No Name-Calling Week in Edgemont and SFCS Announces the Girl's Center
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In honor of National “No Name-Calling Week," Edgemont Junior Senior High School students are being encouraged by school psychologist Dr. Mitch Shapiro to wear the following colors and refrain from bullying during the week of January 23 through January 27.
- Monday: Wear Red and STOP the name-calling, harassment, rumor spreading, negativity, etc…
- Tuesday: Wear Orange and Be BOLD and come to the aid of a student being mistreated
- Wednesday: Wear Yellow and SLOW DOWN and think about the potential impact of words before you speak.
- Thursday: Wear Green and Go out and COMPLIMENT as many people as you can.
- Friday: Wear Blue and Be KIND and invite someone to do something this weekend.
No Name-Calling Week is an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities. No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled "The Misfits" by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. In the end, the No-Name Party wins the support of the school's principal for their cause and their idea for a "No Name-Calling Day" at school.
The No Name-Calling Week Coalition was created by GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) and Simon & Schuster Children's publishing, and includes over 40 national partner organizations who organize No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities.
The Girl's Center
The most precious gift we can give girls is the liberty not only to listen to the greater voice of themselves but to act on it. This is the simplest kind of freedom and the most sacred sort of empowerment. Rachel Simmons, The Curse of The Good Girl
Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service is proud to announce the launch of the Girl's Center, a unique and exciting series of ten creative workshops for girls, ages 11-14 focusing on self-esteem and leadership skills. The program is designed to help girls feel good about themselves through the pursuit of authentic, profound and creative expressions.
Held at the Scarsdale Woman's Club, 37 Drake Road, the series will begin on Thursday, March 1, 2012 and run for ten consecutive Thursdays from 3:30-5 p.m. (excluding April 5th, spring break). Enrollment is limited to 20 girls in 6-8th grades.
The workshops will be lead by Laurie Albanese, Tina Henderson and Emily Vallario. Albanese is an author who wrote Blue Suburbia and Miracles of Prato and works as a high school English and creative writing teacher. Tina Henderson is a long-time educator, college admissions officer, middle school girls' teacher, administrator and private tutor and is a graduate of The Harvard Graduate School of Education. Emily Vallario, LCSW, is a youth outreach worker and staff member of SFCS.
For more information and to register, call SFCS at (914) 723-3281. This program is made possible by a private foundation grant and the generosity of a supporter of SFCS.
Students Use Online Tools to Hit the Books
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- Written by Adrienne Fishman
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For 21st century high school students, studying for school often involves more time staring at a computer screen than reading textbooks. At an informal chat with Scarsdale High School students and the Board of Education on Monday night January 9, students shared some of the latest web tools, resources and sites they now use to master their academic material. Fascinated by how much has changed in just the past few years, we wanted to share some of the latest developments in teens’ study habits with you.
For one, when assigned a group project, busy students no longer need to find time for a face-to-face group meeting. Instead, they create a facebook group page for the project and convene a time to meet online.
Through facebook , iChat, ooVoo or Skype , students can video chat with up to three other people at a time. All participants can see and hear one another, making it seem like everyone is together without actually having to go anywhere.
Google Docs are another great way to work with groups without having to meet up in person. Once a working document is posted on Google Docs, multiple people can edit the document simultaneously and each member of the group can see everyone else’s edits.
Another tool some students are using is Dropbox , which is a new way to save files in a secure environment. In the event your computer is lost, broken or stolen, if you use Dropbox, you’ll still have access to your documents. You can install Dropbox on your computer or download it as an app on your iPhone for free. Once installed, any file that you save to Dropbox will save to all of your devices. All the files you need are taken everywhere with you.
VoiceThread allows students to create presentations utilizing voice, text, audio files or video. They can then share a VoiceThread with their peers who can record themselves as well. This is a great alternative to a PowerPoint presentation and serves to animate student’s work.
Quizlet is an online tool to make flashcards and quizzes. As it can be overwhelming to learn large numbers of vocabulary words, whether in English or a foreign language, this site allows students to design their own flashcards and also provides Quizlet-created flashcards for the user to study. The site creates tests for students who can master information by taking customized tests online. Students can share their quizlets with others and they often post links to their quizlets on facebooks to share with classmates.
And turnitin.com has revolutionized the way students present their work to their teachers. Once an assignment is completed, students can now post their paper on turnitin.com rather than print out and provide a hard copy to their teacher. Teachers can assign deadlines for the assignments and if work is not completed by the indicated time and date it will not be accepted on the site. In addition to tracking submission dates and times, turnitin.com provides another important service. The site checks the work against all sources on the internet and looks for unoriginal work and proper citations. Each paper is scanned and given a score that indicates how much of the material has been appropriated from other sources. While the availability of the internet as a tool is astounding, it makes plagiarism a whole lot easier. With the click of a button, students can now find an entire essay on the book they have to read for class and turnitin guarantees that students write original material.
Better yet, most of these dynamic learning tools are free.
So if you look into your son or daughter’s room at night and find them chatting online, don’t assume it’s all fun. They may actually be hard at work.
If you use additional internet study resources, please share them in the comments section below:
Recognizing Signs of Teen Dating Abuse
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Teen Dating Abuse Program on School District’s Website What would you do if you knew a teen was in an abusive relationship? A program entitled Teen Relationships and Dating Violence, on the Video on Demand feature of the Scarsdale School District’s website, offers excellent guidance for teens, parents and even bystanders.
This program, originally presented at the Scarsdale High School (SHS) PTA’s November 8, 2011 meeting, features an SHS Drama Club skit about healthy and unhealthy teen relationships, and a discussion by experts of teen relationship issues. Both high school and college students, who often witness control and abuse in relationships, can play a critical role in helping affected peers.
“Teens should talk with their friends about what they would do if they or a friend found him or her in an abusive relationship, whether as the abused person or the abuser,” says SHS Youth Outreach Worker Lauren Pomerantz, who with the Scarsdale Coalition on Family Violence helped develop the presentation.
Pomerantz urges parents, teens and all Scarsdale residents to watch the program, and to use it to begin a conversation with their children and neighbors or peers. “No one needs to suffer alone,” she adds. “Once we learn the warning signs, we can all step up on behalf of victims—as friends, peers or ourselves.”
Maccabi Games Tryouts, Lacrosse Camp and Waterpark Trip
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This summer, the JCC Maccabi Games will take place in Houston, TX, Memphis, TN and Rockland County, NY. The JCC of Mid-Westchester will send a delegation of athletes to each set of games. A general information meeting will take place at 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 5th at the JCC, 999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale.Tryouts for Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer and Baseball will begin January 9th and end February 29th. All tryouts take place at the JCC of Mid-Westchester, 8:00-9:15 pm.. The schedule can be found here.
Athletes interested in Boys Hockey, Boys Lacrosse, Girls Lacrosse and Girls Softball should attend an information/sign up meeting on February 1 at 7:00pm at the JCC. Athletes and artists interested in Tennis, Swimming, Track, Golf, Table Tennis, Bowling, Dance, ArtsFest should attend an information/sign up meeting on February 8 at 7:00pm at the JCC.
The JCC Maccabi Games have been offering a life-and personality-shaping experience to Jewish teenagers since 1982. At this Olympic-style sporting event for Jewish teens 13-16 years old, each athlete has the chance to participate in one of several team or individual sports in events spanning the week-long experience, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The Games are the largest Jewish teen event in the world – each summer over 6,000 Jewish teens participate and over 100,000 teens have benefited from the JCC Maccabi Games since they were introduced. The JCC Maccabi Games however serve a larger purpose than athletic competition. The Games also promote community involvement, teamwork, and pride in being Jewish. Off the field, the teens participate in the Opening Ceremonies, evening social activities including amusement parks, zoos, host family night, parties and dances, all designed to encourage interaction among the athletes and artists who come from around the US and the world. A unique "Day of Caring and Sharing", independent from their competition, gives teens the chance to do a hands-on project that may serve those in need in the host community and/or teach the participants something about Jewish and/or Israeli culture.
For more information about the JCC Maccabi Games and ArtsFest, please contact Steven Weisbrot, Delegation Head, 914-472-3300, x362, [email protected], or visit www.jccmw.org.
The Recreation Department is currently accepting registrations for both Girls and Boys Travel Lacrosse programs for 3rd-6th Graders. The Lacrosse season will run from April until early June. Some prior lacrosse experience is recommended, but not required. Please register by the January 31st deadline. Registrations may be completed online here or in person at the Recreation Department located in Village Hall.
Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark Trip: The first Recreation Department Middle School Waterpark trip of the season will be to Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark on Sunday, January 29th for any interested 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th graders. Informational flyers are available on www.scarsdale.com under Parks and Recreation; Program Registration Forms or in the Village Hall at the Recreation Department. You may also register online here. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Recreation Department at 722-1160. Please register by Sunday, January 22nd. Registrations received after the deadline will be subject to a waiting list.
Early Decision: A Mother's Point of View
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Anyone out there with a high school senior knows that this is the week before early decisions are announced by the majority of schools that offer that choice to prospective students. What is early decision? It is the chance for a high school senior to apply early to their number one choice college and get a decision by December 15th. The catch is that it is a binding contract; if you are accepted early decision, you must attend that college, no second guesses, no second thoughts, no change of mind permitted. The admissions officer that my daughter and I saw when we visited Tufts University in Massachusetts summed up early decision in a very comical way: if you are ready to put your arms around me and say “I love you,” then you should apply early decision. If you don't feel that strongly, then don't apply early decision! My daughter and I left knowing that we were not ready to tell Tufts "I love you."
But besides the enticement of getting a decision by December 15th,there is another attraction to applying early decision to the college you love. Many schools take a greater percent of applicants from their early decision pool than later on from their regular decision pool in the winter. Early decision does give you a better shot at getting an acceptance. Some schools even announce their early decisions in late November. Last year, one mom was thrilled when her oldest child found out they she had been accepted into her top choice school the day after Thanksgiving allowing her to enjoy the rest of her senior year! Another mom that I spoke to had mixed thoughts on the early decision process. It worked out well for one child who was accepted early decision to an Ivy League school but not for her second child who felt awful after being rejected. It was hard to continue the rest of the college application process after facing one rejection. She would prefer that the college application system go back to the old days when there was no such thing as early decision, but it appears that the colleges like it and early decision will stay around.
Early decision applications have to be submitted by November 1st, so it's a good six weeks before you hear a response and the wait can kill you. I have tried to avoid the topic of college decisions around our house this past month. I have planned fun weekends in NYC and family gatherings in hopes of diffusing the pressure of simply waiting. This is probably the first big decision that my daughter has made that I cannot play any role in the outcome whatsoever and its killing me. Will College XYZ take her? Maybe, maybe not. It's completely their decision now. Sure, I made sure that she took a good SAT prep course and sure, I always encouraged her academically and sure, I allowed her to participate in countless clubs, sports and extracurricular activities always, but was it all enough to make it into XYZ?
Maybe I should have hired a college expert. Maybe I should have reviewed her essay (We agreed that I should not see it -- what do I know about college essays anyway? That was her guidance counselor's responsibility). Maybe I should have written a letter to the college telling them how amazing she is? Ok, I'm not serious on that one at all. But maybe I should have done something more. Next week, we will know and I will either bake a congratulations cake or bake a cheer up cake. I will be on standby to hug her and hold her tight no matter what the decision is, and the actual decision can take three forms: 1) welcome to our school, we love you and you are accepted 2) sorry you are a great person but we are not taking you or 3) we are simply not sure at this point whether we want you or not, so we are deferring you and will let you know in the spring! I think a "defer" may be harder to accept that an outright denial. Of course, anything but an acceptance is crushing to most kids. I think a rejection or a deferral could be a blessing in disguise, since then she'll apply regular decision to a number of other schools and have a choice (and I love having choices!) But I understand that rejection hurts and as a mother, I don't want to see any of my kids hurt.
One sad thing in all this is that whether she is happy or not next week, she will of course go to some good school next September and ultimately I am sure she will be happy wherever she winds up ... as for me, I will have to drop her off at college and drive away. Now that’s what is sad!
Caroline Tzelios is a "stay at home" mom of three kids who never stays at home. She has spent the past twelve years volunteering in the Edgemont Schools and recently completed her two year term as PTSA co-president of Edgemont High School and is the current co-chair of Edgemont's PISA Theater Committee.
