NPC in the 413

Children and Grief

In this episode NPC sat down with the lovely Shelly Lenn, Bereavement Coordinator for Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice and The Garden: A Center for Grieving Children and Teens.

Grief isn't something our culture is always comfortable addressing, especially when it comes to children and teens. Shelly sat down with us to share how The Garden serves youth and their families and offered compassionate advice and tips for anyone wishing to know more about grief and how to help loved ones who may be experiencing grief. 

Listen in to learn more about this local treasure; the services they provide, how you can support their work, and a bit about how children process grief in comparison to adults. 

Shelly Bathe Lenn came to The Garden: A Center for Grieving Children and Teens as a volunteer facilitator in 2002 where she worked in the young teens, teens and littles’ groups. She became the Program Coordinator in 2004 and has been Director since 2006. 

Shelly holds a Master’s of Education (M.Ed.) and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (C.A.G.S.) in school counseling from University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelor’s degree in women’s studies and education from the University of California Santa Cruz. She lives in Longmeadow with her husband, David and fourteen-year-old son, Evan. In her free time she enjoys the beach, trail running and painting.

This podcast would not be possible without the generous support of Northampton Community Television. NCTV provided the equipment, expertise, and technical support necessary to get NPC in the 413 off the ground. To learn more about them please visit: http://northamptontv.org/

To learn more about The Garden and t support their work, please find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gardennoho/ or on their website: www.cooleydickinson.org/thegarden

Resources mentioned in this podcast have been shared on NPC's Facebook page. To view and download visit here:https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonPrevents/

They can be found on our timeline from 4/25/19 or in our photos. 

 

 

Vaping and Nicotine: Why this Trend is Capturing Our Kids

In this episode NPC sits down with Melinda Calianos, Director of the Hampshire Franklin Tobacco-Free Community Partnership to give us the facts on vaping: what is it? what do vapes contain? why are kids picking up the habit of a device designed originally to help smokers quit? how can adults talk to kids about this trend before it becomes a life-long habit? and if you are a teen who wants to quit where can you get help?

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

https://truthinitiative.org/quitecigarettes

https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2019/01/24/the-dangers-of-vaping-monica-bharel

https://teen.smokefree.gov/

Helpline within Massachusetts:

1-800- QUIT - NOW

As always a special thanks to Northampton Community Television for their equipment, tech support, and advice. NCTV is a community treasure. Learn more about them here: http://northamptontv.org/

 

Rachel Simmons on Parenting, boundary setting, and technology

Rachel Simmons is the author of Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy and Fulfilling Lives, and the New York Times bestsellers Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl. As an educator, Rachel teaches girls and women skills to build their resilience, amplify their voices, and own their courage so that they—and their relationships—live with integrity and health.

The cofounder of national nonprofit Girls Leadership, she is an experienced curriculum writer and educator. She is currently the leadership development specialist at the Wurtele Center for Leadership at Smith College, and is Girls Research Scholar in Residence at The Hewitt School in New York. Rachel has served as a national spokesperson for the Always #LikeAGirl and Keds Brave Life Project campaigns, and consults nationally on women’s professional development.

Rachel was the host of the PBS television special, “A Girl’s Life,” and her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Atlantic, Slate, and The New York Times. Rachel is a regular contributor to Good Morning America and appears often in the national media. Odd Girl Out was adapted into a highly acclaimed Lifetime television movie. Rachel lives in Western Massachusetts with her daughter.

On this episode NPC was fortunate to to have the opportunity to sit down with the delightful Ms. Simmons and learn more about what she has to offer families and young people as they navigate life and relationships.

This podcast would not be possible without Northampton Community Television. Check them out here: http://northamptontv.org/

High School Isn't Working For Me...Now What?

Sometimes learning at a traditional high school just doesn't work for all students. When this happens, what options does a student have outside of dropping out? 

In this episode of NPC in the 413 I sat down with five students from the Mt. Tom Academy on the Holyoke Community College Campus to find out how they managed to answer this question for themselves. They share their stories of how they found Mt. Tom, how it has impacted their learning and self esteem, and their goals for the future.

A special thanks to Barbara Cheney, Lead Teacher at Mt. Tom Academy, for opening her classroom to NPC and for creating such a warm and welcoming space for learning to take place!

And lastly, this podcast would not be possible without the help of Northampton Community Television. NCTV provides us with the equipment, technical support, and other services that are indispensable. You can learn more about them here: http://northamptontv.org/ 

Further Resources:

 

Pursuing Social and Emotional Development Through a Racial Equity Lens: A Call to Action - The Aspen Institute

https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/pursuing-social-and-emotional-development-through-a-racial-equity-lens-a-call-to-action/

 

 

New Study Suggests That A Teacher’s Impact On Student Behavior More Important Than Test Scores | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2018/10/23/new-study-suggests-that-a-teachers-impact-on-student-behavior-more-important-than-test-scores/

 

A Playbook: 7 Moves for Teachers to Create Happier Healthier Classrooms

https://www.christenseninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/How-to-create-higher-performing-happier-classrooms-in-seven-moves.pdf

It has a life of it's own: A soundbite

Rebekah Bardwell discusses how eating disorders take on a life of their own after a while. 

It's Like an Abusive Relationship: A Soundbite

Rebekah Bardwell, Assistant Vice President at Walden Behavioral Care likens an eating disorder to an abusive relationship.

Clean Plate Club: A Soundbite

In this clip Rebekah Bardwell, Assistant Vice President at Walden Behavioral Care discusses ways well meaning families can unintentially encourage or perpetuate disordered eating. 

Dieting: A Gateway Drug?

This episode dissects Eating disorders, dieting, disordered eating, risk factors, treatments, and how a well-entrenched disorder is very similar to a substance use disorder.

Rebekah Bardwell of Walden Behavioral Care ( full bio in podcast) sits down with us to define all of the various forms of eating disorders (ED). Though traditionally a disorder that develops during adolescence, some EDs strike at infancy, and others that can crop up in mid-life. She also shares ways for families to reduce the risks for their kids and how to approach your child if you suspect they may have an ED.

 

As always this podcast could not be possible without the wonderous support of NCTV!!! Check them out here:

http://northamptontv.org/

And check NPC out too 

www.northamptonprevents.org

 

Don't do anything stupid...

In this episode NPC in the 413 sits down with Diane Fedorchak, Director of the BASICS program at UMass Amherst. Diane has worked in the health education department at UMass Amherst since 2000, specializing in alcohol and other drug abuse prevention.

She is Director of the BASICS Program, coordinator of the Fresh & Sober program and an active member of the Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking, and a member of the NPC Steering Committee.

In this episode she shares how the program works, what types of conversations parents and guardians should consider having with their colleg-bound kids, and how open lines of communication are essential. 

 

As always, a special thanks to NCTV for making this podcast possible!

 

Learn more about them here: http://northamptontv.org/

And check out our website and Facebook page:

http://northamptonprevents.org/

https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonPrevents/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

 

 

Saving Her Son

In this episode Maryann Eckert, mother of Aaron Pitrat, talks about her son. She describes how he was as a child, her hopes and dreams for him, and how, when she discovered he had become addicted to heroin, she didn't know what she was dealing with. 

Many thanks to Northampton Community Television for making this podcast possible, and to Maryann for be so giving of her time and for her willingness to share her story in the hope that it may help other families.