Newspaper Page Text
Partnering for our children’s future
* I
By Susie LeMleux Brookshire
For the Forsyth County News
We all want to know what we
Can do to ensure that our children
■will become healthy, productive
citizens.
' The primary answer lies in
bringing into reality a fundamen
tal shift in thinking - from a
problem focus to a positive
Vision.
The goal of the Search Institute
is to motivate and equip individu
als, organizations and their lead
ers to join together in nurturing
Competent, caring and responsi
ble children and adolescents.
At the heart of this vision is the
research-based framework of
“developmental assets,” factors
that are critical for young peo
• jaie’s successful growth and
j development.
Z The framework identifies 40
building blocks that all children
and adolescents need in order to
up healthy, responsible and
{Scaring.
;*s The more assets young people
the more they engage
‘ ■
■
• ' ____
Council on Youth connects family and community
; By Laura Lavezzo
f Lifestyle Editor
The Forsyth County Council on
? Youth has formed a partnership
}•■ which is vital to the future suc-
Ji« cess of the community’s children,
j Thanks to a grant from the state
funded agency Family
• Connection, the Council on Youth
'< is taking a proactive approach to
deal with problems facing the
county’s children - everything
from the use of illegal substances
among teens to increasing the rate
hos immunization among
preschoolers.
: *, . At a luncheon held last October,
the Council presented the results
of its needs assessment and its
strategic plan which was devel
oped in the face of those needs.
Guest speaker Juanita Blount-
Clark, the statewide director of
Family Connection, said the
agency was founded in 1991 as a
means “to support families and
nurture and develop our children.”
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- A-i
ARTS & COMMUNITY
J&RSYTH’S fUTURE ■
KuAdinfrPartnerihipy
for Healthy Youth//
Healthy Cownusullet/
in positive behaviors, such as
volunteering and succeeding in
school. Young people who expe
rience more of these assets are
more likely to grow up caring,
competent and responsible.
In her address to the crowd of
representatives from the local
public and private agencies of
• Forsyth County, Blount-Clark
said the school system cannot be
entirely responsible for maintain-
I
66
The school system
cannot be entirely
responsible...
99
ing a happy and
safe place for
i children to live.
> “If the condi
tions children
have to live in, to
go through to get
to the schools, is
not a healthy
environment,
they won’t be able to grow into
creative, productive contributors
of society,” she said. Family
Connection incorporates every
aspect of the community -
churches, local businesses,
schools and other government
offices - and places the responsi
bility of developing and maintain
ing a good quality of life on them.
Blount-Clark, who has 21 years
The fewer assets they have, the
more likely they are to engage in
risk-taking behaviors, such as
alcohol and other drug use, anti
social behavior, violence and oth
ers. This important relationship
between developmental assets
and choices has been document
ed for all types of youth, regard
less of age, gender, geographical
region, town size or race.
Building assets is a long-term
commitment from families, insti
tutions and communities to take
action to help young people suc
ceed.
Forsyth County Schools intro
duced this concept to teams from
schools on Jan. 15. The teams
created action plans with long
term goals based on the develop
mental assets. We need the
“whole” community to become
involved in building assets for a
healthy community and healthy
youth.
For information on asset-build
ing and setting up a presentation
for your organization, call Susie
LeMieux Brookshire, prevention
specialist, at (770) 887-7705.
of experience in health services
program development, works for
the state Department of Human
Resources with Family
Connection and the Georgia
Policy Council for Children and
Families.
According to
Council
President
Marlene
Hendricks and
Coordinator
Elizabeth
Cooke, who
reported some
startling statistics about Forsyth
County youth, the four main tar
gets of the strategic plan involve
decreasing the rate of teen preg
nancy, eliminating substance
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PTA Reflections Photo/submittied
Forsyth County Early Childhood PTA will host its second annual Kids’ Expo on Saturday, April 17, ht
South Forsyth High School. If your business or organization would like to donate door prizes or pur
chase a table, call Sondra Gross at (770) 781 -4806. Space is limited. Above, Gail Rogers, Reflections
chairperson for the Forsyth County Early Childhood PTA, is shown with her Reflections winners.
Reflections is a program of the National PTA, celebrating arts in education. From left, Arden Fraser,
Hunter Rogers, Austin Fraser,
Alana Abadie and Trevor
Lunsford each won recognition
in the areas of literature, photog
raphy and visual arts.
abuse issues, dealing with delin
quent behavior and decreasing the
dropout rate.
The Council’s goals for the next
five years include increasing the
rate of graduation from high
school; establishing a desire
among teens to abstain from sexu
al activity; increasing the readi
ness level of small children about
to enter school; and removing
criminal activity from the youth
scene as much as possible. These
goals are listed in the Council’s
brochure, which was designed by
a student at Piedmont Learning
Center.
For more information on the
Council on Youth’s collaborative
effort with Family Connection,
call (770) 205-1701.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, M»rch 28.1999 I
Come worship with us!
‘fto'Vbyftv (/Iwi/idv
Meeting at Mashburn School
Now offering F/?££ Bible studies.
Topics include:
•What the Bible says about marriage and divorce.
•The purpose and meaning of the local church.
•Why do people suffer?
•How to deal with temptation.
•Knowing God's purpose in my life.
Ca// for a complete listing. 30 topics in all!
Choose individual studies or complete sets.
(770) 889-7181
Worship 11 AM - Sunday School 9:45
Nursery available.
I
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