Anything Frustrating You or Your Teen?

Many students at South have expressed a broad range of emotions about their classes and life at South, from excitement to outrage to everything else in between. Typically, parents can’t offer much more than a few words of compassion or perspective, or an occasional tidbit of wisdom. The community of parents at South share a collective intelligence about what’s working well and what’s not, yet these parental insights often don’t affect much beyond dinner table and coffee house conversations.

That could soon change. On Sep 30th Parent Council met and started visualizing an entirely new direction. Why not leverage our collective intelligence and contribute ideas for enhancing South’s next School Improvement Plan?* For more about Parent Council’s potential initiative, please put the next Parent Council Meeting on your calendar, Wed Oct 28th at 8pm in the school cafeteria following the Parent Education program. Share what you’ve heard, share your concerns, share your ideas for making South work better for your teen and your family’s lifestyle. Also, for more background about this initiative, click on PC Meetings Minutes on the right side of this page, and read about the last PC meeting this past September.

*Among other policy-making tasks, every three years South’s Site Council (not Parent Council) develops and adopts a new School Improvement Plan. This school year Site Council will produce a new three-year plan for the 2010-2013 school years. Parent Council could submit ideas for serious consideration by those developing the next plan.

South's Wonderful Extracurricular Opportunities

Whether you and your student are new to South or returning for another year, you may be wondering how to help your teen get involved and engaged in such a large high school. Parent Council's first Parent Education Series of the new academic year will feature Freshman Counselor Travis Johnson and a number of South students as they provide details about extracurricular activities, clubs and sports opportunities available to students. Travis will offer you an overview of South's current clubs and organizations and will share how students benefit from participating in these extracurricular experiences. This worthwhile program will be held Wednesday, September 30th from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the South cafeteria, and students are invited to attend as well. The Education Series will continue on the last Wednesday of each month through May, except November and December. For more information contact the Parent Education Series Coordinator, Jennifer Wyld, at wyld[at]efn[dot]org.

Finding that Delicate Balance With your Teen Between Being a Parent and a Friend

Are you finding it more and more difficult to know when you can ask where they are going and with whom and when they'll be home? Come to a repeat of a popular Parent Education Series with experts on hand to address issues like the Oregon curfew and Minor in Possession (MIP) laws, how to achieve that balance on asking enough and not alienating your student. Join us on Wednesday, May 27th in the South cafeteria from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., following the monthly Parent Council Business Meeting, which is open to all parents. For more information please write to Parent Education Series Coordinator Helen B. Garrett at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net

Suicide Prevention: A conversation focused on saving our teenager's lives

Parents, we invite you to join us for a Parent Education Series event that is aimed at saving lives and protecting our teenagers from dangerous behaviors. Especially in light of recent tragedies involving suicide at South and other area high schools, our February 25th Parent Education Session will focus on how we, as parents and educators, can work together to prevent suicide. A rich panel of educators and therapists, drawn from our very own South Eugene High School Care Team, will be on hand to present information and lead discussion on the following topics:

* What are the indicators that a teenager may be at risk of attempting suicide?
* What resources are available to teenage peers, parents, or school staff if they are concerned about one of our teens?
* What prevention strategies exist for parents and others to use?
* What curriculum and programs are available in school to help prevent such tragedies?

Please join us in the South cafeteria from 7:30-8:30 p.m. (following the Parent Council meeting at 6:45) on February 25th.

For more information contact Helen B. Garrett, Parent Education Series Coordinator at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net or through the website at parentcouncil.blogspot.com

How to Play Sports in College: Division I, II, III and Beyond

Want to know what you need to do while you are at South Eugene High School to be eligible to play sports at the college level? Not sure what the differences are between Division I, II and III or Intramurals? Come to hear from the following experts at the January 21, 2009 Parent Council Parent Education Series in the South Eugene High School Cafeteria. Both parents and student athletes are welcome!

Tara Erickson, Head Womens Soccer Coach, University of Oregon
Kathy Ruggles, Career Center Coordinator, South Eugene High School
Leanne Brooks, University of Oregon Athletics
David Hancock, Athletic Director, South Eugene High School
Whitney Clark, Brown University '08, SEHS '04, College Athlete

For more information, contact Helen Garrett, South Eugene Parent Council Parent Education Series at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net

Community Service 101: What's Required, How to Find it. Help is on the way!

Have you heard that your child, whether as a South Classic or International High School student needs to complete a certain level of community service? Not sure what is required or where to begin?

Join Ellen Brunson-Newton, representing Classic South and Courtney Leonard, International High School, and a variety of South students who have done community service for Parent Council's December Parent Education Series. They will give you information on how to approach the 100 hours needed for IHS , what it takes for a 4j Honors Diploma, Honor Society membership and what's required for the Classic Senior Project.

This is a good time to bring your students and join us on December 3, 2008 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the South cafeteria right after the Parent Council meeting, which runs from 6:45 - 7:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Helen Garrett, Parent Education Series Coordinator at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net

What You May Not Know About Teenage Girls

Think you've figured teenage girls out and believe that they spend way, too much time texting, shopping or gossiping about other girls? Well, after attending South's Parent Council November Parent Education Series led by Ophelia's Places' Annelise Heitman and Kara Penniman, LCSW, a Mental Health Therapist in South Eugene and Churchill High School's Health Center we're hoping you'll know much, much more.

We invite parents of teenage girls (and boys!) to participate in a discussion on what is unique to being a teenage girl as we address issues you might not have expected such as relationship aggression, media and body image, cyberbullying and dating and violence.

We'll meet in the South Eugene High School cafeteria on Wednesday, November 12th from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. after the monthly Parent Council meeting from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. Students are welcome, too.

For more information on this and future Parent Education Series visit our website at http://parentcouncil.blogspot.com/ or e-mail Helen Garrett, Parent Education Series Coordinator at sehsparentcouncil@comcast.net