Lifeskills Training Webinars

Western Mass Lifeskills Training users! Check out the free webinar that's being offered on Wednesday, January 25 at 12:00 noon!! Share with administrators, colleagues, and anyone you know who works in the field of prevention! Keep spreading the word about this RESEARCH and SCIENCE-BASED program that is continually proving its positive outcomes!! Click the links below to register!

The Surgeon General recently named LifeSkills Training as one of themost effective school-based programs for adolescents aged 10 to 18* Join us for this complimentary webinar to learn more about the how the LifeSkills Training Middle School Program can positively impact educational outcomes, reduce violence, and decrease opioid misuse as well as other drug use. Register: Wednesday, 1/25 at noon ET (space is limited) *Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, 2016 Ready to implement the program? Check out our training schedule to register for a Provider Training workshop, or email training@nhpamail.com to schedule a workshop either online or in-person for your group.                         800-293-4969 |www.lifeskillstraining.com

Link to Western MA Lifeskills Segment on Mass Appeal!

In case you missed it, here's the link to the segment that Kat Allen and I did on Mass Appeal to talk about the great stuff happening in our middle schools in the Franklin/Quabbin region!

http://wwlp.com/2017/01/11/making-education-fun-for-children/

Thank you to everyone for your continued hard work and enthusiasm for Lifeskills! It's working!

The MASS APPEAL of Lifeskills Training!

Happy 2017! We're ushering in the new year with a renewed energy that we're about to share throughout the Pioneer Valley. On Wednesday, January 11, Kat Allen of FRCOG's Partnership For Youth and Frontier Regional School's Kate Blair (yours truly) will be featured on WWLP's Mass Appeal to speak about the Lifeskills Training Program and its adoption in middle schools throughout the Franklin Quabbin region. This segment airs between 11am and noon, so tune in and hear updates on this fantastic prevention program that we're fortunate to have in so many middle schools in western Massachusetts! In case you miss it, check back to the blog - I'll post a clip of our segment!

Yours in prevention,

Kate

LST Assessment Tools: Keeping Our Smart Students On Track!

The other day I was teaching an 8th grade middle school LST lesson in the Media Influences unit. Boy, oh boy, do we have plenty to discuss lately about this topic! The Media Influences unit throws a spotlight on advertising techniques for products, particularly tobacco, alcohol and e-cigarettes. But I'm noticing more and more that students are savvy enough to realize the wider range of influence that the media has on all consumers, not just teens. Our conversations have really migrated from advertising to social media to election conspiracy theories to fake news and beyond. These students are so inquisitive, and they make great connections all the time!

Working with smart kids is one of the many reasons I love my job. They love to take a lesson off-road, and we have inspiring discussions about a wide range of topics that expand well beyond the ink on my LST teacher's guide. Because of my smart students, I have to work a little harder to be sure they hit the objectives of each lesson and unit. I'm sure I'm not the only teacher whose students want to push the scope of their lessons a bit further than what's on the script.

That's why having the LST Classroom Assessment Tool is so helpful. It keeps me on track, making sure I know whether my students have hit their targets. For example, I gave my students one of the questions on the LST Assessment tool as a lesson activator the other day: "Name any three common advertising techniques that we have studied in class." Most students were able to complete the task, but I realized that not all of them could. So I invested a few minutes of class in reviewing these techniques, connecting them to examples of ads that students had identified in a previous lesson. Objective reached.

Here's the link to the LST Assessment Tools for levels 1, 2 and 3:

http://www.lifeskillstraining.com/lst_classroom.php

Keep doing that AMAZING prevention work!

Kate

Western Massachusetts Lifeskills Network Coordinator

Youth Opioid Prevention Grant Opportunity

Hey, Massachusetts Prevention People...

Youth Opioid Prevention (YOP) Grant Program

 

Utilizing $500,000 from a settlement with CVS Pharmacy, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO) is pleased to announce the Youth Opioid Prevention (YOP) grant program.  The YOP grant is designed to support school-based prevention education initiatives to address opioid dependence and addiction in Massachusetts.  The AGO is accepting grant applications from entities that will implement either a sustainable prevention curriculum or prevention programming within a public school or public school district in Massachusetts. 

 

Eligibility: Applicants should focus their proposals on implementing prevention curricula in public schools or school districts in Massachusetts. The AGO is highly interested in proposals focused on elementary and middle schools and those that foster community collaboration. The following types of organizations are eligible to apply:

·        Non-Profit 501(c)(3) organizations

·        Public Schools

·        Public School Districts

·        Community Coalitions & Task Forces

·        Health Providers

·        Youth Development Organizations

·        City/Town Municipalities

Law Enforcement Agencies (including District Attorney's Offices)

More information: www.mass.gov/ago/grant 

Deadline: 12/9/16

Lifeskills Goldmine!

Home Page of the Middle School Teacher's Site

It's Sunday in western Massachusetts, and it is a perfect day to take in the sights of this golden time of year. The foliage is giving us quite a show, with the hills transforming into yellows, oranges, reds and greens. In addition to teaching Health Education, I also teach ESL (English as a Second Language), and my ESL students are in complete and total awe. These are kids who all come from countries in which there is no fall foliage spectacle like we have in western Mass. Truly, they're dazzled.

If you're a teacher, Sundays typically mean preparing for the academic week ahead. For teachers who are preparing their Lifeskills lessons this week, there are a few dazzling resources out there that are worth their weight in gold and will save you lots of planning time. Many of you have already bookmarked this site, but if not, make sure you save this in your favorites. Go to http://www.lifeskillstraining.com/msweb/teacher/index.php to reach the Middle School Teacher's site (see screenshot above), which I've profiled on this blog previously. Yes, it's good enough to mention more than once! Here, you'll be able to access quick formative assessments for each unit in each level of LST. 

The image above shows a student self-check, which students can use to measure their own comprehension of the basic objectives of each unit. My students really like being able to "show what they know" and prepare for quizzes. It also helps to cement the key takeaways that LST really wants kids to absorb. There's also a vocabulary crossword or each unit that can be completed either online or printed out. 

So there it is! A little goldmine for LST teachers. If you use these resources in your class, I'd love to hear about it!

Happy fall,

Kate

New Central / Eastern Mass Lifeskills Training Dates Announced!

Please share with fellow prevention educators! New Lifeskills Training Dates announced!

For School Nurses, Health Educators and Teams:

Effectively Preventing Prescription Drug Misuse and Other Drug Use

Evidence-Based Middle School Prevention Training

Four 1-day Trainings Planned Schedule (only one day required)

8:30 (Registration) 9:00 AM-4:30 PM

CERTIFICATION IS GRANTED AFTER ATTENDING ONE OF THESE DAYS. Registration is separate for each training and space is limited. Although not required, teams from schools/districts are encouraged to attend. Level 1 is for 6th or 7th grade; Level 2 is for 7th or 8th grade. Free curricula will be available. Student materials will be provided.

Locations for free trainings:

November 1, 2016: Boston 1010 Massachusetts Ave Boston 02118

Life Skills Training Level 1

November 2, 2016: Peabody Holiday Inn 1 Newbury Street

Life Skills Training Level 1

November 3, 2016: Mansfield Holiday Inn 31 Hampshire Street

Life Skills Training Level 1

November 4, 2016: Beechwood Hotel Worcester 363 Plantation St.

Life Skills Training Level 2 (Participants should be previously trained in Level 1)

Either Accessible by MBTA, or Parking is free. Lunch is provided.

Registration: Please Visit http://www.cvent.com/d/74q78p/6T for information and to complete the required registration. Thank you for helping to keep Massachusetts youth healthy.

6.0 hours per day of training will be awarded: the CEUs can be used for nurses and for PDPs for other educators; applying for Certified Prevention Specialists (CPS) Credits