Cicadas, Mosquitos and Other June Bugs
So what’s buggin’ you lately? Do teen pregnancy and child abuse still feel like dire problems in need of quality long-term prevention efforts? Think of how ants are small and yet capable of mighty things when they work together. Do you have moments of discouragement with the young people you’re trying to help make healthy decisions? Think of the lowly worm in the cocoon that produces a beautiful butterfly. Do you need help with funding or does your community need to know more about how your program is making a difference in their lives? Maybe you just need to get some buzz with local media. These are the issues that keep us coming to work every day. How can we help you accomplish your goals? Let’s keep talking to each other so we can figure it out. Special note to our teacher-subscribers... if you are on your way out the door for summer vacation, enjoy your time off! Check out the Product Support tip ‘o the month if you’re storing Babies until later in the year and we’ll see you in September! |
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Michigan Program Touches 600
Laurie Benzing is putting her Babies away for summer after a very successful school year. She is a community specialist for Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan in Jackson (near Lansing). Laurie takes the RealCare® Parenting Program to 12 schools in the county, spending five teaching days with students and going over their simulation results. In 2006, the program reached 600 area students. “I just love them,” she says. “But I’m so ready to put them away now.” She’ll store all of them away except her demo Baby, which she keeps with her all the time. “Everywhere I go it seems like people are always asking me about them.” Her program begins with a day to discuss the economic, legal and emotional consequences of being pregnant, and time to talk about relationships in general. This leads into the simulation weekend. Upon return, local child abuse prevention and neglect professionals join Laurie to go over the simulation results with students.
“We talk about the feelings they experienced,” says Laurie. “This is when I can look at the report and say, ‘It looks like you struggled with supporting the head’ or whatever it might be. They get a child abuse lesson while I’m going over their scores. We’ve even talked about legal charges and planning a funeral.” Other lessons, like the cost of babysitting, are incorporated into the parenting simulation. Students are allowed up to six hours of quiet time, but Laurie will give them a bill for what it would have cost them to have that time to themselves by hiring a babysitter. After the simulation debriefing, another day is spent on what Laurie calls “What are we going to do now?” This is where they talk about abstinence and contraceptives. “We teach both because we want to reach everybody,” says Laurie. “Statistically we know that some kids are going to choose to have sex. Planned Parenthood’s whole message is about pregnancy prevention. We believe the more education we can provide, the better the prevention effort.”
Laurie does the programming of the Babies for each simulation. She maintains the “fleet” of simulators and even washes the clothing between uses. Every weekend from October to May, a class is having a Baby simulation. All students in the class have the experience at the same time, to build a sense of camaraderie and to make the best use of the teacher’s time. And everyone comes back exhausted at the same time, she adds. “They all get different things out of it. Some really bond with the Baby. And I tell them that’s okay, because when you are ready—and I stress that—you will do well. Some will tell me they cried and I tell them that’s okay... parents do that, too. But it’s good that this was a practice run. This shows that you don’t want this at this time in your life. “We even had a teen father who gained new respect for the mother of his child once he experienced what she had to go through in taking care of the baby.” Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan received a $10,000 grant from a community foundation three years ago to pay for more simulators and related products for the county’s programs. “It certainly helps that there is research on the effectiveness. This helps us out,” says Laurie. “But we get more support because the schools want it. They ask for it.” |
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Dad Piles on the Baby Homework
Driving Miss Baby?
Enter and Win! Winners will be chosen by random drawing at the end of the year. Think of it—lots of great products from us to you just for bragging up your program and sharing ideas that other program leaders might be able to use. Besides, the more you contribute to this newsletter, the less of our "blah blah blah" we have to read. Everybody wins! Click here to enter your story. We're interested! |
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We’re Here For You
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Did you notice that as soon as the mild temps and gentle breezes come around, the insects come around, too? But like we always say (since about an hour ago) if you can’t beat ‘em... eat ‘em! That’s what they’re doing in the Midwest and the reports are that cicadas taste like chicken. Of course, if you wanted to taste some chicken you might just eat, well, chicken. If you like six legs and two wings of extra crispy in your bucket, cicadas might be the delicacy for you. As for us, if we see a cicada, we’re going to make like the Beatles and let it be. All this is a welcome switch as we're used to the mosquitos snacking on us. 
Unlike some companies, you can call the Realityworks product support line and get a real live person to help you with your product concerns. And even though you can’t see them through the phone, they really are smiling. They can talk you through just about any issue that’s keeping you from getting things accomplished (unless your issue is that pile of laundry or the ”check engine” light in your vehicle). 
Product Support Tip o’ the Month
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Pass it On!Know somebody who should get this newsletter? Forward them a copy of the Star today. Prizes! True stories! Life-changing moments! Textures! Colors! Silly stuff! Share the love, won’t you? |
Hey Weezie! The answer was The Jeffersons!Last month we asked, “Who famously was “movin’ on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky”? It was fast-talking George Jefferson, the fast-talking dry cleaner played by Sherman Hemsley in the sitcom The Jeffersons, a popular spinoff of All in the Family (which explained his Archie Bunker-ish demeanor). “Movin’ on up” was the show’s theme song. Other cast members included his long-suffering wife, Louise “Weezie”, played by Isabel Sanford. You may also recall their sassy maid Florence, played by Marla Gibbs. Congratulations, winners! The first correct answer came from Michelle Hubbard, who teaches Family and Consumer Sciences at Rio Hondo High School, in Rio Hondo, Texas. Other winners hailed from Missouri, Indiana, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Colorado. We’ve concluded that The Jeffersons was a big hit in Texas and Missouri as those states sent in the majority of correct answers. Fellow TV junkies unite! (Have you noticed how Realityworks is stuck on TV and movies from the 70s-80s? |
Links Catalogs with bite-sized program descriptions, a mouthwatering selection of package options and volume discounts for the heartier appetite. Yum, yum. Change the World DVDs with testimonials, success stories and product information. Take two. They’re low-cal. Research opportunities. Very satisfying... to participate in studies that will help improve instructor and participant experiences. A free update to your Control Center software. Download lots of good stuff in minutes. Like when you eat potato chips in front of the TV. Realityworks White Paper with a summary of effectiveness studies. May we recommend serving with a sparkling white spritzer? Hungry for more? See you in July with more tasty treats! |
*Star Trivia Question Who said this every year in his role as spokesperson for the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes? Special bonus to the first 10 readers to reply with the correct name for this obscure cultural reference. Email your response hereand include your name, organization and address information so we can send you a delightful prize. And remember, you can’t win if... well, you know the rest! |
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