The_Francis_Howell_School_District_is_holding_Raising_Healthy_Kids

							The Francis Howell School District is holding Raising Healthy Kids, a free evening event
for parents designed to share information on the challenges of raising healthy and
responsible children and adolescents. The event will be held on Thursday, November 10,
2011 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Saeger Middle School located at 5201 Highway N in
Cottleville.

Attendees will be able to choose two informational sessions from offerings presented by
local child and adolescent experts, law enforcement officials, and area community
organizations. Session topics will include stranger danger, bullying prevention, technology
and cyber crime, coping with divorce, dealing with explosive behavior, social hosting, drug
and alcohol abuse, dangers in your medicine cabinet, teen cutting, and nutrition.

Before and after the sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to enter to win raffle
prizes, chat informally with presenters, and visit booths to pick up information from a
variety of community social service agencies regarding the health and well-being of
children, youth, and families. Raffle prizes will be awarded at the end of the evening.
Plan to attend this FREE event filled with speakers discussing current issues facing
today’s parents and youth from pre-school through high school. No registration necessary.

See below for more information on session details:

Bullying and Cyber Bullying – Presented by Susan Schrager from Crider Health Center
and Michelle Stille with The Child Center.
An overview of anti-bullying prevention programming provided by both Crider Health
Center and The Child Center including warning signs of bullying behavior, and how to
keep children safer online.
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention for Parents – Presented by Ellen Teller, M.Ed., Executive
Director of The Child Center
Information for parents about sexual abuse statistics, trends, dynamics, disclosures.
Childhood obesity: Ideas for helping your child eat in ways to curb childhood obesity
and learning to make healthy lifestyle choices - Presented by Joseph A. Di Carlo, D.C.
from Di Carlo Chiropractic Center Health and Wellness Center
Childhood obesity is becoming a major health problem in the US. We will discuss how
to help our children avoid the pitfalls of poor eating habits which may make them obese
and lead to habits that will affect their health for the rest of their lives. We also
discuss the idea of “Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well,” for a healthier lifestyle.
Cyberbullying: One Mothers Story – Presented by Tina Meier from the Megan Meier
Foundation
The presentation provides an overview of the technology that students are using in
today's world. Life is much different for students today than it was even 4 years ago.
As parents and community leaders, it is imperative that we continually educate ourselves
to become better equipped to help our children. Megan Meier's story will be shared
along with the topics of bullying, bystanders, cyberbullying and sexting. A question and
answer session will be available at the end of the presentation.
ETOH, What’s that? And how does it work? Clue….It doesn’t! – Presented by Ed Moses,
Drug Recognition Expert
This session includes basic information on the developing brain and the chemical ETOH
[drinkable alcohol], as well as how to detect alcohol impairment. Current trends and
marketing to our children will be reviewed.     S O L U T I O N?                Clue….”Germs
cannot live in sunlight.”
Healthy Relationships – Presented by Kathy LaChance from Crider Health Center
Healthy Relationships is a teen prevention program against dating violence and date
rape. The goal of the program is to help teens understand the myths associated with
dating and what they can do to promote healthy dating relationships.
Home Alone – Presented by Officer Melissa Doss with the St. Peters Police Department
This session will be a discussion about when it is appropriate to leave children home
alone and what parents should be teaching their children about safety from strangers
and other adults.
How to Best Support Grieving Kids and Teenagers – Presented by Linda Grana with
Annie’s Hope
Children and teens grieve in their own unique way. One of the many factors that
influence the child’s/ teen’s grief is their developmental level. Kids will revisit a death
over and over as they change, grow, and acquire new ways of thinking. Being that grief
is a lifelong process, understanding developmental aspects of grief and supporting children
on their journey assists in normalizing the grieving process and introduces effective,
healthy coping skills they can carry with them into adulthood.
The Impact of Separation and Divorce on Children and Families: How Parents Can Help
Their Kids – Presented by Amanda Moeller, M.Ed., LPC with Kids in the Middle
This presentation will educate parents on the emotional process of divorce, common
reactions of children to divorce, and how parents can best help their kids.      Parents will
also hear tips on how to keep their kids out of the middle.
Parenting in the Digital Age - Presented by Judge Rick Zerr, Administrative Judge of the
Family Court, 11th Judicial Circuit in Saint Charles,
As a parent are you familiar with MySpace? Facebook? Digital Camera? Texting?
Sexting?     X-Box Live?    Runescape? Cyber-stalking? Join us for a discussion on the
unintended consequences that occur when our children make mistakes in this new digital
age.     Judge Rick Zerr, will present the laws that govern our children’s use of
technology, along with the legal consequences for its misuse.     If your child owns a cell
phone, uses social networking, or plays online videogames, you’ll want to join us.
Recognizing signs of Drug Ingestion - Presented by Travis Jones, formerly with the St.
Charles County Sherriff’s Department
Illegal drugs and non therapeutic ingested drugs affect the human body in different ways.
By making close observations a person can recognize these signs and behaviors. All
types of illegal drugs including heroin, salvia, marijuana, and cocaine will be discussed.
Pain medications and mood altering drugs taken recreationally will be described. The
recent trends in drug use and abuse, along with methods for handling teenage drug use
will be listed.
Sad, Moody or Depressed: What to Look for, What to Do – Presented by David
Hotaling from CHADS Coalition for Mental Health
Practical and informative, this presentation focuses on adolescent emotional development.
If mood swings and crankiness are a typical part of growing up, how can we tell when
our children are experiencing expected moodiness or when it may be something more
serious?     Signs and symptoms of depression will be shared and we will also cover
strategies for communicating and staying connected with your teen.
Self Injury: How Can We Help Our Children? - Presented by Anne Marie Lucas, MSW,
LCSW                        with                      S.A.F.E.                    Alternatives
The presentation will focus on what self injury is, reasons kids self injure, what parents
can do, how parents can respond, when professional help is necessary, programs that
help with self injurious behavior, and how parents can find help.
Strategies for Managing Behavior – Presented by Mary Hendricks-Harris, FHSD Chief
Academic Officer
In this session, parents will learn strategies to address common misbehaviors both
proactively and as they occur and build better relationships with their children and
decrease household stress.
Surviving the Teenage Years with Help from the Experts - Presented by Amy Johnston,
Principal of Francis Howell Middle School
The presentation will include information from national experts on how to raise healthy
teenagers amid all of the pressures of today’s society. Some of the references in the
presentation will come from: Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax, Why Do They Act That Way
by David Walsh, Get out of My Life, but Could You First Drive Me & Carol to the
Mall by Anthony Wolf, Raising Cain by Dan Kindlon, So Sexy So Soon by Diane Levin,
Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons, and Brain Rules by John Medina.
What’s in your medicine cabinet?       Are you your child’s drug dealer! – Presented by
Jean Sokora from Preferred Family Healthcare
This session will explore with parents some basic signs and symptoms for kids at risk
for substance use and then will go into more details about prescription drug use
specifically and how parents can protect themselves and their children from these
dangers.
What’s New on the Streets?       Heroin…but binge drinking is still around! – Presented by
Marilyn Bader, Prevention Training Coordinator for the St. Louis Area Chapter of
the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
An overview of the current drug trends related to heroin and binge drinking with insights
shared by panelists who have lived to tell the stories.