PTC Program on Social Media Featuring Laurie Wolk and Jerry Crisci
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 9:30am
SHS Little Theatre

What's "Like" Got to Do With It?
Learn how to help your child be responsible and confident in this digital age. Please join us to hear Laurie Wolk* (SHS class of '87) talk about raising confident kids in the digital age. She will discuss the challenges that both you and your kids face in today's 24/7-connected world and show you that by creating simple rules, role modeling the behavior you want to see and developing social and emotional skills we can help our kids to make confident and compassionate decisions. Her presentation will provide you the tools to take charge of your family's digital life.

Look Before You "Like"
Jerry Crisci, Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation and Co-Director of the Center for Innovation, will explain Scarsdale School's existing policies concerning technology, including the soon-to-be-introduced Social Media Policy. Hear about the rapidly changing landscape at school and beyond the classroom walls. Questions are welcome. 

*About Laurie Wolk
Laurie Wolk is the antidote to our digitally overloaded world. With over a decade of experience as an educator, motivational speaker and the author of the best-selling book on Amazon, Girls Just Want to Have Likes, she counsels parents and kids of all ages about how to build character, develop social and emotional skills, and form real-life connections. She helps people grow as individuals and as a family by helping them communicate more effectively, face challenges and by encouraging self-reflection. With an upbeat and fresh approach, she shows people how to consume a balanced digital-diet so that they can actively engage in the world around them. Wolk is the creator of the digital detox "digitox" box and writes curriculum for schools and corporations. She earned her Coaching Certificate from the Martha Beck Institute and obtained a degree in Psychology from Emory University. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Westchester Children's Museum and for the Girls Leadership Institute, where she also teaches. She lives in Westchester with her husband, three children, and a dog.

The program is now available for viewing on SPS-TV Cablevision Ch. 77 and Verizon Ch. 27.  Please follow this link to watch the video on demand or follow the link to the Scarsdale Public Schools TV webpage to check upcoming air dates.

Film Screening and Discussion

Tuesday, November 18, 2014:
Pride Student Survey Results
Presented by Chris Griffin, Assistant Principal SHS
This program will review the survey data on substance abuse, including marijuana, alcohol and prescription drug usage as well as student perceptions. The data were collected from 1246 students in grades 9-12 this past March. There will be a discussion on how the data will be used to develop prevention efforts in our schools and our community.
Follow this link to the video.

Thursday, November 6, 2014:
A Path Appears Community Lecture
Featuring Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
This Scarsdale husband and wife team will discuss their new book, A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity. Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times columnist, is often called the "reporter's reporter" for his human rights advocacy and his efforts to give a voice to the voiceless. WuDunn, the first Asian-American reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive and best-selling author. She works with entrepreneurs in new media, media technology, and social enterprise at a small investment banking boutique in New York City. Their most recent book discusses philanthropic innovators across the U.S. and around the world who are using research, evidence-based strategies, and brilliant ideas of their own to fight some of the twenty-first century's most intractable problems: poor early-childhood education, sex trafficking, inner-city violence, poverty and malnutrition, homelessness, and many others.

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2013-14:

Tuesday, April 8, 2014:
Listen . . . Imagine . . . Build
Presented by KD&G Architects
KG&D has been listening to students, parents, administrators and teachers in our schools. They have incorporated our 21st century educational vision while evaluating the existing spaces and programs. This active and creative process is in midstream. KG&D will present imaginative spaces and specific proposals for our seven Scarsdale Schools. The ability to fix existing building issues and re-imagine our space is exciting but potentially costly. The more the community understands about the district needs and the cost, the better informed choices we can make for our future. Please join us for this exciting presentation and discussion.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014:
The Technology-Infused Education: Visions of the Classrooms of Today and Tomorrow
Presented by Jerry Crisci
Follow this link to the video.

Friday, January 10, 2014:
Book Discussion of The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch
View Flyer for more details.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013:
Is New York State's "Race To The Top" Education Plan Dragging Scarsdale Down?
How State Educational Mandates Affect Our Children, Our Community, Our Taxes and Our Future.
Panelists Amy Paulin, Assemblywoman, Michael McDermott, SMS Principal, Trudy Moses, Educator, and Michael McGill, Superintendent
Watch overview and panel discussion on demand or download the PowerPoint presentation.

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2012-13:

Thursday, April 18, 2013:
The Food-Immune Connection: How Food Can Cause Inflammation and Damage your Metabolism
Featuring Dr. Susan Blum
Spring 2013 Lecture Press Release, Spring 2013 Lecture Poster

Wednesday, January 16, 2013:
Social Media and Our Kids’ Online Lives
Presented by Jerry Crisci, Director of Technology, and Deena Paradiso, Popham House Counselor
Experts will share practical parenting advice for navigating the digital age with your kids.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012:
Unconditional Parenting—Beyond Bribes and Threats
Featuring Alfie Kohn, renowned education and parenting critic
Follow this link to the flyer.

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2011-12:

Thursday, April 19, 2012:
The Importance of Sleep
Featuring Dr. Ray Lightstone 
Are you aware that not getting enough sleep can limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems? Learn more at the PTC spring meeting. Dr. Ray Lightstone, the founder of Westchester Psychotherapists for Social Responsibility and Anxiety Specialists of Westchester and colleagues will speak on this topic. Dr. Lightstone and colleagues will discuss healthy sleep habits and how they can aid better learning, prevention and early detection of sleep problems and strategies. For more information, go to http://www.anxietyandstressrelief.net/

Tuesday, January 17, 2012:
Study Habits for Disorganized Kids
Featuring Marjorie Najac, SMS Cooper House Counselor
My child seems so disorganized, what can I do?
With so little time, how can my child work smarter, not harder?
What study skills should I be reinforcing at home?
What's the best way to study for a test? Ms. Najac will answer these and many other questions about how to help you child establish good study habits, time management and organizational skills and continue them throughout their academic careers.

Thursday, November 17, 2011:
Study Skills in a Digital Age: What Are the Best Technologies to Use at Home to Enhance Your Child's Education in a Meaningful Way?

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2010-11:

Thursday, April 28, 2011
Raising Resilient Children and Adolescents
Featuring Robert H. Brooks, Ph.D.
Dr. Robert Brooks, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, will describe factors that help children and adolescents deal more effectively with stress and pressure and become resilient. He will also discuss (a) the importance of empathy in understanding and responding to children, (b) why some children from birth have a more difficult time developing a positive self-image and resilience than other children, (c) the importance of identifying and reinforcing each child or adolescent's "islands of competence," and (d) specific strategies for nurturing self-discipline, responsibility, caring, hope, and resilience in our children. 

Thursday, April 7, 2011:
Film Screening and Discussion: Race to Nowhere
Moderated by Sara Buchdahl Levine, board-certified specialist in adolescent medicine
For additional information and resources, please use the links below:
Race to Nowhere Suggestions
Race to Nowhere Other Information Sources
Parent and HS Stress Relievers
Homework - You Can Make A Difference
Jumping Out of the Rat Race 

Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Helping Our Children Develop Resilience As They Face Life's Stressful Events
Featuring Maria Trozzi, M.Ed., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine, Director of the Nationally renowned Good Grief Program at Boston Medical Center, consultant to the Child Development Unit at Children's Hospital, and author 
Join Trozzi for an interactive evening where she will explore the typical and not-so-typical speed bumps that children and adolescents encounter growing up in 2011. When children are necessarily facing these speed bumps, parents often search for words, a developmentally informed approach to guiding their children. The "race to get ahead", to compete, to do one's best can create stress for both parents and their children. Trozzi's refreshing and honest approach focuses on developmentally informed strategies that are often counter-intuitive for parents but help children master the coping skills that promote resilience.
Some of the topics she will address:

• Dealing with life's disappointments: when our children hurt, what to say and not to say
• To push or not to push: the race to get ahead and what it means to your child
• The world news events: navigating them for any aged child
• My daddy moved out: finding the child's voice during stressful family times
• Grandpa no longer remembers my name: when illness strikes a family member
• When Rover is old and tired: talking about death with any aged child 

Thursday, November 18, 2010
Study of Scarsdale's Students
Featuring Dr. Suniya Luthar, Professor at Columbia University Teacher's College
Esteemed professor and author Suniya Luthar has been studying Scarsdale students and will share her preliminary findings as they relate to her 15+ years of research findings on children of "affluence." Dr. Luthar will present her findings on the challenges confronting families -- particularly mothers -- in bringing up children in highly competitive, fast-paced environments. Her talk will be followed by a brief question and answer session.

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2009-10:

Thursday, April 15, 2010
Growing Up Online
Featuring Rachel Dretzin, award-winning PBS producer of Growing Up Online and Digital Nation and Jerry Crisci, head of Information Technology, Scarsdale School District
Just how radically is the internet transforming childhood? Panelists discuss how to maximize the benefits and mitigate the issues of our kids' use of technology. 

Wednesday, January 6, 2010
How to Help Your Child Stress Less
Panelists Geraldine Greene, Executive Director of SFCS, Jennifer Turetzky, Heathcote Psychologist, Sara Levine, specialist in adolescent medicine, Ernie Collabolletta, SHS Psychologist, Sue Peppers, SHS Assistant Principal 
Hear a panel of noted Scarsdale professionals discuss the issues and symptoms of stress at each age, and how to address them. 

Thursday, November 19, 2009:
21st Century Kids: Too Much or Too Little Freedom?
Featuring Ron Taffel
Kids want their freedom and fun, to be sure, but they also want to feel more secure. Now more than ever, the character we instill in our kids and teens matters more than 'the gear.' The effective guidance we provide matters more than 'the stuff.' The family we create as a shelter from the storm matters more than "things."
Dr. Taffel will describe a new way to understand what kids of all ages need now to feel safe, secure, and happy in these times. Learn to: 
* Increase children and teens' resilience in tough times
* Lower child and family stress 
* Lessen endless negotiating and entitlement
* Set limits that are actually enforceable
* Help kids open up about what really matters
* Give advice to 'oh-so-sophisticated' kids
Dr Taffel is the author of numerous books and articles on parenting and child rearing, including The Second Family, Parenting By Heart and Nurturing Good Children Now. He consults to countless schools and community organizations nationwide, serves as the chair of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy, has a private practice in New York and has been featured in The New York Times, on 20/20, Dateline, The Today Show, Primetime Live, and Larry King.