Parent Exploratory Group...

Parent Exploratory Group Meeting
May 23, 2002

Home of John and Judith Borland, Hershey

Introduction --
For this meeting of the Parent Exploratory Group (PEG) we assembled quietly in the living room of John and Judith Borland. It had been some time since PEG met in its traditional format and this small reunion became an intimate and comfortable mixture of some old faces and some new. Judy and I wish to thank you all for joining together with us.

How Are We Doing --
The interaction began around our regular discussion of where we are with our Affective Skills Community projects, what is working well and what could perhaps work better.

There was a substantial discussion of the Affective Skills Web Site. Once again there seemed to be an enthusiastic approval for the content and formatting of the site. It was explained that the web site was designed to be informative, but also approachable and inviting to all, a place where you don’t mind spending time, that you can relate to and with which you feel comfortable in placing your own stories and ideas.

One new parent shared with us the value of the web site for her and that she has printed out so many of the stories and articles.

It was decided, however, that the Affective Skills Web Site needs its own internet domain and to be made available on search engines. This advancement has been held in waiting pending assurance that the site has real value to its intended audiences and can be appropriately maintained. The general feeling was that the site has proven its worth and now needs to come into its own beyond simply our local DCTS community. It was identified that the Affective Skills Web Site has real value in its ability to help encourage and network with our evolving efforts in spreading affective skills education, but only if it can be easily shared via a shorter and more useable web address.

The Affective Skills Web Site, if easily available, has the potential to be used by school districts as a vehicle to help engender understanding of affective skills education and from which to showcase initiatives in affective skills being undertaken by school districts. This ability could vastly grow peer-to-peer mentoring between districts and help to develop and distribute active affective skills programming in our schools.

Work has already begun between Myles Miller and John Borland since this meeting to set up the Affective Skills Web Site with its own domain and to register it on search engines.

There were other ideas also put forward for the Affective Skills Web Site including the posting of excerpts from selected books on The “Readings and References” page and for an on-line discussion forum dedicated to affective skills and personal relationships.

While posting book excerpts would require permissions from publishers, it could do much to open some of the references we list to our community and increase interest in the selections.

It was indicated that a discussion forum could take the form of a dedicated chat space operating at scheduled times and with specific topics. We spoke of security and management of such sessions by a moderator. It was felt by the group that such an interactive on-line activity could invite additional participation by parents and friends who are less comfortable with or able to attend the face-to-face interactions afforded by PEG. We will pursue these ideas over time.

School Partners --
The meeting was then opened to the discussion of happenings among members and new ideas related to affective skills. Myles Miller led us in this segment with a description of our newest project, School Partners: Sharing the Bread. Myles provided a one-page handout illustrating the program’s goals and detailing the role of School Partner representatives.

The School Partners program is intended to involve interested volunteers among our parents and friends to partner with a core team made up of Larry Evans, Myles Miller and John Borland. The goal of this partnership is to gain access to and so introduce the value and benefits of affective skills education to faculty and administrators in the six area school districts served by DCTS.

The Susquehanna Township Experience --
This initiative builds on the efforts recently begun by Mr. Miller and involving Larry and John to bring the message of affective skills education to administrators at the Susquehanna Township School District. Myles related how he first contacted his former teacher at Susquehanna Township who is now the acting School Superintendent. Myles expressed in his message the profound impact of the DCTS Parent Seminar and “Personal and Social Responsibility” curriculum on his daughter, his wife and himself. He described the programs briefly, invited the district to consider them and to contact Larry or Connie Dembrowsky for additional information. Myles’ contact was then forwarded to the Director of Curriculum and Staff Development.

From this knock at the door resulted an invitation by Susquehanna Township for Larry, Myles and John to present the curriculums, their use at DCTS and their resulting benefits with students and parents. A meeting was held on April 17 with the Director of Curriculum and Staff Development, the assistant principal for the Susquehanna Township middle school and other administrators.

In the session the core team was able to educate and gain the interest of administrators regarding the power of these programs. They further related the benefits made possible by bringing together students, teachers and parents as dynamic partners around the common hub of affective skills and for the nurturing of sensitive, capable, well-balanced young adults within the student body.

As a result of this meeting and follow up contacts by Myles, Susquehanna Township has arranged to audit the DCTS programs and is scheduling serious discussions of affective skills programming at various of its upcoming district interactions. This includes a meeting of the professional education committee in June, a meeting of the Safe and Drug Free Schools Taskforce in October and with faculty meetings this fall.

Sharing the Bread --
The School Partners program is now working to replicate Myles’ accomplishments within the other five Dauphin County school districts. And success has already been forthcoming. School Partners has received opening commitments from parent volunteers in the Central Dauphin and Derry Township school districts. In fact additional team members to support these two districts came forward at the PEG meeting. There are also good prospects for School Partners volunteers in the Halifax Area and Lower Dauphin school districts and reasonable potentials for activity in the Middletown Area School District.

Myles went on to detail the process of getting a foot in the door at Susquehanna Township and maintaining support and follow up. He indicated that this work involves a somewhat careful balancing of contact efforts to avoid becoming a nuisance while, at the same time, maintaining a gentle, but persistent presence with administrative staff. The material, Myles stated, really sells itself once you get the attention of district administrators.

Core team members also strongly expressed that School Partner volunteers are never alone. The core team stands ready and willing to assist volunteers in making initial contacts to districts and with continuing support.

School Partners are Key --
The powerful key to success in this effort, however, lies with parents – our School Partners – speaking sincerely and directly to district administrators and demonstrating from their personal experiences the positive impact of affective skills education with their children and in their lives.

While there is simple logistical benefit in spreading this work among a team it is really the voice of caring parents coming to faculty and decision makers from outside the school system walls that School Partners is seeking to develop. It is indeed our parents who will open doors and ears and eyes to the vital importance of affective skills education in our districts with our kids. The message from Myles and the core team to our parents and friends was: you the volunteer and potential volunteer School Partners are so essential to the School Partners program in your district. We literally can’t do this without you.

The Future --
There ensured among us an interactive and broad-ranging discussion of the potential goals and objectives of the developing School Partners program. It was related from the Susquehanna Township experience that administrators initially saw affective skills programming as aiding with so-called problem students. The core team sought to expand this visioning to portray affective skills education as fundamental learning ground for all students as well as teachers and parents.

The goal of affective skills education is not just to react to personal problems that occur, but also to work more universally and responsibly to prevent problems by altering the prevailing patterns and attitudes within relationships from which such problems are bred.

Again, the Affective Skills Web Site was seen as potentially a valuable platform by which to foster peer interaction and mentoring in affective skills among the six Dauphin County school districts. The group began to explore the idea that, with a successful application of affective skills education in the Dauphin County districts, School Partners activities could conceivably expand into other school districts and even other outlets.

It might be possible, for example, to teach affective skills-based lessons to parents in day care centers, churches, or even stores and shops that cater to child care. Different ideas were also brought forward for bringing media coverage to these efforts once the School Partners program and its outcomes are more firmly established.

There was considerable feeling expressed that affective skills capability needs to become active in our educational systems well before the high school level. PEG members indicated this is necessary to help parents and teachers in culturing better personal environments with children at early ages and so to reduce the need to address unlearning poor attitudes and relationship skills. It was noted that Susquehanna Township was opting to begin affective skills education at he middle school level. There was also discussion of a program in anger management and interactive skills begun in the Derry Township School District at the elementary level.

Schools Need Affective Skills --
We all felt that our schools need a greater focus on the lessons being taught at DCTS. We recognized that bullying is no longer a secret, but has been labeled and made visible to us. The problem is most schools still have little or no structured means by which to effectively address the bullying problem. In fact much of the traditional response in our schools could even make bullying worse.

Affective skills are life skills that, we believe can change our schools and invite a significant positive impact in our communities, but first we must make use of the tools more generally available.

Affective Skills Aren’t Just for Schools --
In that vein John Borland spoke briefly about a new program he has begun at his place of employment with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. John has entered into a cooperative arrangement with the Pennsylvania Septage Management Association (PSMA) to help teach septic pumpers to educate homeowners in the proper operation and maintenance of their home wastewater systems.

On May 14 John partnered with PSMA at the first of six planned interactions statewide. The two-hour program developed by John utilized a combination of lecture, visuals, interactive demonstrations, and group exercises to transfer to 36 pumpers capability in affective skills. The program centered on the effective use of listening skills, speaking skills, professional demeanor and other forms of affective interpersonal capabilities to help educate homeowners by first creating an atmosphere of trust and rapport. From this resulting environment pumpers, as educators, can then impart and promote the use of appropriate technical content of value to homeowners in maintaining their individual wastewater systems.

John is also attempting to bring affective skills education to his agency as a part of staff development training. Much of our current education, John related, involves skills to help manage other people in the course of meetings and activities. However, precious little of that training helps us to appropriately manage ourselves. It is hoped that changing personal attitudes and outlooks via affective skills education could work to improve the application of the other group skills DEP staff is currently learning.

The meeting adjourned with snacks and more casual discussion regarding the future of our new initiatives.

Next PEG Meeting --
The next meeting of the Parent Exploratory Group has been scheduled tentatively for mid July. Please check the Affective Skills Web Site and future issues of Words of Caring for further announcements.

-- John Borland --

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Last Modified: July 03, 2003