Parent Empowerment Call - Oct. 6

The McHenry County Mental Health Board and Family CARE announce the next Parent Empowerment Call, which will be Thursday, October 6, at 12:00PM (Noon).

Parents of children with emotional or illnesses or disabilities are invited to dial in just before Noon on this toll-free call. The topic for October 6 will be "Advocating for a Lifetime."

These are educational calls being offered to all parents in Illinois who have a child with an emotional and/or behavioral concern, and will focus on giving parents information they need to advocate for and support their children.

Call the following toll-free number, 800-260-0712, and use this Participant Access Code: 182276. The presenters on this call will be Family Consumer Specialists.

If you have questions about the Parent Empowerment Calls, call Judy Hutchinson, Family Consumer Specialist, DHS Division of Mental Health Child and Adolescent Services, at 618-838-9382.

Did your child regress over the summer?

Parents, how are your kids doing in this new school year? Have they settled into the "groove"?

Were you concerned last spring that your child might regress over the summer, if he didn't have some structured school work (math, reading, spelling) to do over the summer? Did you try to get your school district to provide summer school for him? Schools, of course, have a fancy name now for summer school - it's Extended School Year (ESY).

How hard did you fight with your school district last spring to get ESY services for your child? You knew he or she would fall behind, didn't you? After all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that, if a child is struggling throughout the school year to learn and to keep up, s/he will not retain what was learned, once the atmosphere changes.

What was the reception from your Special Education department at your child's school last spring? Did they refuse ESY?

And what has happened this fall? You were right, weren't you? Now what are you going to do about it?

Do not sit back and expect the Special Ed Department to say, "Oops, we made a mistake. Let's see how we are going to fix this problem fast."

You need to be at your kid's school, at the office of the Special Ed Director (oh, I remember; now called Special Services...), and at the office of the District Superintendent. And maybe at school board meetings.

Demand the necessary services for your child to get the education he is supposed to get. If he is in the 11th Grade and reading or doing math at a 3rd Grade level, what is the District's plan to educate your child, for which the administrators and teachers are being paid handsomely, whether or not your child gets educated or not? Results! Get results, not promises!

Save the date - Oct. 22 - Penguins

The 2011 "Don't Kick The Penguins" program of diversity awareness and bullying prevention is scheduled for Saturday October 22, at McHenry County College, starting at 8:30AM. Nine workshops will be offered for middle school students, with condensed versions for adults.

Your help is needed to -

   -distribute posters and flyers

   -help on the day of the event

   -donate gifts and items for middle school students as door prizes

   -make cash donations for overhead expenses

Please make tax-deductible checks payable to:Principled Minds and mail to 227 N. Throop Street, Woodstock, Illinois 60098. Principled Minds is a 501(c)(3), tax exempt, not-for profit corporation. It's Federal Tax ID Number is 20-5156417.

To offer help or in other ways, contact Harold Rail at hprail@yahoo.com or Mary Fox at foxpax@sbcglobal.net as soon as possible.

You are also invited to attend planning meetings every Thursday at 3PM at MCC.