Date:  

January 10, 2008

Facilitator:  Maureen Cary

Location:

3 Blue Streak Blvd., 2^nd floor, School District Administrative Offices

Recorder: Robin Ambrosino

Attendees:

Pete Sheehan, Maureen Cary, Dan Tallman, Marion Spar, Mike Laudicina,
Judy Tirelli, Becky DeWitt, Tony Straus, Kati Behrens, Deb Lagoe,
Madeline Daley, Mary Zlotnick, Cindy Dort, Robin Lyle, Robin Ambrosino,
Brenda Quinn, Judy Ekman

Materials Distributed:

 Letter to the Post Star Editor regarding compliance checks

Overview

Discussion

Decisions/Actions

News and Announcements

 ·     Judy Tirelli, Becky, Mary Zlotnick, Cindy Dort, and Robin Lyle introduced themselves.

·     Jim Murphy is working on a statewide committee on video game ratings. He’s also working with Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand on an
i-SAFE Internet and computer safety initiative. Judy Tirelli said the high school PTSO is interested in having that software.

·     The Prevention Council’s annual Safe Spring Leadership Conference is on March 13^th from 9 a.m. – 1:30 at Skidmore College. It includes lunch for SADD participants. Saratoga Springs has had trouble getting kids because there’s a small SADD club. The Prevention Council would be willing to consider inviting members of the YMCA Leaders Club or athletic leaders to make up for the small Saratoga group.

• The Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools gives out 3-year grants to NY schools. The money gives schools an opportunity to pilot prevention curricula that might get transferred into the health curriculum.

·   Contact Judy Ekman with suggestions for participants from Saratoga.

·    Madeline Daley will take the grant information and find out where to go with it for Saratoga Schools.

Partnership Updates

·    The Partnership participated in several audio conferences this fall. The social host audio conference in November was worth listening to. The parental involvement audio conference in December was not as good. If anyone is interested in tuning in or reading a transcript of these audioconferences, they are archived at http://www.udetc.org/audioconfpast.asp. There’s another one coming up on Jan. 24 from 3 – 4:15 p.m., called “A Spotlight on Effective Collaborations to Address Youth Alcohol Access issues.” Anyone can participate by calling in with a password.
 

·    Athletic Director Pete Sheehan announced that the school district plans to have adolescent brain development expert Mike Nerney back to meet with spring athletes in March. The date is still being worked out. There are lots of rumors in school, along with hard evidence from the Partnership’s bi-annual student survey that Saratoga has a substance problem. The district is trying to educate student athletes to guide their decision making. Intent is not only to change behavior among athletes, but also to influence the culture at large.

Mike would prefer some smaller sessions instead of one big group of both athletes and parents. The goal is to raise awareness and suggest strategies to address challenges.
 

·    The Southern Saratoga Coalition has been working with police outside of Saratoga Springs to let businesses know compliance checks are coming up. They invited a panel of speakers, including the State Police, the State Liquor Authority (SLA), the Saratoga Partnership for Prevention and the Saratoga County DA’s office to present info about underage drinking and how laws pertain to them. An audience of roughly 20 people attended. The SLA representative was very well received and he offered to provide another session regarding laws for liquor license holders, i.e., what age can you sit at the bar, buy drinks for others, etc. They are working to set a date later this winter.

·    The Saratoga YMCA is starting a Girls on the Run program. This is a fitness and self esteem program for 4^th – 6^th grade girls about good decision making, being strong and healthy, and working up to a 5K walk or run. The training to coach the program took place just as Kati Behrens was leaving her position with the Partnership. But Patti Laudicina at the YMCA found someone else to run the program, and it will start this spring. The participants are an existing corps of girls who already go to the Y after school.

·    There was a huge response by the community to this month’s Health and Human Services workshop on teen cutting. 80 people signed up vs. 15 who usually come. Mike Nerney has said that girls lose 50% of the seratonin in their brains starting at age 13 – a major cause of depression for both girls and boys. Presenter Dr. Erin Christopher-Sisk is willing to do additional presentations to meet the interest by community members and also to give a staff development course for teachers.
 

·    Lake Avenue Elementary planned to offer a new program called Parenting Wisely this fall, but couldn’t due to lack of funding. A special ed teacher there initiated the program after seeing parenting skills missing in parents she deals with. She is working with the Partnership on funding so that the three-session course can be offered this spring. Lake Avenue wants to do the facilitated version, but there is also the ability to take the course online or on DVD.

·    Becky DeWitt presented The Prevention Council’s gambling curriculum to all gym classes in Mechanicville this week. A few years ago there were big problems with kids playing poker at school. Since then, the school district implemented a new gambling policy. Now kids are saying it’s not as prevalent, but there are still a lot of kids who don’t realize why it’s a problem. They say if they were taught to gamble responsibly then they wouldn’t have problems later. Becky and Prevention Council School Service Director Pat Marin talked to the kids about adolescent brain development and its relationship to addiction at a young age. They also discussed the financial implications of too much gambling. Some kids seemed to get it. Others were adamant that it’s not a problem.

·    Anyone interested in the January audioconference should contact Maureen Cary.

·    If anyone has ideas or concerns, please get in touch with Pete via phone (587-6690, ext. 3304) or e-mail.

·    The Partnership received a small grant to help the YMCA with funding for running shoes or other expenses. Please contact Maureen or Judy for more information.

·    For more information about additional workshops, contact Mary Zlotnick at 581-1230 ext. 26 or via e-mail.

Committee
Updates

·    After the November 2007 Summit on Youth, the goal was to take issues and ideas that came up during discussion to Partnership committees and work on them there. But after the Summit reorganization meeting in December, committees formed and started meeting separately from the Partnership committees. Apologies to anyone who may have been left out of those separate meetings. To avoid two sets of committees meeting on the same topic, Partnership meetings will no longer include committee work, but will serve as an advisory group to the committees meeting separately. Everyone who expressed interest in committee work should be contacted by the appropriate committee organizers. They are as follows:
Parent resources – Mary Zlotnick/Courtney Lamport
High school transition – Josh Walker
Community Awareness – Maureen Cary
Youth-focused initiatives – Mike Piccirillo

 

·    The Public education and community awareness committee met on January 9 for over 2 hours. They came up with some tangible, short-term projects to work on, i.e., an underage party tip line, and a facilitated forum including kids this spring. They also discussed the possibility of doing something similar to what the Football Booster Club did in Ballston Spa, in which parents created an environment where it was acceptable to call other families to verify that teen parties were safe and didn’t include alcohol. They organized team-building activities among parents and kids, such as weekly spaghetti dinners and lock downs after games so kids didn’t have the option to go out drinking. Their next meeting is planned for January 30^th. For more information, contact Maureen.

·    The Parent Resource Committee also discussed this kind of parent-based initiative, along with a physical space for parent resources at the library or in big workplaces like Wal-Mart or Quad. To figure out what resources parents really need, the committee is working on a short, informal parent survey to find out what their concerns are – possibly via Saratogian website. Their next meeting will be on January 15. For more information, contact Mary.

 

·    The High School Transition Committee – This group will meet next on January 17 at 3 p.m. For more information, contact Josh.

·    The Youth Committee has concerns that there isn’t enough youth involvement in their group. They discussed the possibility of hosting a Youth Summit this spring, with food and games to drive interest. Looking for a Thursday 6-9 p.m. in February or March. They are brainstorming topics provocative enough to get kids interested. For more information, contact Mike.
 

·    Pete Sheehan asked for more information about this initiative. Ballston Spa parent Cindy Dort will send him a written summary.

Next Meeting

The next Partnership meeting will be on Thursday, February 7^th at 12 p.m. in the school district administration offices. Committee updates will go out by e-mail between now and then.