Calendar of Events for new school year announced

At its first meeting of the 2009-2010 school year, Youth Connect's steering committee announced the following events, all of which are free and open to the public. For more specific information about any of the listings below, please contact youthconnect@hotmail.com.

• Valerie Johnson and Mary Webber will serve as co-chairs for a discussion of Michael Thompson's book, Best of Friends, Worst of Enemies prior to the author's October 13th visit to Sewickley Academy, where he will talk on the Complex Social World of Childhood in the morning, followed by Surviving the College Admissions Process in the evening. Details on the date and location of the book discussion will be posted here as they develop.

• October 22nd is the date of Sewickley's first-ever Community "Family Dinner", an idea that Susan Kaminski is sharing with families throughout the Quaker Valley communities. "It's a night to set aside all other obligations, and put our families first. It will be a chance for parents and children to reconnect with each other over the dinner table--either their own, or at a restaurant, or other dining option. The important thing is the conversation and connecting, not the location, or even the menu!" Details of the Community Family Dinner will be forthcoming, but mark your calendars today for Thursday, October 22nd.

• Dr. Christy Clapper is organizing another Youth Summit, to take place on Saturday, 14 November 2009 at Sewickley Academy The theme, Know More, Fear Less, speaks to the unease that many parents feel when confronted with the emerging technology around social networking. Cole Camplese, from Penn State University, will share his expert knowledge in a keynote address, which will be followed by age-appropriate break-out sessions that will include demonstrations of popular programs and websites, discussions on online games and gaming addiction, and a debriefing roundtable at the close of the event. The summit runs from 9 am until noon; further details to follow.

• Looking into 2010, Jessie Barnes and Susan Kaminski will co-host an event investigating the causes of Teen Stress, and strategies for dealing with it, on Thursday, 21 January; Donna Bednarek, PhD, director of the Psychology Department at Laughlin Center, will present on Living with Divorce--a look at how families can function in a healthy manner--on Thursday, 25 February at Laughlin Center; QVSD's Caroline Johns will lead an event on Healthy Boundaries, at a daytime event on Wednesday, March 17th; and local father, Mark Gensheimer, will continue an important discussion in April on Underage Drinking that was begun last spring. More specifics will be announced as they develop.