Middle School students work to ‘Be the Change’

Be the Change team members who helped organize the food drive and other Be the Change Week activities (left to right) Sara Caris, Sophia Klingbeil, Caroline Battin, Liz Stetler, and Paige Ireland, all in 8th grade. They appear with food collected at the dance and throughout the week in school, in front of the “Acts of Change wall at Otsego Jr. High School. Additional photos of the dance can be found here.

On-site prevention specialist Michelle Von Lehmden collects canned food from students entering the Be the Change dance at Otsego Middle School Friday.

In October, Otsego School District eighth graders participated in Challenge Day.

Challenge Day encourages students to pay attention to what they do and say to people and helps them to recognize that everyone has to take care of each other…everyone has to Be the Change that they want to see in the world.

Following Challenge Day, the Otsego School District celebrated Red Ribbon week Oct. 25-29, and coupled it with “Be the Change Week.” Be the Change Week is a way to continue the spirit of Challenge Day, by asking everyone in the school to do something to make a difference in their community, in their school, or in someone’s life.

To celebrate their work, they held a dance that continued the Be the Change movement. Students had the option to pay a $2 entry fee, or pay $1 and bring in a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Otsego Food Pantry.

The Otsego Food Pantry is housed at the First Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids, but “we are supported by all of the churches in the Otsego School District, along with numerous businesses and organizations,” said Lisa Hatfield, co-coordinator for the Otsego Food Pantry.

The Otsego Food Pantry serves anyone who lives in the Otsego School District and “surrounding edges,” who has a “stated need” for assistance.

For assistance, or to make a donation, call the Otsego Food Pantry at 419-832-4214.

Evolution of Dance defines The New Cool

“The majority of things in your life are there because of the choices you make.”

This was the message inspirational comedian Judson Laipply brought to students throughout Wood County as part of this week’s Red Ribbon Week celebration.

Laipply, who earned notoriety through the viral YouTube sensation The Evolution of Dance, told students in the Rossford and North Baltimore school districts on Tuesday that when they are asked, no young child answers that they dream of being addicted to drugs. All of the small choices they make as they experience life, however, influence whether each person will attain the goal or if their life will take another direction.

Laipply’s message that “Life is Change” and that you are the master of your own destiny speaks to the heart of the Wood County Educational Service Center’s “The New Cool” campaign: Just because other people tell you that the only way to be cool is to drink, it’s just not true. Being cool has a lot more to do with who you are, what you do and how you think, than with what you drink.

He illustrates his message with a performance of the Evolution of Dance, a high-energy, entertaining act that shows how dancing trends have changed through the years. The Evolution of Dance was the most-watched video on YouTube in 2007. Today, it remains in the top five. It has earned him guest appearances on Oprah, Ellen, The Today Show, and America’s Got Talent.

Laipply, who was introduced to the student body in North Baltimore by Teen Institute members Tessa Reinman, Madison Fitzgerald, Ashley Baisden, Ashley Quantic, and Cody Switzer, also spoke this week at Perrysburg Junior High School, Otsego High School, Eastwood High School and at the Elmwood Community Center.

His performance was funded by the Wood County Educational Service Center through the Reducing Alcohol Abuse in Secondary Students (RAASS) grant.

For more photos of Judson's visit to North Baltimore, visit http://picasaweb.google.com/WCESCPrevention. To watch part of Judson's presentation, or to see his Evolution of Dance at North Baltimore, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodCountyESC#p/a

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On the Web:

http://www.mightaswelldance.com/

The Incredible Years class offered

Parenting can be tough. So can being a kid.

The Children's Resource Center, Bowling Green, is offering two sessions of The Incredible Years training beginning in November. You can choose to attend sessions in either Bowling Green or Bradner.

At the Incredible Years parent training, parents of children ages 3 to 8 will learn how to:

• Increase children's self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Strengthen children's social skills
• Discipline effectively
• Boost academic success

The 12-week classes will be held each Tuesday beginning Nov. 9, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Bradner WSOS Head Start. To register for this session, contact Angie Patchen at Children's Resource Center by Nov. 3 at (419) 352-7588 or 1-888-466-KIDS.

Alternatively, you can register for the session that will be held at the Jordan Family Development Center in Bowling Green. That 12-week session will be held each Tuesday beginning Nov. 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Register for this session by Nov. 10 by calling Kristin Nagel or Cindy Eckel at Children's Resource Center at (419) 352-7588 or 1-888-466-KIDS, or e-mail debbieg@crc.wcnet.org

Classes are low-cost and space is limited. Child care is available. Light meals will be provided each week.

New Photos Posted

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a fantastic week as we enter Red Ribbon Week and a celebration of an alcohol-free lifestyle.

New photos of the Red Ribbon kickoff and the Perrysburg homecoming and float construction have been posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/WCESCPrevention.

More photos will be posted over the course of the coming two weeks of various Red Ribbon-related celebrations around Wood County, including the Teen Institute float in the Rossford Halloween parade, which happens Oct. 31, and photos of a special surprise that is coming to several schools for Red Ribbon.

Have a GREAT week and be safe.

Workshops in Wood County to Help Parents Improve Family Bonding and Reduce Risk of Teenage Drug Use

In a workshop series called Guiding Good Choices® being offered in communities across Wood County, parents will learn how to strengthen their bonds with their children and reduce the risk that their children will use drugs.  The five-week program is being offered by the Wood County Educational Service Center.  Each weekly workshop will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on respective days at the following sites.

Elmwood Middle School every Tuesday beginning October 19th; North Baltimore Middle/High School every Thursday beginning October 21^st; Eastwood Middle School every Monday beginning October 25^th; and Indian Hills Elementary in Rossford every Thursday beginning January 13^th.

Guiding Good Choices is an interactive program for all parents of children in grades 4-8.  In a lively and open atmosphere, parents will learn specific strategies to help their children avoid drug use and other adolescent problem behaviors, and develop into healthy adults.  Parents will learn to set clear family guidelines on drugs, as well as learn and practice skills to strengthen family bonds, help their children develop healthy behaviors, and increase children’s involvement in the family.

The Guiding Good Choices program, from Channing Bete Company, was developed by Dr. J. David Hawkins and Dr. Richard F. Catalano of the University of Washington.  Their research has shown that when children are bonded to their parents, school and non-drug-using peers, they are less likely to get involved in drug use or other behavior problems.

Studies of Guiding Good Choices have shown that the program is effective in strengthening parent-child bonds and preventing teenagers from starting to use alcohol and other drugs.

An alarming number of teenagers today will use alcohol or marijuana before leaving high schools.  According to the 2010 ADAMHS Wood County Youth Survey, 24% of Wood county high school seniors reported binge drinking in the past month and more than 15% report monthly marijuana use.

Workshop activities are based on Hawkins’ and Catalano’s Social Development Strategy, a theory of human behavior that identifies the factors that promote social bonding and positive behavior.  In a review of research conducted over the past 30 years, Hawkins and Catalano have also identified twenty factors that increase the risk of teenage drug use, as well as delinquency, teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, and violence.

The series is provided by the Safe Schools/Healthy Student Initiative through the Wood County Educational Service Center.  The workshops are free for attending parents.  Light refreshments, child care, and door prizes will be provided each week.

For more information contact Greg Bonnell at (419) 354-9010 ext. 228.

Parent Project begins Sept. 21

Most of us in the field, working with high-risk youth know that parent involvement is the key to behavior change with difficult, behaviorally disordered adolescents. Yet, effectively educating parents in basic behavioral strategies is time consuming and repetitive. The Parent Project® is a parent training program designed for parents of strong-willed adolescents (those sometimes referred to as oppositional defiant, or conduct disorder). Since 2003, nearly 250 parents have attended Parent Project in Wood County and they report that there is important information for all  parents of teens.   

Topics include reducing family conflict and arguing, improving school performance and attendance, identifying and intervening with alcohol and other drug abuse, interceding with negative peer associations (including inappropriate dating relationships up to and including frank gang involvement) and helping parents to set effective applicable limits. Many parents attending Parent Project® have had difficulty identifying appropriate limits and enforcing consequences consistently. Parents who attend the Parent Project® are more likely to see their child’s attendance at school improve, and to require less school-based disciplinary resources as parents find powerful interventions at home with which to bring about change in their children. The motto of the Parent Project® is “Parents are the answer … when they have the tools they need.”

Presented in an educational format, parents are trained for a low fee of $20 for the accompanying 180-page workbook “A Parents’ Guide to Changing Destructive Adolescent Behavior.” There is no cost for the training itself. If the entire course is completed and the parent has attended all of the required sessions, the $20 fee will be refunded. Parents attend 18 hours of instruction for a cost of less than one session of private counseling.

The next session will be held Tuesday evenings from Sept. 21 through Nov. 16 at the Wood County Educational Service Center, 1867 N. Research Dr., Bowling Green. The first two classes will run from 6 to 9 p.m. The remainder of the classes run from at 6 to 8 p.m.

For more information or to register, contact Lorrie Lewandowski, Wood County Educational Service Center, 1867 N. Research Dr., Bowling Green, OH, 43402. Phone: 419-354-9010, ext. 113. E-mail: llewandowski@wcesc.org.

You also can find more information and register by visiting www.parentproject.com and click on “find a class in your area” in the top right-hand corner.

The local Parent Project program was featured in a radio news segment that was broadcast Jan. 27, 2010 on the Morning Show hosted by Dave Horger on WBGU 88.1 FM. Listen to the segment on BG Gizmo by clicking here.

Registration will be limited to the first 30 people responding.

The Incredible Years class offered

Parenting can be tough. So can being a kid.

The Children's Resource Center, Bowling Green, is teaming with Tender Age Daycare Center, located at 1249 Ridgewood Drive, Bowling Green, to offer The Incredible Years training.

At the Incredible Years parent training, parents of children ages 3 to 8 will learn how to:

• Increase children's self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Strengthen children's social skills
• Discipline effectively
• Boost academic success

The 12-week classes will be held each Monday beginning Sept. 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Tender Age Daycare Center.

Classes are low-cost and space is limited. Child care is available. Light meals will be provided each week.

Register by September 10, by calling Angie Patchen at the Children's Resource Center at (419) 352-7588 or 1-888-466-KIDS.