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948 Homeless Students in AA County Schools – What you can do?

Thursday morning I attended the weekly South Anne Arundel County Rotary Club meeting.  Each week there is a speaker and this week the speaker was from the AA County School System, Lynne Weise.  She is with Student Support Services and works with and for those students who are homeless.  Did you you know that in Anne Arundel County we have as of yesterday, 948 students who are homeless?

Here are some facts on children and youth who are homeless from the University of Maryland:

  • one in 50 children in the United States experience homelessness each year
  • less that 16% of elegible pre-school children are enrolled in school.
  • 42% of homeless children transfer schools at least once a year and 51% of these students will transfer twice or more.
  • Every time any student transfers schools their GPA will drop 10%.
  • Less than 25% of homeless children will graduate from high school

In AA County about 98% of the funds Student Support Services has is spent on busing and trying to keep students in a single school.  There are many groups that work on being sure that they have food with breakfast programs and weekend food programs like Bountiful Backpacks.  Still there are so many other events and possibilities that are not available for children and students who are without homes.

As an individual or a group anyone can sponsor a student for a particular need.  There are some students in South County that would like to take drivers ed – but cannot – due to funds.  There are many needs and opportunities.   Want to learn more or learn how you can help?  Call 410-222-5326 and speak to Lynne Weise, who is the Homeless Education Liaison – Student Support Services. You can email her also at tweise@aacps.org

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Showing Courage in Our Body Language

Teaching character and life skills to students

When we are scared, all of us have individual reactions. For some it may be that our hands get clinched into a fist, or it is our breathing that changes. It could be visible in our face or voice. Then there will be where we feel it inside our bodies. Is it in your chest, legs, shoulders or do your eyes get closed and you turn away.

What is interesting is that being brave or showing courage has a physiology too. When we are brave we stand tall, shoulders are back, chin is up and eyes are looking straight ahead and our voice is strong. The thoughts going through our head are more clear and not racing.

How do you act when you are scared? How do you feel when you are showing courage and being brave? The simple act of changing our physiology can affect how we are thinking and feeling. Helping our children see that when we let them know that a situation or activity is safe, they can change their physical bodies and feel brave. This will be followed by them being brave and having the courage to do what may have been scary to them.

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Life Skills: Courage & the Stories I Tell Myself

Teaching character and life skills to students

This month we have defined courage as the willingness to face fears and challenges with determination.  Now while some may believe that courage is not having any fear, the fact is that those with courage probably are just as scared, nervous or worried as others, they just do not let that get in the way of going after their goals.

Fear is always relative to experience and the stories we tell ourselves.  If I tell myself a big enough story about ferris wheels I may not be willing to try to get on that ride at a carnival.  If I tell myself that speaking to a group of people may result in me embarrassing myself, my fear may prevent me from taking that risk.  But when we look at history many who would not have initially have appeared to be strong, were in fact willing to get past their fears and make stands for what was right and to make decisions that later affected generations of individuals.

Learning how to demonstrate courage, how to calm ourselves down so we can make courageous decisions and act in courageous ways is what we will be talking to our students about this week.

Here is a photo of courage.  This student of Balanced Life Skills does have a fear of heights and was able to conquer the high ropes course during the day of endurance for her black belt test.

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Life Skills: Courage – The Definition

Teaching character and life skills to students

 

Each month we define and discuss a word of character development and life skill with all of our students.

This month the word is Courage and will be defined this way.

 

Young students: Courage means, “I feel brave.”

Older students: Courage is the willingness to face fears and challenges with determination.

Here are the worksheets for our students:

Courage Worksheet Tiger Tots

Courage Worksheet 5 – 6 Lil’ Dragons

Courage Worksheet 7-12 classes

Courage Worksheet Teens & Adults

If you would like to see how we will talk about COURAGE with our students please follow our discussions here during the month of March or come in and TRY A CLASS.

 

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Summer Program: The Friendship Focus

Student Workshop: Bully Prevention & Healthy Relationships

We are pleased to announce that this summer Balanced Life Skills will be conducting workshops for students on bully prevention with a focus on relationships and friendship.   Each workshop will be gender specific and age specific.

For Today’s Parents:

Creating a Culture of Peace in our Schools and Community

Information every parent should have on what is bullying and why we must not ignore it.  We will discuss the effects on every child, and why children do not tell their parents it is happening.  We will also discuss what to do if your child is the bully, bullied or is a follower.

Dates for this workshop are Monday May 7th or Wednesday May 16th at 6:30 PM

If you are interested please call us at 410-263-0050

Parent workshop will be FREE

For Today’s Girls & Young Women:

It’s not just girls being girls.  It has a name: Relational Aggression

This workshop will be age appropriate  and focus on relational aggression.   The lessons will equip girls with an understanding of the language of peer aggression, including the roles that are played out, and the steps needed to develop healthy, inclusive friendships.  Our goal is to raise awareness about the nature of and the impact of relational aggression on the lives of young women.   This is a great program for girl scout groups from Daisy to Senior & Ambassador.  Here are the dates and age groups for the girls program.

Monday – Wednesday July 9-11  10 AM to 1 PM     Kindergarten and First grade girls and boys combined

Monday – Wednesday July 16-18  10 AM to 1 PM     Second and Third Grade Girls

Monday – Wednesday July 30-August 1  10 AM to 1 PM     Fourth and Fifth Grade Girls

Monday – Wednesday August 13-15  10 AM to 1 PM        Middle School Girls

They will explore how aggression affect their lives, how social norms impact decisions, what is friendship, what makes an effective leader, and digital citizenship.  Each workshop will be $75

 

For Today’s Boys & Young Men:

Reduce Aggression, Increase Self Empowerment

This workshop will be age appropriate  and focus on relational aggression and bullying.   The lessons will identify the roles of bullying situations, assess the importance of the bystander, determine the positive qualities of friendship and leadership.    This is a great program for boy scout groups from Tiger Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  Here are the dates and age groups for the boys program.

Monday – Wednesday July 9-11  10 AM to 1 PM     Kindergarten and First grade girls and boys combined

Monday – Wednesday July 23-25  10 AM to 1 PM     Second and Third Grade Boys

Monday – Wednesday August 6 – August 8  10 AM to 1 PM     Fourth and Fifth Grade Boys

Monday – Wednesday August 20-22  10 AM to 1 PM        Middle School Boys

They will explore how bullying affect their lives, what does it mean to be a man, what is friendship, what makes an effective leader, and digital citizenship.  Each workshop will be $75

Contact us Today and reserve your spot for any of these workshops.

410-263-0050  or
Send Email

 

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Evan W. Birthday Party and Evan W. Community Service

Two Evan’s both with a last name that starts with a W. and both of them 6 years old.  Oh yes and they take class together here at Balanced Life Skills.  One of them put together this service project of collecting cereal for children who do not have homes.  The box he decorated and supplied  was getting filled up and then on Saturday it got really filled.

The other Evan W.  had a birthday party and he asked his friends to bring a box of cereal to the party in lieu of gifts.  Now look at the results.  The box is flowing over and so many children will benefit.  Those children who brought in the cereal benefit too.  When they take the time think about what it would feel like not having a home or something to eat for breakfast, it makes them more aware and grateful for what they do have.

Thank  you to both Evan’s for a job well done.  A great project and a great collaboration of efforts.