High School Council
News
Spring Quarter 2007
06-07 HS Council
Co-Chairpersons
Nila Barnes
Lori Sykes Stewart
Lynn D. Stevenson
In this Issue:
>The End of the School
Year is Upon Us
>Parents Brainstorm about Drug
and Alcohol Use Among Students
>Find out what Parents
Learned at the
Michael Bradley Seminar
The End of the School Year is Upon Us
With just a few weeks remaining in the school year, there are still a few events that you might want to plan for:
May 17th –May 19th Rites of May, the all-schools celebration.
Plan to come out and support our students.
Students will perform in the high school theatrical production of “The Grimmest Celebration”, in the Blaine Courtyard. Tickets are on sale for $9 in Blaine lobby. Also in the courtyard, student clubs will offer games and food. On Saturday May 19th, plan to visit the Rites of May stage in upper Kovler gym, where high school students will perform Irish dances at 11:00 AM, high school student Marcell Babai will perform his magic show at 11:30 AM, and high school students will perform Indian dances at 12:45 PM. You will also want to visit the country booths in upper Kovler, presented by some of the high school students.
May 20th – 2nd annual High School golf team fundraiser,
"Your Day to Play" golf outing
Invitations were mailed in mid-April. Join our HS golf team and new Coach Lloyd Higley for 18 holes of great golf. 72 golfers maximum 100.00 per golfer,hole sponsorships 100.00 each. All proceeds benefit our golf program.
May 24th – Community Learning Appreciation Lunch, Ida Noyes Cloister Club. Invitations were mailed to parents of sophomore students. RSVP to Maureen Gauntner by May 15th.
May 25th – Senior Prom, Cultural Center.
Keep your student safe on prom night. Here are a few tips for parents of prom-goers:
http://onetoughjob.org/default.aspx
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/227375/prom_night_parenting.html
http://www.co.stearns.mn.us/documents/ParentWiseSpring03.pdf
May 29th – High School Choir Concert, Mandel Hall at 7:30 PM.
May 30th – Sports Awards Ceremony, Upper Kovler at 7:00 PM.
Invitations were mailed to parents of students who participated on sports teams. RSVP to David Ribbens
dribben2@ucls.uchicago.edu by May 25th.
May 30th – List of eligible used books for buy-back, available online.
May 30th - PA voting period ends at 6:00 PM
By now you should have received your ballot in the mail. If you have not received a ballot contact nominations committee
chairperson Vicky Long.
To vote online, go to the PA homepage.
June 1st – 8th – Used Textbook Buy-Back, 8:00 AM until close of school. Location: corridor at the top of the back stairs to
the cafeteria.
Parents your help is needed for the buy-back as well as book sorting, voucher mailing, and the fall sale.
To volunteer, contact Beth Bray at bethbray@sbcglobal.net
June 5th & 6th – final exams
Parents, particularly parents of freshman, should be advised that the students do not have a full day of school. Students are provided with an exam schedule. You might want to ask your student about this. Students are free to leave school upon completion of their exams.
June 7th – make-up exams and end of spring quarter. Dismissal is at noon.
High School Graduation, 2:30 PM at Rockefeller Chapel. Congratulations and Farewell to the graduates!
School’s out for summer!
Here are a list of summer activities appropriate for high school students
*** Summer Lab – Latin, Geometry, Physical Education
*** Overland Summer program (outdoors, service, language, writing) –
www.overlandsummer.com
*** Summer at Latin – SAT prep course
*** Francis Parker Summer programs – ACT prep course, drivers education
*** Northwestern Center for Talent Development – Summer Program 2007
(Civic Leadership Institute, Spectrum and Equinox programs).
www.ctd.northwestern.edu
*** Projects 2007 – National Louis University, Center for Gifted (accepts students entering 6th grade through 10th grade)
www.centerforgifted.org
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Parents Brainstorm about Drug and Alcohol Use Among Students
At the March HS Council meeting, parents brought their ideas for possible ways of addressing the drug and alcohol issues in the high school. There have been reports of drug sales occurring in the cafeteria as well as reports of student’s use of alcohol prior to entry into the spring formal dance.
Principal Matt Horvat with counselor Ron Tunis, presented the results of what students have told counselors. In general students are afraid of parents “freaking out” if they tell them that they are consuming or have consumed alcohol.
Some of the ideas that were presented include:
** Hire a full time drug and alcohol counselor – downside to this is that students don’t want to self-identify. The perception
is that if they are seen by their peers speaking with the counselor, everyone may think that they have a problem.
** Drug rehab programs as community service – would need to recommend to service core.
** Bring back the parent contract – In the early 1990’s, the high school faced some of the same issues as we do today. The parents in partnership with the school created the Community Standards on Drug Abuse for Lab School Families. Parents signed agreements to guarantee that any party held in their home would have adult supervision and would be alcohol and drug free. The list of parents who signed the contract was made available to everyone, so that parents would know which households where safe for their children.
As a result of the ideas presented, the general consensus was that the high school counsel would pursue the re-initiation of the parent contract and that the high school administration would have some safeguards against student drug and alcohol use, at school, by the start of the 2007-2008 school year.
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Parenting Teens Seminar a Huge Success
In spite of all of the conflicting events that took place on Thursday April 19th, an overflow crowd of parents came out to hear adolescent psychologist Dr. Michael Bradley’s talk about parenting adolescence. Numerous parents raved about the seminar. Since the seminar, organizers received comments from parents on how they had immediately begun to use the parenting techniques presented that evening.
Dr. Bradley talked about the adolescent brain, how at ages 9, 10, and 11, things are going along ok, but then by age 12 an explosion of growth, similar to growth at age 2, takes place that causes children to become moody, impulsive, and indulge in risky behavior, in an attempt to adjust the neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurological brakes technically known as the prefrontal cortex is developing. During this time children lose 20 to 25% of their ability to process emotion. As a result they misread a parent’s fear and concern for them, as anger. When adolescence are stressed emotionally their learning centers shut down, they can not learn when emotionally stressed. Also during this brain reorganization, the sleep clock of adolescents advances several hours into the night.
Dr. Bradley presented some disturbing researched facts and statistics about the world surrounding our children. He reported that research says that the culture tells kids to do sex and drugs. Death by drug overdose among adolescents is up 300%; kids are doing drugs at younger ages; when they do drugs, kids drink to overdose i.e. more concentrated; alcohol kills more kids than anything, is a deadly toxic substance to the adolescent brain, and that there is no safe amount for adolescents; adults are the pushers- 1/3 of teens said parents provide alcohol, 24% drink with parents; at about age 21 or 22 the brain starts to develop a defense against alcohol. Regarding sex among adolescents, 35% of 8th grade females are having sex, of that group about ¼ have sex with multiple partners; 1/3 are pregnant before finishing high school; 1 in 5 students have a sexually transmitted disease; girls are now the sexual predators in middle school, and are initiating sex with boys. Regarding suicide among adolescents, 1 in 6 attempted or had a serious plan for suicide.
Dr. Bradley talked about respect-based parenting versus fear-based parenting. Above all, parents need to maintain the
connection with their adolescent. The ages 13-18 are at least as important as the first years of parenting.
Parents pull away at the time when the children need them most. Parents tend to think that parenting is over because the
kids are big, surly, sexual, and reject the parent’s values. In dealing with adolescents, parents need to remain
dispassionate and respectful. Some strategies include: lowering your voice when talking to teenagers; worst time to
talk to teens is in the morning and after school, best time is late at night; parents need to use unusual approaches to
talk to teens. Dr. Bradley finished up the presentation with his “10 Commandments of Parenting”. For more information
refer to the book “Yes Your Teen is Crazy”, available through Amazon.com and Dr. Bradley’s website.
Dr. Bradley answered questions from the audience, and remained around awhile after the seminar to answer parent’s questions
individually.
The audio recording of this seminar is available by contacting Nila Barnes at the HS Council’s
email address pahsc@uclspa.org .
Acknowledgement: Thanks to the Parents’ Association, the High School Council, Dean of Students Larry MacFarland, Principal Matt Horvat, and parents Nila Barnes and Arlene Mays-Johnson.
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