting information about social cues from movement, but the connectivity within these regions was stronger in children who were marked as less vulnerable to peer influence.

Those children were also found to have more activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area important for decision-making and inhibition of unwanted behaviour.

Professor Paus said: “This is important if we are to understand how the adolescent brain attains the right balance between acknowledging the influences of others and maintaining one’s independence.”

Future research will involve follow-ups with the same children to determine whether their resistance to peer influence is related to the brain changes observed in this study.

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The work was a supported by grants from the Santa Fe Institute Consortium and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

The Journal of Neuroscience is published by the Society for Neuroscience, an organisation of more than 36,500 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is Britain's University of the Year (The Times Higher Awards 2006). It undertakes world-changing research, provides innovative teaching and a student experience of the highest quality. Ranked by Newsweek in the world's Top 75 universities, its academics have won two Nobel Prizes since 2003. The University is an international institution with campuses in the United Kingdom, Malaysia and China.

More information is available from Professor Tomas Paus, Brain & Body Centre, University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 951 5362, tomas.paus@nottingham.ac.uk; or Media Relations Manager Tim Utton in the University’s Media and Public Relations Office on +44 (0)115 846 8092, tim.utton@nottingham.ac.uk.

http://www.floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=47215

More Florida school districts are adding high-skills job training to their high school curricula. A successful program pioneered in Okaloosa County is providing the model.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/uoia-tcl072607.php

Public release date: 26-Jul-2007

Contact: Phyllis Picklesimer
p-pickle@uiuc.edu
217-244-2827
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Teens can learn to manage their emotions

Can teenagers experiencing powerful emotions learn to manage those emotions? A University of Illinois study in this month’s Child Development reports that teens can become quite insightful about their emotional patterns and they can learn to intervene in their emotional episodes so they unfold positively.

“There’s a stereotype that teens don’t manage their emotions, their emotions manage them,” said Reed Larson, a professor of family ecology and the Pampered Chef Ltd. Endowed Chair in Family Resiliency at the U of I.

“But this study showed that, in an atmosphere of trust and support, teens can become adept at identifying their emotions, learn to recognize the tricks emotions play on people, and begin to understand not only how to control their emotions, but to use them in positive ways,” he said.

The research examined 12 youth programs and found that the students participating in a high-school musical theater production showed particularly rich emotional growth.

Larson conducted open-ended interviews and observations to learn how this growth had taken place. Ten teens were interviewed every two weeks over a three-month period during rehearsals, two adults who led the production were interviewed biweekly, and researchers observed the rehearsals weekly.

“In many ways, this production anticipated an adult workplace. The teens had to work together to achieve a goal, and they gained experience with the emotional dynamics of a group setting,” Larson said.

“There’s nothing like learning how to manage your emotions in a situation in which there are a lot of intense emotions occurring,” he added.

This particular theater program had a culture in which frequent emotions, such as exhilaration, disappointment, anger, and anxiety (think stage fright) were talked about, and there was wisdom and knowledge about how to deal with those emotions, as well as lots of support, he said.

“Frank talk about emotions doesn’t happen in a lot of places. It occurs in some families a lot more than others, and it doesn’t happen much in the classroom at all. Expressing emotions requires an atmosphere of trust,” he noted.

While the teens in this supportive culture were learning lines and assembling props, they learned that some people use emotions to manipulate others, that emotions can be hard to read, and that emotions can play tricks on you and bias your thought processes—ideas many adults still struggle to understand.

One teen said, “One thing drama has taught me is that when you’re tired, you’re more emotional. If I’ve had a long day or the rehearsal’s gone on a little too long, I’m more short-tempered, more emotional in every way than I’d ordinarily be.”

Many reported that restraining their negative reactions to others was one of the most important lessons they learned from their theater experiences. “You can’t always say the first thing that comes to your brain. You don’t attack people. That never works,” said another.

Taking note of other participants’ emotional characteristics made the teens more aware of their own emotional patterns. And many teens learned how to use positive emotion to enhance their work. “If I’ve learned one scene, it’s a big source of motivation, and I carry that over to the scenes I’m not so comfortable with,” a participant said.

But they also learned to control positive and negative emotions to keep the production running smoothly. One teen said, “I’m always happy when I do well and I just want to express it, but that usually comes out as bragging, so I try not to do it much.”

They also realized that their negative emotions could be contagious. One boy described an experience in which others’ lack of preparation upset him. “I can see myself really complaining about it, but if you do, you’re just going to bring the whole show down,” he said.

How can parents promote the emotional growth of their teenagers? “That’s harder,” said Larson. “As a parent, you don’t have all the information that’s behind your teen’s behaviors. In a theatre production, it’s obvious if someone is flubbing their lines; you can often pinpoint what’s upsetting them. But a moody teen can be influenced by all sorts of things--problems with a girlfriend, peer pressure about a party, or a bad test grade.”

“Still, parents can work hard to establish that atmosphere of trust, and there are opportunities for parents to be sensitive,” he said.

Larson believes the lessons these teens learned will serve them well in later life. “In any adult work setting, people are dealing with feelings about success or failure, coping with jealousy, and navigating all the complexities of interpersonal relationships. Unfortunately, many adults express their emotions in destructive ways,” he said.

“If you’ve learned to manage your emotions as a teenager, you’re way ahead of the game,” Larson said.

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The study was co-authored by Jane R. Brown and was funded by the William T. Grant Foundation.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/uonc-can072607.php

Public release date: 31-Jul-2007

Contact: Clinton Colmenares
clinton_colmenares@unc.edu
919-843-1991
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Child abuse, neglect rise dramatically when Army parents deploy to combat

CHAPEL HILL – Confirmed incidents of child abuse and neglect among Army families increase significantly when a parent is deployed to a combat zone, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.

The study, which appears in the Aug. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA),compares the rates of child abuse and neglect among nearly 2,000 Army families with confirmed incidents of child abuse or neglect. Researchers compared rates while enlisted soldiers were at home and while they were deployed for combat operations between late 2001 and the end of 2004.

The study, funded by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, shows that the overall rate of child abuse and neglect was more than 40 percent higher while a soldier-parent was deployed for a combat tour than when he or she was at home.

“Because this study measured incidents of child abuse and neglect within individual families during times of deployment and non-deployment, the evidence is pretty strong that combat-related deployments are responsible for the increase,” said Deborah Gibbs, a senior health analyst at RTI and the study’s lead author. “These findings were consistent, regardless of parents’ age, rank or ethnic background, indicating that deployments are difficult for all kinds of families.”

The greatest increase in the rate of child abuse and neglect occurred when soldier-husbands deployed, leaving mothers at home to care for the children. In these cases, the rate of physical abuse nearly doubled, and the rate of neglect, in which parents do not properly care for their children, was nearly four times higher.

“Although many military families manage to cope with the stress created by combat deployments, in other families this stress significantly impairs the parents’ ability to care for their children appropriately,” said study co-author Sandra Martin, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Child and Maternal Health at UNC’s School of Public Health.

“The Army is very aware of these issues, and they’re working hard to support families during deployments,” Gibbs said. “Our study confirms that supportive services are needed for families of deployed soldiers and that those services need to be provided in a way that encourages parents who are having difficulties to take advantage of them.”

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Photo: For a photo of Martin, click on: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/martin_sandra.JPG

Co-authors include Lawrence Kupper, Ph.D., Alumni Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics in UNC’s School of Public Health, and Ruby Johnson, a statistician at RTI International.

To access the JAMA study, visit: http://jama.ama-assn.org/.

Note: Sandra Martin can be reached at (919) 966-5973 or sandra_martin@unc.edu. Deborah Gibbs can be reached through the RTI public affairs office at (919) 541-6136 or news@rti.org.

School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu News Services contact: Clinton Colmenares, (919) 843-1991 or clinton_colmenares@unc.edu

Florida’s first Problem Solving/Response to Intervention Newsletter has been released. It’s a great introduction to the concepts with clear messages about Florida’s direction. It is posted on the project Web site at http://floridarti.usf.edu, and is directly accessible at http://floridarti.usf.edu/resources/newsletters/2007/summer2007.pdf.

On August 27-28, 2007, in Denver, CO, the National Center for School Engagement will conduct the training course Evaluating Your Truancy Reduction Program.

Designed for persons responsible for school, court, or community-based truancy reduction programs, this interactive course is drawn from practical training experience, lessons learned about truancy reduction, and expertise in research and evaluation.

The registration deadline is August 20, 2007.

Resources:

To obtain further information about this training opportunity visit http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/133.pdf.

The registration form is available at http://www.schoolengagement.org/TruancypreventionRegistry/Admin/Resources/Resources/132.doc.

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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Summary: The Florida Department of Education, in co-sponsorship with the Florida Association of

School Social Workers, is now accepting registration for the 13th School Attendance Symposium,

scheduled for October 29-30, 2007, at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg,

Florida. The School Attendance Symposium provides a statewide forum for sharing and promoting

proven practices and evidence-based research strategies that positively impact school attendance and

student achievement. The program agenda will also include information updates on state and federal

requirements that impact school attendance policy and district implementation. To register, go to the

conference Web site at http://sss.usf.edu/AttendanceSymposium/2007/index.html

 and follow the prompts. Registration deadline is Friday, September 14.

Contacts:  Gria Davison, 850.922.3727, gdavison@tempest.coedu.usf.edu

http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntl_jte_school_work&autologin=true

Find a Job After School/Graduation:
School-to-Work Transition Services

Easter Seals provides school-to-work services to help young adults with disabilities prepare a smooth, productive transition from school to the workforce. This service is provided in partnership with local high schools and may occur within the high school or at a job site. Guidance includes planing for desired outcomes before a student leaves the school system. The main structure of the school to work / transition service is related to work based learning including workplace experience, structured training, mentoring and apprenticeship at job sites. Easter Seals works closely with local high schools to develop connecting activities to build and maintaining bridges between school, work, residential options and recreational opportunities for students after leaving school.

Who Might Access this Service?
This service is available to any high school student with a qualifying disability. Your local school should be able to provide information regarding service providers in your area and should include those providers in a child’s case conference group so planning can begin well before he or she leaves school.

How are Services Paid For?
State and federal laws determine funding and eligibility requirements. Check with Easter Seals in your area for specific information regarding your options.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/30/guest_commentary_standing_school_counselors/

Guest Commentary: Standing up for school counselors

MADELYN L. ISAACS, Ph.D., President, Florida School Counselor Association

Monday, July 30, 2007

The local media has reported allegations that portrayed Collier County’s school counselors in a very negative light. However, the conclusions and recommendations of an independent report were neutral or favorable to school counselors if they were mentioned at all. The Florida School Counselor Association (FSCA) is very concerned that the recent reporting could lead to the public’s loss of faith in its school counselors, and ultimately hurt students.

Professional school counselors are master-degreed, skilled specialists who provide curriculum and services based on national and state standards in career development, personal and social development, and academic development. These standards contain the individual skills and knowledge that forms much of the basis for student success. They serve all students with research-based best practices that are designed to promote school and academic success. (Please see FSCA’s Web site, www.fla-schoolcounselor.org, or the American School Counselor Association’s Web site, www.schoolcounselor.org , for information about the national model and standards, research-based practices, and the role of school counselors.)

The American School Counselor Association’s model for curriculum and program implementation has data, leadership, advocacy and a ratio of 1 counselor for every 250 students at its heart.

The Florida School Counselor Association represents our state’s school counselors and works to provide school counselors with the training and information they need to continue to provide the best for all K-12 students. We believe school counselors meet high professional standards and are often “stellar,” to borrow a phrase from the Collier report.

We encourage all families and students as they make their back-to-school plans to include a visit with the school counselor on their list of things to do during the fall term.

Madelyn Isaacs teaches counseling at Florida Gulf Coast University.

On Monday, Sept. 24, 2007, Florida community college students with disabilities can participate in an exciting career fair with top-notch state and national employers in Orlando. The Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) Career Fair is the national kickoff site for events all over the country. Gov. Charlie Crist will serve as the Honorary Chair of this nationally coordinated job shadowing opportunity for students and jobseekers with disabilities.

The DMD Career Fair is free to students who pre-register, and includes informative workshops, assistive technology demonstrations and hands-on resume and interview reviews.

Workshops addressing hi-tech jobs of the future, budgeting, real life success strategies and interviewing tips will help students prepare for the workforce. Volunteers will be on hand to review student resumes and provide interview practice sessions.

The Florida Department of Education (DOE) Division of Community Colleges is proud to partner with The Able Trust and the DOE Division of Vocational Rehabilitation on Disability Mentoring Day. In 2005-06, Florida's community colleges enrolled more than 12,000 students with disabilities. For more information on the DMD Career Fair, contact Amy Albee amy.albee@fldoe.org or (850) 245-9488.

MySpace finds 29,000 sex offenders on its site, 4 times previously disclosed figure

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/sfl-0724myspace,0,6169517.story

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/uota-ogl072007.php

Obese girls less likely to attend college

AUSTIN, Texas -- Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin.

The study also shows obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they attend a high school where obesity is relatively uncommon. The findings appear in the July issue of the journal Sociology of Education.

The study tracked nearly 11,000 American adolescents, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

"Obesity has been identified as a serious public health issue, but these results indicate the harmful effects extend far beyond physical health," said Robert Crosnoe, author of the study and a sociologist at the university.

Crosnoe suggests a number of mental health and behavioral issues seem to play a significant role in keeping obese girls from enrolling in college. The study found obese girls were more likely to consider committing suicide, use alcohol and marijuana and have negative self-images.

The disconnect between obesity and college enrollment was more pronounced among non-whites and among girls whose parents did not graduate from college. Obese boys did not differ from their non-obese peers in college enrollment.

"That girls are far more vulnerable to the non-health risks of obesity reinforces the notion that body image is more important to girls' self-concept and that social norms have greater effects on the education of girls than boys," Crosnoe noted.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/sfri-ebp071307.php

Contact: Andrea Browning
abrowning@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development

Early behavior problems appear to lead to peer rejection and friendlessness

Linked to depression and loneliness in adolescence

Behavior problems in the early grades appear to lead to peer rejection and a lack of friends in elementary school. This, in turn, can lead to early adolescent depression and loneliness.

Those are the findings of a new study by researchers at the Universities of Montreal and Oslo; the study is published in the July/August 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

Researchers collected information from 551 children beginning when the children were 6 years old and continuing annually until they were 13. They also collected information from the children’s teachers, mothers, and peers.

Specifically, teachers and mothers described the children’s levels of anxiety (including a tendency to prefer solitary play and to fear new situations) and their disruptiveness (including physical aggression and hyperactivity) when the children were 6 and 7. Classroom peers reported on the children they liked most and least each year from ages 8 to 11. Children reported how many friends they had each year from ages 8 to 11, as well as their own levels of depression, loneliness, and involvement with delinquent behaviors at ages 12 and 13.

The researchers found that children who were disruptive in early childhood were more likely to be rejected and lack friends in elementary school. Anxious children also tended to have few friends, although they were not more likely to be rejected by their peers.

The study also found that rejection contributes to the risk that children won’t have friends. Children who are rejected early in elementary school are more likely to lack friends later in elementary school.

Both rejection and a lack of friends in elementary school put children at risk for adjustment problems in adolescence, the researchers found. Specifically, children who are rejected in elementary school are more likely to be lonely as adolescents, while children who lack friends in the early grades—a critical time for the development of close, reciprocal relationships—are more likely to be lonely and depressed as teenagers. In contrast, rejection and a lack of friends don’t put children at risk for delinquency—only early disruptiveness does that.

“The study’s findings indicate that the developmental consequences of risky peer relations are not limited to childhood,” according to Sara Pedersen, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Montreal’s Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment and lead author of the study. “These results suggest that interventions to prevent adolescent depression and loneliness should target elementary school peer relationships. The results also reveal that interventions targeting only childhood rejection and friendlessness are unlikely to prevent later delinquency.”

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE ON JULY 20, 2007 (12:01 AM)

Summarized from Child Development, Vol. 78, Issue 4, The Timing of Middle Childhood Peer Rejection and Friendship: Linking Early Behavior to Early Adolescent Adjustment by Pedersen, S, Vitaro, F, Barker, ED (University of Montreal), and Borge, AIH (University of Oslo). Copyright 2007 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/sfri-soa071307.php

Public release date: 20-Jul-2007

Contact: Andrea Browning
abrowning@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development

Status of adolescent peer groups plays role in understanding groups influence on early teen behavior

Children who are part of the cool group are more likely to be influenced by their friends than children who are friends with peers who are kind, nice, and well-liked.

That’s one of the findings of a new study published in the July/August 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

Acknowledging that by early adolescence, peer groups have a significant influence on children’s behavior, researchers at the University of Western Ontario sought to determine whether some peer groups are more influential than others. Specifically, they contrasted the effects of two types of peer group status on youngsters’ deviant, aggressive, and prosocial behavior. The first type of group (group centrality) had children who were cool and popular. The second type (group liking) was made up of the kind, nice children everyone likes.

The researchers looked at 526 Canadian children in grades 5 through 8 who reported on their deviant behavior (such as theft and skipping school) and identified peer groups in their grade. The children also were asked to nominate classmates in their grade who were physically aggressive (children who started fights), social aggressive (children who excluded others), prosocial (children who were kind to others), and whom they liked the most and the least. The children, whose average age was 12, identified 116 peer groups.

Over a three-month period, the researchers found that the children generally tended to become more similar in behavior to the others in their group. However, this occurred to a much greater extent in popular groups than in well-liked groups. Children’s strong desire to belong to a popular group, together with pressure from group members to conform to group norms, may account for the profound influence of such groups. Group liking affected adolescents’ behavior only when groups were disliked; members of deviant disliked groups became more deviant over time, the researchers found.

“Our results have important practical implications,” suggested Wendy E. Ellis, assistant professor of psychology at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario and the study’s lead author. “Although being a member of a popular group may bring benefits such as positive social behavior and esteem, potential costs include higher rates of risky behavior and social aggression. Preservation of popular status may propel group members beyond the boundaries of acceptable behavior, and high motivation to belong to popular groups may cause group members to resist adult intervention attempts.

“In the long-term, however, popular group members may fare better than disliked children in deviant groups who have little exposure to prosocial behavior models and poor social relationships.”

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE ON JULY 20, 2007 (12:01 AM)

Summarized from Child Development, Vol. 78, Issue 4, Peer Group Status as a Moderator of Group Influence on Children’s Deviant, Aggressive and Prosocial Behavior by Ellis, WE, and Zarbatany, L (the University of Western Ontario). Copyright 2007 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-07/sfri-ahs071307.php

Public release date: 20-Jul-2007

Contact: Andrea Browning
abrowning@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development

High school theater program helped strengthen adolescents' emotional development

A unique study found that adolescents’ emotional skills were strengthened through a high school theater program. The study appears in the July-August 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

Adolescents face formidable challenges in emotional development. To become functional adults, they must learn to manage the emotions that unfold in complex social interactions, including those in collaborative work groups. Yet little is known about the day-to-day circumstances of adolescents’ emotional development.

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign conducted open-ended interviews and observations to gain an in-depth understanding of one setting—a high school theater program. Ten teenagers were interviewed every two weeks over a three-month period while the theater group rehearsed a musical.

Two adults who led the production also were interviewed biweekly. In addition, the researchers observed the rehearsals weekly. During the rehearsals, teenagers reported frequent emotional experiences, including disappointment, anger, anxiety, and exhilaration. The program provided a culture that helped them learn to respond constructively to the events and feelings associated with these different emotions, the researchers found. The adults provided models and helped the teens cultivate strategies to manage strong emotions. The youth learned from repeatedly using these strategies to employ positive emotions to motivate their work; they also learned how to manage their own and others’ negative emotions.

The theater setting supported this process by putting the youth in situations in which emotions were likely to occur because the expectation of hard work created stress and tension. Moreover, intense emotions were accepted and discussed openly with a climate of concern for others. The adults and youth alike stated shared beliefs about the importance of emotional experience, and the adolescents drew on the models and ideas of the culture as they learned about the dynamics of emotions in themselves and in groups.

The researchers also found that the young people were very actively engaged in the process of emotional learning. In the theater setting, they were proactive in learning to manage emotional situations, evaluated experiences and put to use the insights they gained, and actively drew on the ideas and assistance of adults and peers.

“The development of ‘emotional intelligence’ is important to adult work and family life, but many young people arrive in adulthood with incomplete emotional skills,” according to Reed W. Larson, professor of human and community development at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the study’s lead author. “These preliminary findings suggest how, under the right conditions, adolescents strengthen these skills. Although further research is needed, youth programs and schools that provide these conditions may be more likely to facilitate emotional learning. “

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE ON JULY 20, 2007 (12:01 AM)

Summarized from Child Development, Vol. 78, Issue 4, Emotional Development in Adolescence: What Can Be Learned From a High School Theater Program by Larson, RW, and Brown, JR (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign). Copyright 2007 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

Loan Forgiveness for School Counselors

On July 11, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2669, The College Cost Reduction Act of 2007. The measure would eliminate nearly $19 billion in lender subsidies and use the money to increase the maximum Pell Grant amount by $500 over five years and to finance a series of measures to make college loans more affordable. The bill would also authorize more than $1.5 billion for nine new entitlement programs. As part of this bill, loan forgiveness programs for service in “areas of national need” were incorporated.  As a result of ongoing advocacy by ASCA and our allied organizations, school counselors are included as part of the list of occupations and professions eligible for loan forgiveness. Click here for more information.

Source: The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools Weekly Insider July 17, 2007 Newsletter. http://www.healthinschools.org/home.asp

Summer can be a challenging time for children who suffer from asthma and allergies. Here are some tips for managing these conditions.

• CHHCS: School Children with Asthma: An Introduction http://www.healthinschools.org/sh/asthma.asp
• American Academy of Pediatrics: Recognizing an Asthma Attack
  http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/asthma.cfm
• American Lung Association: Asthma-Friendly Schools Initiative
  http://www.lungusa.org/site/apps/s/content.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=34706&ct=67480
• National Safety Council: Controlling Asthma Triggers
  http://www.nsc.org/EHC/asthma/control.htm

ChampionsGate, FL: Center for School Mental Health 12th Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health. October 25-27, 2007. For more information please visit
http://csmh.umaryland.edu/conf_meet/AnnualConference/index.html

Broward County Public Schools Multicultural Department has received the ASPIRA Leadership Through Education Award from ASPIRA of Florida, a community based organization with program operations in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. The Department was honored by ASPIRA for its Multicultural Opportunities for Social, Academic and Intergenerational Competence (MOSAIC) project. Through the project, the Department collaborates with the Broward County Library and other community organizations to provide after-school academic, literacy, life skills and technology outreach programs to refugee students and their families in grades K-12. To see the full story, visit www.fldoe.org/SuccessStories/2007/06-19.asp

School Counselor of the Year Award Program
The American School Counselor Association's School Counselor of the Year program honors the best of the best school counselors. The award is granted to school counselors who are running a top-notch, comprehensive school counseling program at either the elementary, middle or high school level. Maximum Award: expenses for award ceremony. Eligibility: U.S.-based school counselors practicing as of February 2008. Deadline: September 14, 2007.
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=325&sl=188&contentid=188

"Road Scholar Educator of the Year Awards"
The Road Scholar Educator of the Year Awards honor deserving, experienced educators by providing them with the opportunity to participate in Road Scholar educational adventures throughout the United States and around the world. Maximum Award: $7,000. Eligibility: active educators with at least 15 years of experience in K-12 education, including teachers, principals, superintendents, school librarians, school nurses and guidance counselors who are actively employed in their fields. Deadline: August 1, 2007.
http://www.roadscholar.org/educatorawards/

"Comcast Foundation Grants Support Youth Leadership Development"
The Comcast Foundation is awarding grants to maximize the impact of community investments so they yield tangible, measurable benefits to the neighborhoods Comcast serves and the people who live there. The foundation's primary focus is in funding diversity-oriented programs that address literacy, volunteerism and youth leadership development. Maximum Award: $570,000. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations operating within communities that Comcast serves. Deadline: N/A.
http://www.comcast.com/foundation

CS/HB 139
Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention: Creates Statewide Office for Suicide Prevention as unit of Drug Control Office in EOG; authorizes said office to seek & accept grants or funds from any source to support its operation; creates Suicide Prevention Coordinating Council within said office; authorizes coordinating council to assemble ad hoc committee to advise said council; provides appropriation.

Improving the education of all students is the College Board's priority—together we can make it the nation's priority in the 2008 presidential election.

Join your colleagues at Forum 2007—four days of compelling discussions and workshops designed to foster a culture of educational excellence.

Hilton New York, New York City—October 24-27, 2007
www.collegeboard.com/forum

http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/msnbc/fv.htm??g=f1cb9c4f-156a-49e1-bdc4-82cf9203c17c&f=00&fg=email

Walgreens reaps benefits of 'disabled' workforce

July 2: Walgreens taps into the talents of a disabled workforce, and it's a win for everyone involved. NBC's Mika Brzezenski reports.

We have developed a Teacher's Resource Guide for our Bike Smart and Walk Smart CD-ROM programs for children in grades K-3. It contains a number of outdoor activities teachers can conduct with their students to enhance bicycle and pedestrian safety skills. While the activities are tied into and enhance specific sections of the Bike Smart and Walk Smart CD-ROMs, they can be conducted as stand alone activities without the programs being viewed.

The Resource Guide is available free for download on our web site at: http://childsafety.hcimarketplace.com
 
The Bike Smart and Walk Smart programs were released last summer. Recently, they were widely distributed to school districts in the State of Florida through their Safe Routes to School program.
 
Let me know if you have any questions about the Teacher's Resource Guide and feel free to share this resource with others concerned about children's bicycle and pedestrian safety.

Paul Berger
541 349-4822 Direct
866 846-4880 Toll-free
bikesmart@hcimarketplace.com

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