Karyn Gordon, Psychologist

Date: Wednesday, January 20th from 8 to 9 PM

School: Stonehaven ES, 875 Stonehaven Avenue

Topic: Motivating Your Kids & Teens

Alyson Schafer, Therapist

Date: Monday, February 29th from 7 to 8 PM

School: Bogart PS, 855 College Manor Drive

Topic: The Joys and Fears of Pre-Teen & Teen Years

Michelle Cassidy, Mental Health Lead

Date: Wednesday, March 23rd from 7 to 8 PM

School: Armitage Village PS, 125 Savage Road

Topic: Mindfulness Techniques for Children & Teens

Gary Direnfeld, Social Worker

Date: Wednesday, April 13th from 7 to 8 PM

School: Rogers PS, 256 Rogers Road

Topic: Raising Resilient Children & Teens

Speaker Series for Parents We are very excited to present 4 fantastic speakers from January through April

2016. We hope that you will join us for all 4 talks, but if you can only make it for one

or two, that’s fine too! Funding has been provided by Parent Reaching Out (PRO)

Grants and parental engagement funds. Talks are for PARENTS at the 4 Newmarket

schools. Please see info on all 3 pages. Hope to see you at all 4 events!

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Dr. Karyn Gordon is a leading relationship and parenting expert, motivational speaker, best-selling author, media personality (“Cityline”) and founder of dk Leadership. Dr. Karyn has listened to over 10,000 hours of teens “spilling their guts.” She knows what makes them tick and how parents can effectively motivate and inspire them to reach their greatest potential. She is passionate about helping young people develop a “love of learning” and wants to empower parents and teachers with the tools to ignite this love! Dr. Karyn is a firm believer that self-discipline and motivation are 2 of the most critical skills young people should develop. In this one-hour playful and pragmatic keynote, you will learn the 4 different types of motivation, how different parenting styles and learning styles impact motivation, the importance of personality traits as they relate to motivation, and 7 practical strategies to inspire and motivate your kids/teens. Alyson Schafer is a therapist, best-selling author, media personality (“Marilyn Dennis Show”) and parenting expert who empowers families by sharing her principles, rules and tools for raising happy and healthy kids. Her style is fast, witty, warm and engaging. As a mother who has survived the teen years, Alyson speaks candidly about the joys and challenges that face pre-teens, teens and parents during the unique transitions from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. During this session, parents will learn brain-based research on teens and their behavior, interpersonal solutions to teen problems, a refreshing understanding of how great teens can be, and a reality check on the true fears for which we need to be prepared.

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Michelle Cassidy is the Mental Health Lead for the York Region District School Board. This means that her job is to help our students to be mentally healthy. She regularly talks to students and staff about what needs to be happening in schools for them to feel well-supported and mentally healthy in a safe and welcoming environment. For this talk, Michelle will focus on the practice of mindfulness, which could be beneficial to teens by helping them cultivate skills for concentration and impulse control. Many researchers and educators believe that mindfulness can help pre-teen and teens navigate the social-emotional challenges of adolescence. Gary Direnfeld is a social worker with more than 33 years of experience working with parents, teens and young children. In his private practice, he provides counselling, mediation and assessment services on most matters of family life. He is known for his refreshingly frank approach, remarkable insight and wisdom. He works with people from all walks of life, cultures and ethnicities. He also has a weekly parenting column in his city’s daily newspaper. For this session, Gary will be talking about raising resilient children and teens. Building resilience, which is the ability to adapt well in times of adversity, trauma, tragedy and/or threats, can help children manage stress and feelings of anxiety and uncertainty. We can all learn something about resilience, coping and thriving.

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All 4 events are FREE, but we ask that you RSVP at www.eventbrite.com to help us plan better.

High school students will provide free babysitting. Please indicate your needs when you RSVP using Eventbrite. If you need to change your mind about babysitting needs, please return to Eventbrite to edit your tickets to help us plan.

School Council members will be collecting funds to support local not-for-profit organizations:

Stonehaven ~ Inn from the Cold Community Meal

Bogart ~ Southlake Hospital Pediatric Oncology Group

Armitage ~ Belinda’s Place

Rogers ~ Newmarket Food Pantry

Thanks for your generous support!

Sap Speaker Series for Parents