Watertown SEPAC - January Offering

JANUARY 8, 2015

6:30 pm

Watertown Middle School Auditorium 

The Watertown SEPAC is proud to offer

The Five Horsemen of Anger Management

Presented by Dr. David Perna and Dr. Elizabeth Barcewitz

This presentation focuses on the challenges to an individual's thought process that lead to anger episodes and interventions that tend to remedy these major concerns: Cognitive rumination, Poor reality testing, Impulsive decision-making, Cognitive Rigidity, and Pseudo-Paranoia.

Dr. Perna is a licensed psychologist who has an expertise in the treatment of child/adolescent anger management and its relationship to learning challenges.  He is the owner of Copernican Clinical Services, a group practice with offices in Lexington and Newton, MA. He works with families, schools, and various professionals in addition to running specialized anger management groups. He maintains an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School and is a Clinical Associate at McLean Hospital, the medical school’s largest psychiatric teaching facility.  He is the former Director of the Child/Adolescent Anger Management Program at McLean Hospital.

Dr. Barcewicz is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in working with children, adolescents, and families. She is currently at theBrookline Community Mental Health Center working with children with a wide range of presentations. Dr. Barcewicz co-leads the Adolescent Anger Management Groups with Dr. Perna

*Childcare and refreshments will be provided

Kindness Month

The Lowell School is working on growing in kindness this month.  November 13th was World Kindness Day but every day can be a Random Acts of Kindness day!  Check out the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation's #ShareAMonster project.  There is also a calendar of ideas for spreading kindness.  Consider becoming a RAKtivist like Bert from Pittsburg who shared "Kindness can be a smile, a kind word, or a helping hand. It is simply the act of caring for each other, without judgement."

Watertown SEPAC - November & December Meetings

The following information was distributed via SEPAC's mailing list:

The Watertown Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) is an all volunteer pro-active, non-profit organization which serves as a resource for families who have children with special needs. We strive for respect, understanding, and an appropriate education for all children while encouraging full participation in community life. We sponsor informational monthly meetings, discussion groups and work closely with administration on all matters related to special education.

SEPAC IS PROUD TO OFFER

FIRST AID AND CPR FOR CAREGIVERS

Thursday November 13, 2014 at 6:30 – 8:30 PM in the Cunniff School library, 246 

First Aid for Caregivers presented by Mr. Richard Samaria of the Belmont Fire 

This two part workshop trains and certifies caregivers in First Aid

Childcare and refreshments will be provided.

&

Thursday December 11, 2014 at 6:30 – 8:30 PM in the Cunniff School library, 246 Warren St.

CPR for Caregivers presented by Mr. Richard Samaria of the Belmont Fire 

This two part workshop trains and certifies caregivers in CPR.

Childcare and refreshments will be provided.

We kindly request that you commit to both sessions to receive your first aid and CPR certifications. Class and certification cost is being covered by the Watertown SEPAC.

Please email Watertownsepac@gmail.com to reserve your place.

Kindness Elves

Came across a new blog this weekend:  Imagination Tree and read about an interesting idea, replacing "Elf on the Shelf" with "Kindness Elves".  See what you think~

"Kindness Elves: An Alternative Elf on the Shelf Tradition"

Why Teaching Kindness in Schools Is Essential to Reduce Bullying

Worthwhile read: blog piece on the effects of teaching kindness in schools.  There is a long list of benefits~

Why Teaching Kindness in Schools Is Essential to Reduce Bullying

Helping Kids and Teens Cope with Anxiety: A Workshop for Parents and Guardians

Link to EDCO Collaborative
November 5, 2014
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
     Anxiety is the most common emotional problem in children and teens, and can sidetrack youngsters from learning, making friends and having fun. Does your child worry too much and/or seem intense and reactive? Does your child insist on doing things perfectly or get upset about making mistakes? Does your child get nervous around people or show reluctance to try new things? Or have meltdowns over little things?
     During this presentation, the presenter will discuss the differences between normal anxiety and problematic anxiety, red flags and warning signs, what you can do as a parent, and ready-to-use strategies to help your child. Other topics surrounding anxiety such as worry, shyness, separation anxiety, test anxiety, perfectionism, rituals and others will also be included.

Presenter:  Aureen Pinto Wagner Ph.D.is a sought-after international speaker who presents workshops for parents, school professionals and clinicians in the treatment of anxiety. She specializes in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and has developed the child-friendly Worry Hill™ approach to making CBT accessible to youngsters. Dr. Wagner is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Audience:  Parents and Guardians of students of all ages
Fee:  No cost – participants may consider making a donation of $5 – $10 to help defray the workshop costs.
Location:  EDCO Collaborative, Bedford
Registration:  Please contact Dana at EDCO via email, dmullaley@edcollab.org, or by phone at 781-259-3445.

Me and My Community

This school year, Guidance and Library Sciences will continue in the tradition of co-teaching our guidance series for our Kindergarteners through 5th graders.  (Kudos to Ms. Steim, our amazing librarian!)  We will once again, start with our leaders in grades four and five, spending four weeks talking about friendships, how to approach diversity and differences, and ways to prevent bullying in our school.  Weaving through our discussions will be threads of kindness, courage, and community.  Please visit the Lowell Guidance website for more specifics about the "Me and My Community" series.

On the issue of diversity, I learned something rather interesting this summer while taking a course called "Evolution & Cognition".  There has been some research evidence that we are not wired to be racially biased, although many of us actively categorize people by race and culture.  When shown pictures of "people" in generic shirts and different skin colors, subjects sorted and stored (remembered) the individuals based on their skin tones.  When the pictures had different soccer team uniforms instead of generic shirts, subjects remembered the "people" by their teams, or affiliation/coalition, rather than skin color.  Given the evolutionary history of human, it has always been important to our survival to be able to distinguish if someone belongs to the same "group" as us and whether they are friend or foe.

If we learn to recognize ourselves as a community, whether in the form of a classroom, a grade, a school, a town, etc., we will perhaps put down barriers embedded in perceived differences and be more inclined to be interested and respectful in the differences between us.  Seeing ourselves as a community may also help us engage in civil discourse when conflicts arise and help us multiple our acts of kindness.