Asset Corner #74

SHOW KIDS YOU CARE:  KEEP THE PROMISES YOU MAKE. February’s Asset Category:  POSITIVE VALUES 

Values shape young people’s relationships, behaviors, choices, and sense of who they are. Although positive values help young people avoid risky behavior, they also help guide their day-to-day actions and interactions. Thus, values inspire, not just prohibit. Young people who have positive values are more likely to listen to their conscience, help others, be independent, tell right from wrong, and feel happy. Ultimately, positive values help young people make their own decisions rather than imitate friends or follow trends. This column’s focus will be on….. Asset 26: Caring 

Follow your good intentions with great actions
People can help and care for others directly or indirectly. Direct help is when you spend time and interact with people who need care. Indirect help is when you collect money, food, or other items to give to people who distribute the items to those in need. It’s important for young people to be involved in both direct and indirect caring.

Here are the facts
Research shows that young people who place a high value on caring are more likely to promote and model positive rather than negative behaviors. About 50 percent of young people, ages 11–18, say they place a high value on helping others, according to Search Institute surveys. If everyone cared for one another, the world would be a safer, happier, more peaceful place.

Tips for building this asset
Caring about others includes caring for a lot of different people: those in your family, neighborhood, school, community, state, country, and the world. It can also include caring for animals and the environment. Volunteering—whether for a group or an individual—is an excellent way for young people to show they care. But the easiest, quickest way to demonstrate you care? Simply smile at those around you.

Also try this
In your home and family:
 Do volunteer work together as a family—at an animal shelter, a nature center, a food bank, or for another cause you care about.
In your neighborhood and community: Have a neighborhood garage sale. Use the proceeds to purchase necessities and gifts for a local family in need or donate them to a local charity.
In your school or youth program: Facilitate a reading circle in which middle and high school students spend one hour a week reading to — and interacting with — elementary school children.

ASSET RELATED NEWS
Plan now on attending the Partners In Education (P.I.E.) sponsored Annual Pierogi Dinner at Parma H.S.’s Cafeteria on Friday February 26th. Advanced sale only tickets are available at all school locations and at the Central Office – Fish Dinner = $10.00; Pierogi Dinner = $7.00. Carry-out available; make checks payable to P.I.E.; all proceeds go to support of our schools.

Parma Council of PTAs’ Annual Babysitter Training course for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th and Saturday, March 19th from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  Training includes the opportunity to be CPR and First Aid certified by members of the Parma & Parma Heights Fire Department. Cost for the 2 session program is $30.00. Contact your school’s PTA rep for registration information; the deadline is March 4th.

Parma Area MyCom Youth Development Planning Committee meetings … We're still looking forward to wrapping up this project in the next several months with an update to the existing plan that’ll set a direction for our efforts and carry us through the next several years.  For more information about MyCom, visit http://mycom.net.

Our CBS Connects Grant … Visit http://cbsconnects.org/field-trips to get the latest information regarding scheduled, career-related field trips with some already being scheduled into March.  Learn more and encourage your kids to check out this unique, grant-funded, career-readiness service for our students. If you're a business willing to host small groups of kids to view your facility and learn more about the business and related careers and/or you’re a professional willing to mentor a student or just share information about your career/profession, call Chuck Caldwell, CBS Connects Coordinator, at 440-305-3054.  Visit www.cbsconnects.org for program details.

The District’s DECA Program (an Association of Marketing Students) and CMM (Cooperative Marketing Mgmt.) have teamed up to host a Career Expo at Valley Forge H.S. on Friday, May 6th from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The event is designed for high school students to meet reps from colleges/universities and employers to find out about the schools, companies, related careers, and required skill sets. Here's a great opportunity for our business community, and particularly our CBS Partners, to demonstrate support for our District's students. For registration information, call Carolyn Holt-Balis at 216-885-8440. 

The Collab’s Mobile Food Pantry is scheduled this month for Thursday, February 11th. Help is needed in the morning (9:00 a.m.) to unload and setup, and again in the afternoon (2:00 p.m.) for distribution. Volunteer opportunities are available not only at the Collab, but in every school within the District. Just some of the programs in serious need of help include the Discovery CentersParenting Partners, Project More, and Teach Me to Read. Contact Kira Karabanovs, Director of Family and Community Engagement for details – email: karabanovsk@parmacityschools.org; ph: 440-842-7022.

Regarding the recently released State Report Card, visit the PCSD web site at www.parmacityschools.org to read an open letter from Interim Superintendent Hilling as it relates to the data presented.

If you haven’t heard, the Parma Heights Library will be temporarily closed for renovations beginning February 1st through approximately May 1st.

SHARE YOUR ASSET BUILDING IDEAS AND/OR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENTAL ASSET CONCEPT BY VISITING THE “ASSET CORNER” FACEBOOK PAGE. I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU.

Visit www.parmacityschools.org/character and www.search-institute.org/assets for more information about the 40 Developmental Assets and ideas for helping young people build them. Or go to http://www.parentfurther.com for great asset-based parenting tips, tricks, activities, and ideas.

Gene Lovasy

Community Volunteer/Activist

Read More on News
Volume 8, Issue 2, Posted 9:54 PM, 02.02.2016