SFP 10-14 can help you & your children (ages 10-14) prepare for the teen years. This program is a free and fun opportunity to strengthen family communication and promote family bonding. justCommunity will host five cycles between now and June in the following communities: North Penn, Palisades, Pennridge, Quakertown and Souderton. Each cycle includes seven weekly sessions including a family meal, free babysitting and a chance to win a weekly gift card. The program is for parents and their children ages 10-14.

The schedule for the communities is as follows:

• North Penn- TBA
• Palisades- Beginning on February 5th and running for severn consecutive Tuesdays
• Pennridge- Beginning on February 7th and running for seven consecutive Thursdays
• Quakertown- Beginning on April 2nd and running for seven consecutive Tuesdays
• Souderton- TBA

Sign up for seven (7) weekly sessions that will include:

• Fun Family Games and Activities
• Engaging & Interactive Youth Activities
• Interaction with Other Parents
• FREE Family Meal Each Week
• FREE Childcare for Younger Siblings
• Gift Card Raffle Each Week

The first half hour of the program will be devoted to a communal dinner followed by an hour hour where teens and parents meet separately and then the final hour is dedicated to bringing parents and youth together.

Parents and caregivers will discuss a host of topics such as: the normal developmental changes in teenagers, helping teens to avoid risks and substance use, setting age appropriate limits, helping youth to understand rules and consequences, effective joint problem solving skills and ways to show love and support.

Youth will learn about and then practice making good decisions and setting goals, peer pressure resistance skills to avoid problems with drugs & alcohol, empathy and appreciation of parents/caregivers and ways to cope with stress.

Visit justcommunity.com to sign up online or download one of the registration forms below to mail in or fax to Nina Stephens. Call 215-538-4799 for more information.

Registration forms (pdf):
Palisades – Pennridge – Quakertown

On October 12th, Palisades PACT sponsored a post-Homecoming  “Pizza Social” at the Palisades High School cafeteria immediately following the homecoming game. The event was a success with over 80 students attending and enjoying free food and drink, coffee-house style music and various board and card games.
Many people worked hard to make the event possible, including PHS administrators Rich Heffernan and Karl Scheibenhoffer, Communications Director Donna Holmes, Athletic Director Rebecca George, athletic coaches, vocal music director Carolyn Williams, student coffee house performers, PACT chair John Debczak, PACT PHS Student Ambassador advisors Arlene Robbins and Vicki Weaver, PACT PHS Student Ambassadors, PHS Student Council and teacher and parent chaperones.  PACT and Palisades High School want to host other regular post-home football game events in the future. The PACT PHS Student Ambassadors will be spearheading the planning of these gatherings, aiming to host post-game events for each home game. Student Ambassadors will take the lead in preparing for food and activities for these socials and all are excited to see what they offer PHS students for fun and safe alternative post game get-togethers.

At the beginning of Homecoming week, PHS sent parents underage alcohol awareness information as part of PACT’s and Palisades School District’s commitment to promoting safe choices for celebrating events such as Homecoming, Prom and Graduation. Parents received facts about custodial legal responsibilities and liability under Pennsylvania Commonwealth Law regarding hosting parties for minors where alcohol and other drugs are present. Also included was information on the Free Alcohol Prevention Course for Parents as part of AlcoholEdu Program. AlcoholEdu is a companion course on alcohol awareness which is taught at Palisades as part of the 8th Grade Wellness/Fitness curriculum.
AlcoholEdu for Parents helps guardians and caregivers understand social host liability, dispels common misconceptions about underage drinking, assists with strategies and techniques for monitoring and setting rules, gives guidance on what to do if your teen is experimenting and gives expert advice for dealing with common situations.

If you are interested in supporting Palisades’s youth to make healthy choices for their future success and well-being, please contact: Emily French, Palisades PACT Community Mobilizer at ewfrench@verizon.net .

Over the past year, the local coalition in Palisades called PACT (Partners in Action for Community Togetherness) has hosted five cycles of the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14. Each cycle includes seven weekly, two hour sessions with both parents and their children. The total number of families served so far is thirty-five, with one more cycle planned to be implemented in February of 2013. PACT is also planning to conduct a “booster session” consisting of four classes for any family that previously went through the program.

Thanks in part to the success of the Palisades initiative, Lee Rush, Executive Director of justCommunity and Community Mobilizer for the UBHCHY Coalition, wrote a grant to the United Way of Bucks County for funding to expand the program to both the Pennridge and Quakertown communities. “We are really happy to see the program expanded,” said Rush. “The families in Palisades have loved the program.” Registration details for all three communities are posted at www.justcommunity.com. If you know of any families that may benefit from the program, please let them know of this opportunity. Included each week is a free meal, free babysitting for younger siblings not participating in the program and great bonding time with your family and community members.

Emily French, PACT Community Mobilizer reports, “As both a facilitator and family that participated, I highly recommend this program because of the quality of time spent as a family. Enjoying dinner and then doing activities together during the last hour are both enlightening and fun. The children get to know some things about you besides you being their parent and you get to learn about your children’s dreams.”

The Palisades High School Library was the setting for a September 24th Parent Chat. The topic for the evening’s discussion was “Social Issues and Our High School Students.” Attendees were the parents of 9th graders at Palisades High School and guest speakers included High School Principal, Rich Heffernan, School Counselor, Lori Tirjan and Special Education Teacher, Allison Stephens.

The group had a lively conversation about issues pertaining to making a smooth transition to high school from middle school and ultimately achieving academic success. Strategies like good time management, pacing oneself, resisting the urge to procrastinate and seeking extra help from teachers were discussed. Other items that came up were the demands of sports schedules and extracurricular activities and the prevalence of underage alcohol use and what to do about it. Speakers addressed these concerns and talked about the programs and supports that exist at Palisades High School to assist students and to encourage their success. They also pointed out the importance of parents staying involved in their children’s academic and personal lives during high school. Additionally, Principal Heffernan stressed the value of getting to know your children’s friends and their families as another way to keep our children safe and to promote their healthy social development.

The group talked about possible topics for future Parent Chats at Palisades High School and then enjoyed some light refreshments. For more information about the Parent Chat initiative please contact UBHCHY Coalition member, Judi Pason at Judi.Pason@gmail.com

As part of the national Drug Take Back Day, the UBHCHY Coalition once again participated in this event on September 29th. The event was a huge success with over 5,600 pounds of drugs collected throughout all of the county. Since the inception of the program, over 17,000 pounds have been collected in Bucks County. Quakertown Boro  did an especially excellent job of publicizing the Take Back Day with robo calls and notices included with the electric bills. The event was staffed with police officers as well as volunteers. There were also local high school teams that volunteered; including students from Palisades Girls Soccer, Quakertown Boys Soccer, Pennridge Football and Pennridge Cheerleading. There are now twenty-one permanent boxes located in Bucks County and over forty-three sites are participating during the “Take Back Days.”  Ray Fox, UBHCHY Coalition member, reports there is also a plan to draft a letter to doctors regarding the pitfalls of certain medications and to only prescribe what is necessary. The letter is to be signed by the Bucks County Coroner.

Season’s greeting from the Upper Bucks Healthy Communities Healthy Youth Coalition (UBHCHY)! I hope this note finds you well. It has been an extremely busy several months with coalition activities—several are highlighted with this newsletter. One of the most exciting undertakings over the past year has been our support of implementing the Strengthening Families Program (SFP) for Parents and Youth 10-14 . The SFP is a research-based program consisting of seven weekly, two-hour sessions for parents and their children ages 10-14. Begun in the Palisades school district last year through the support of the Parents in Action for Community Togetherness (PACT) coalition, we have now expanded our offerings of SFP to the Pennridge and Quakertown communities. The offerings in Pennridge and Quakertown have been made possible through a grant from the United Way of Bucks County.

Speaking of PACT, I would like to welcome Emily French as the new Community Mobilizer for PACT. Emily is a parent of two Palisades students and a long time resident of the district. She has a background in clinical work in the behavioral health field and hit the ground running in Palisades. Former Mobilizer, Karen Richter is still very involved with PACT and has recently been trained, (along with Robin Sherman) as an SFP trainer. Karen and Robin are now certified to train other adult facilitators to provide the SFP. Featured in this newsletter is also a story from PACT about their recent event they held in conjunction with the Palisades High School Homecoming Football game. A great idea that we hope continues in future years!

Also in this issue is a story about our most recent “Parent Chat” held on the topic of “Social Issues and Our High School Student.”  UBHCHY Steering Committee Member, Judi Pason, continues to organize these events and reports another successful evening hosted by several Palisades School District staff. The idea of transitioning from middle to high school brings both joys and concerns for parents (and students). Judi reported the topic was enthusiastically discussed by all.

The UBHCHY Coalition continues to participate in the national Prescription Drug Take Back program. On September 29th, we once again had several sites in Upper Bucks where residents could drop off their unwanted or expired prescriptions. These national days are not the only time for people to drop off prescriptions since there are now permanent boxes placed in several police departments where people can use them any time. There are permanent boxes in police stations in the following police stations: Hilltown Township, Pennridge Regional, Quakertown, Richland Township and Springfield Township.

Finally in this issue we have included a wonderful poem written by Carter Pason regarding bullying prevention. Carter is a student at Palisades Middle School and he wrote the poem called “WOW” as part of his school’s social norms program held last year.

So that does it for the year 2012! Assuming the Mayans were wrong, we will be back in touch in the new year for more updates from UBHCHY. Remember- the best gift you can give a child this year (and every year) is simply your time and attention. One gift that costs no money, but pays huge dividends.

The Elementary Student Ambassadors from the Palisades PACT pulled together for a fun night of activities. The ambassadors in the 4^th and 5^th grades planned a gathering for the three elementary schools and other local private schools. The goal of this night was to have 5^th graders from Tinicum Elementary, Durham Nockamixon Elementary, Springfield Elementary and the River Valley Waldorf School meet each other as they become the class of 2019 when they enter the Palisades Middle School as 6^th graders next year.

The ambassador’s activities included games that incorporated communication and leadership skills. Some of the activities included Shoe in a Bucket and the Human Knot. A table was dedicated to a fellow ambassador who was not able to attend due to a serious illness. At this table, the ambassadors and fellow students made cards, a wishing jar and videotaped messages for their fellow classmate hoping he will be able to join them in middle school next year.

It was a very successful night and PACT hopes to make it an annual gathering for the newest members to the middle school.

This spring a group of thirty Palisades parents gathered for a very important and successful Parent Chat. The Parent Chat focused on the topic: How To Help Your Child Make a Smooth Transition to Middle School. Participants were parents of current 5^th graders from Durham Nockamixon, Springfield and Tinicum Elementary Schools in the Palisades School District. The parents met at the Palisades Middle School for the discussion, which was facilitated by Palisades parent and UBHCHY Coalition member, Judi Pason. Speakers for the evening were Palisades Middle School Counselor, Nancy Pontier and Palisades Middle School Health and Wellness Teacher, Jennifer Kukowski. Pontier and Kukowski presented valuable information regarding the 6^th grade curriculum including: how student teams are organized, the typical 6th grade academic schedule, field trips and various social considerations that students commonly encounter as they transition to middle school.

Following the structured information session, current middle school parents were invited to share their personal experiences of the middle school. Lastly, all enjoyed light refreshments as the evening came to a close.

If you are interested in participating in or hosting a Parent Chat in the Palisades, Pennridge or Quakertown communities, please contact Judi Pason at judi.pason@gmail.com.

The April 28^th National Drug Take-Back Day was a huge success not only locally in Upper Bucks county, but throughout all of Bucks County and the rest of the country. In the UBHCHY Coalition area, the following police departments participated and collected increasing amounts of unused or expired prescriptions, (total pounds in parentheses):

The April 28th National Drug Take-Back Day was a huge success not only locally in Upper Bucks county, but throughout all of Bucks County and the rest of the country. In the UBHCHY Coalition area, the following police departments participated and collected an astounding amount of unused or expired prescriptions, (total pounds in parentheses): Dublin Borough (26.75), Hilltown Township (102.82), Pennridge Regional (58.51), Perkasie Borough (64.26), Quakertown Borough (155.43), Richland Township (129.44), Tinicum Township (35.81) and Springfield Township (41.61). The total number of pounds from all forty-three sites throughout Bucks County was 4,396.33 pounds, surpassing the record set in the fall of 2011 of 3,860.44 pounds. Once again, Bucks County far surpassed any other county totals in the state of Pennsylvania. During the Take Back Days, the police are the only ones allowed to touch the drugs; therefore, we extend a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all of the departments throughout the county, specifically to the eight police departments in Upper Bucks who participated in this event.

Dispose of unwanted prescription drugs safely
through a secure Drug Drop Box location.

Two tons of drugs sounds like a lot. However, it is only a fraction of the outdated and unused drugs that are in our medicine cabinets and homes. We need to continue to be vigilant. Recent studies tell us the illegal use of prescription drugs is on the rise. In our most recent Profile of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors Survey, 12% of Upper Bucks 8th, 10th and 12th graders admitted to illegally using a prescription drug within the previous thirty-day period before the survey. In addition to using the prescription drugs, there is also a problem with people stealing painkillers from family and friends and selling them.

In an attempt to provide citizens with a way to dispose of these prescribed drugs, several police departments have installed permanent drug drop-boxes at their police stations. These include Quakertown Borough (the first drop-box installed anywhere in Bucks County), Hilltown Township, Pennridge Regional, Richland Township and Springfield Township. To date, there are a total of twenty-two drop-boxes in the county and more will be added in the future. The advantage to having a drop-box is that residents do not have to wait until there is an official Take-Back Day to dispose of unused, unwanted or outdated drugs. For details, call your local police department for their hours of operation.

The next Drug Take-Back event will be held on September 29, 2012 from 10 AM to 2 PM. The UBHCHY Coalition will continue to be involved and will help advertise this event later this summer. Additionally, during this summer’s July 4th Community Day at the Quakertown Memorial Park, the Quakertown police department will be bringing their drug drop-box for citizens to dispose of unused drugs.

Please help us to keep these drugs off the streets and out of our water supplies by participating in the Drug Take-Back program.