BRIEFLY IN EDUCATION

Coffee Break focuses on college admissions

The next PTA Coffee Break is “Surviving the College Admissions Process: Tips for Stressed Out Parents from Those Who Have Been There.” The presentation will take place from 8:15 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Surf and Sand Hotel.

Five parents who have already sent at least two kids off to college will give their collective wisdom on what can be a trying experience for parents and kids. An admissions counselor and a director from a test prep company will also offer opinions as well as commenting on the parents’ advice.

Topics to be covered include:

?Determining the best college path for your child;

?Going overboard: knowing how far is too far in being “helpful;”

?Great college options if your child is a B student;

?Taking a reality check: realistic evaluation of your child and his “gifts;”

?Reducing the chance of getting swept up in the parental competition for a “prize” college; and

?Deciding about the need for test prep courses and college counselors.

Coffee Break is supported by the Laguna Beach PTA Council, The Foundation for the Contemporary Family, SchoolPower, and the Surf & Sand Hotel. Due to the open forum with interaction from participants, opinions not sanctioned by the school district or the PTA may be expressed.

For more information, contact Judith Anderson at (949) 494-0447 or [email protected]

Five local Girl Scouts earn ‘Silver’ honors

Five girls from Laguna Beach Girl Scout Troop 575 have earned a Silver Award, the highest award a Cadette Girl Scout can earn. This award requires the completion of a service project of no less than 40 hours, as well as several other requirements including leadership and career exploration.

The “silver” awardees are: Katy Fleming, Emily Rubino, Katie Nemsik, Berklee Donavan and Daniella Crivello.

Together, they completed more than 238 hours of community service. The recipients of their work are the Mary Fay Pendleton School at Camp Pendleton, Laguna Beach Community Clinic, the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach and American Family Housing in Midway City.

In addition to receiving certificates from the Girl Scouts, they each received letters from the Secretary of State and the governor of California, acknowledging their service, sacrifice, leadership and citizenship.

Butler honored by Boys & Girls Clubs

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Orange County’s Area Council hosted a special awards banquet at the Nutrilite Health Institute in Buena Park to recognize board members who have rendered unusually devoted service to his/her local Boys & Girls Club organization.

In all, 16 Orange County Club board members were presented with the “Eddy Award” for their outstanding service to their Club.

The Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach was proud to recognize Dorene Butler for her distinguished service, commitment to community and passion for improving young people’s lives at the awards dinner.

Butler is an outstanding ambassador, enthusiastically encourages people to get involved and broadens awareness and support for helping club members, according to club officials. She actively serves on committees, attended the Clubs Area Council’s board leadership conference, National Conference, volunteers as the Clubs Area Council representative, opened her home to club members, and contributes in other ways.

The Area Council serves an important role to the Boys & Girls Clubs movement, providing the chief medium through which local board volunteers come together to maximize the impact and the opportunities that clubs have in their region.

The Orange County Area Council consists of 16 Orange County Boys & Girls Clubs; it brings together board members and executive directors to exchange information and discuss plans, programs, methods, trends and common problems.

For information on how to get involved with the Boys & Girls Club, contact Michelle Ray at (949) 494-2535, ext. 103.

National Children’s Study includes Laguna Beach

Families in selected areas of Laguna Beach and elsewhere will be invited to participate in a long-term study of children’s health.

The National Children’s Study will follow an estimated 100,000 children, from pre-birth to age 21, and their parents from randomly selected areas to include participants from a vast array of socio-economic status, family structures, backgrounds, regions and ethnicity.

The families will be eligible for the study based on whether they live in one of the randomly selected neighborhoods that were chosen to be representative of the United States. Fifteen neighborhoods were selected in Orange County, including parts of Laguna Beach.

Irene White, Laguna Beach Unified School District Special Education & Student Services director, says the study will provide vital information.

“The Laguna Beach Unified School District supports the National Children’s Study,” White said.

Questions to be answered: How does the environment impact our children’s mental and physical health? What factors are linked to childhood obesity? What are the underlying causes of asthma? And what can we do to keep our children healthy?

Once completed the 20-plus year study will be the longest and largest study of children ever undertaken in the United States.

Innovations in technology, research tools, and data collection will allow researchers to examine in depth our children’s health effects and the exposures, which are considered to have great impact on their health and development. While preserving the privacy of the study’s participants, these technological advances will help coordinate the vast amount of data this national study will produce.

“The outcomes of the study will provide educators with information that will improve our early intervention service delivery efforts as well as help us gain more understanding of the causes of childhood problems including but not limited to autism, attention issues developmental delays and other health issues,” White said. “More importantly, we will as a nation be able to develop solid prevention strategies that may help us decrease or eliminate childhood difficulties.”

The National Children’s Study is federally funded and implemented through a partnership of a variety of public and private sector organizations.

Throughout the study, the input of community organizations, regional medical centers, state government agencies, and national industries will be key factors helping to ensure the validity, reliability and unbiased results of the project.

Funding for the National Children’s Study is provided each year by Congress.

If funding is received, and approvals obtained, the National Children’s Study is expected to begin initial recruitment in January, according to the study website, www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov.