Every other year, 5th-12th graders in the greater Toledo, Ohio area participate in the Lucas County Youth Survey. The 2010 survey is the 12th to be conducted since 1990.  23,372 students from 230 public and private schools were involved in the survey.  The results are in, and The Community Partnership is releasing them to the public!

The release of the results will take place today (Thursday) at 3:00 p.m. at the Main Public Library in downtown Toledo.  I encourage everyone to attend, but have no fear, because we will release an abbreviated version in the very near future.  I hope we are able to break down the results and give a report regarding the trends in Oregon and Jerusalem Twp.

Please stay tuned…

On March 6, 2010, we held our 3^rd annual Amazing Day of Play event at the Eastern YMCA. This event is a free, family-friendly event for children ages 3-10 that explores activities related to the 40 developmental assets. Some of our activities this year included an inflatable bounce house, fossil fun with Imagination Station, animals with the Toledo Zoo, arts and crafts, make-your-own healthy snack, and story time with the Oregon Library. We hosted over 100 kids and parents and everyone had an amazing day. We can’t wait to start planning next year’s event!

If you would like to view a selection of pictures from this year’s Amazing Day of Play, click here!

Jeff Smith interviewed Deb Chany (Executive Director of SCAT) and Dave Bensch about the upcoming drug drop-off - Saturday, March 13, 2010.

Check it out:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/video?id=7316616

There will be more commentary on this event, but I wanted to post the flyer today:

As a follow up from the Technology and your Teen Community Forum held at Clay High School last night, Danielle passed along a great website for kids and parents to visit.

http://www.athinline.org/

From their website:

“The Web and cell phones help us communicate, connect and learn in ways we never could before, but they’ve also forever changed how we interact with others. Things we used to share in person – and in private – can now be broadcast to thousands, instantly. Sometimes we type things we would never say to someone’s face. As a result, new issues like forced sexting, textual harassment and cyberbullyiing have emerged, which now affect a majority of young people in the U.S.

MTV’s A Thin Line campaign was developed to empower you to identify, respond to, and stop the spread of digital abuse in your life and amongst your peers. The campaign is built on the understanding that there’s a “thin line” between what may begin as a harmless joke and something that could end up having a serious impact on you or someone else. We know no generation has ever had to deal with this, so we want to partner with you to help figure it out. On-air, online and on your cell, we hope to spark a conversation and deliver information that helps you draw your own digital line.”

For those of you that attended the forum we would welcome any comments!

I wanted to post this before the end of the week.  I will elaborate more in the near future.  Last week we sent out a survey asking for speaker topics at our coalition meetings.  Here are the top 6 topics:

• Technology and Your Teen (Facebook, Myspace, etc) (11 votes)
• Over the Counter Drug Abuse (11 votes)
• Law Enforcement Update (11 votes)
• Prescription Drug Education (11 votes)
• Underage Drinking (10 votes)
• Alternative Activities for Youth (9 votes)

We will be trying to line up speakers on these topics at our upcoming coalition meetings.  Please stay tuned.  If you have any suggestions on who could speak on these topics, please let us know by commenting on this post!  Thanks.

The Oregon City Schools is hosting an informational forum on social networking on March 1, 2010.  The forum will begin at 7:00pm in the Clay High School Library.  Our goal is to educate parents of K-12 students about sexting, Facebook, MySpace and what many children are doing on their phones and computers.  If you think your child is too young, you might be surprised.  Representatives from the Oregon Police Department and the Lucas County Prosecutor’s office will share examples of how students put themselves in danger using their computers and cell phones.  District teacher, Amy Sweet, will show parents how to see what their children are doing and how to help protect their children from online predators.  If you are a parent and not overly familiar with social networking, you won’t want to miss this informational forum.  It will help you become better acquainted with the technology your sons/daughters are growing up with as part of their daily lives.

For questions about the forum please contact Nathan Quigg, Technology Director of Oregon City Schools, via e-mail at nquigg@oregoncs.org .

This from the Metro Press:

“The Community Partnership, through the Underage Access/Law Enforcement Task Force, will provide two-hour Responsible Alcohol Sales Trainings for anyone who sells alcoholic beverages (bar staff, store clerks, managers, etc.) March 4 or March 9 from 10 a.m. to noon.

The training will be conducted at The Community Partnership’s offices, 5902 Southwyck Blvd., Suite 100.  Upon completion of the training, participants will receive certification and have a better understanding of Ohio’s alcohol-related laws, as well as the issues of underage drinking and excessive intoxication.

The fee for training is $10 per person.  For more information or to register, call Danielle Stratton at 419.866.3611, ext. 122.  The Community Partnership is a coalition dedicated to creating an environment in which substance abuse is impacted in a positive way.”

For more information about this training or other upcoming trainings, please visit: www.communityprevention.org.

Come join us at our upcoming event:

We were experiencing some technical difficulties on Friday, so we are back in action today - thanks for your patience!!!