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Welcome to the second edition of the 2009 Challenge Success Quarterly. We are excited that Challenge Success has been growing steadily and that so many people have been inspired to join our movement to champion a broader vision of success for youth.
In this issue:
- What’s happened since we last wrote?
- Upcoming Events
- We'd like to hear from you
What’s happened since we last wrote?
We’ve had a busy spring at Challenge Success and are pleased with our progress these past few months. Here is a sampling of what we’ve been working on:
We welcomed our fall school teams back to campus on May 16th to update us on their progress throughout the year, to share what is and isn’t working at their schools, and to talk about new issues that they are facing as they begin to implement new policies and practices. Despite 90 degree weather, we had lively and enlightening exchanges throughout the day.
Challenge Success teamed with our friends at the Palo Alto PTA to attend the California PTA convention in San Jose in early May. As we talked to leaders from PTAs across the state, we reinforced our message and, perhaps more importantly, we heard their stories. We sold over 200 DVD’s from our fall plenary session during the 3 day event, which was staffed almost entirely by Palo Alto PTA volunteers. We appreciate the help they gave us, and we are excited that our message is spreading to communities throughout the state.
Co-Founders Denise Pope and Jim Lobdell piloted our first parent education class, Raising Well-Balanced Children in a Fast-Paced World, through Stanford’s Continuing Education Program this spring. Thirty parents met for a five- week course that culminated in a set of guiding principles as well as an action plan to create a healthier and more balanced family. Designed for parents of children ages 5-12, the course explored this central question: What is success, and how can I foster it in today’s fast-paced, performance-based culture? In a highly interactive environment, participants examined current research on childhood stressors and learned specific strategies to promote physical and mental health, engagement in school, and overall well-being for their children. The course explored the daily challenges of finding time for play, handling homework, choosing appropriate extracurricular activities, and promoting healthier lifestyles and deeper connections for the entire family. To inquire about how to offer this course in your school community, contact us at info@challengesuccess.org.
We have made some organizational changes as well. We are pleased to announce Maureen Brown as Program Director for Challenge Success. Maureen will oversee daily operations as well as marketing and strategic planning. Maureen comes to Challenge Success with over 20 years of consulting experience in health care, financial services, and technology. As a Partner at APM, Incorporated, Maureen worked to improve health care operations and strategy development at university medical centers. Maureen worked for Philadelphia National Bank and for Citibank after graduating with a BA in Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Columbia University. She has extensive not-for-profit experience through her participation on various boards at Georgetown University and Woodside School. Maureen has been an active volunteer at Castilleja School and at Menlo School, and has served as President of Alpine-West Menlo Little League. With a freshman in college and twins that are high school juniors, Maureen has seen first- hand the pressure our youth face and she is committed to finding solutions that will prepare youth for the challenges they face, in the workplace and in their daily lives.
We are also in the process of forming a Challenge Success Advisory Board to provide us with counsel on fundraising and business issues. We look forward to developing a cohesive strategic plan with our new board members and toward continued work with our research and policy advisors, whose insights and advice over the past five years have been invaluable. With these structural changes, Challenge Success will be better prepared to undertake program development for parents and youth, in conjunction with the work we are doing with schools across the nation.
Upcoming events
Mark your calendars for our fall conference September 25th and 26th! The plenary session, free and open to the public, will be held in Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium from 7:30-9:30p.m. on Friday, September 25th. Michael Thompson, PhD, author of "The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Achieve Success in School and in Life," and author of best-selling "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys," will discuss strategies to reduce the pressures of our fast-paced society and help all children thrive. Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer and Head of Global Public Policy for Facebook, will talk about essential skills needed for the 21st century workforce. Denise Pope, Madeline Levine and a student panel will round out the evening. We will be filming the evening’s presentations, and DVD’s of the event will be available through the Challenge Success website. We hope you will join us on Friday evening and help us to spread the word of this exciting plenary session. Please RSVP at our web site, www.ChallengeSuccess.org.
You can also check the calendar feature on our website to find a presentation near you. Click here to visit the Calendar page now. Or, learn how to bring a Challenge Success Parent Education Presentation to your community. Click here to visit the Parent Education page now.
We’d like to hear from you
We’re a small organization so keeping up to date on everything that is happening around the nation isn’t easy. We could use your help. If you know schools that are making changes to address stress in students’ lives, please let us know. We would love to learn from their successes - and failures.
We have had a tremendous response to our call for volunteers. Volunteers have helped us with writing for our website, staffing events, and creating databases and DVD’s. In fact, we’ve sold over 1,000 DVD’s so far--confirming the tremendous hunger for solutions to the problems faced today by both children and families. We couldn’t have done this work without you and we are so grateful for your continued support. We will need some volunteers for our fall conference, so if you are interested in helping with preparation for the event or on the night of September 25th, please email mebrown@stanford.edu.
We also hope that you will consider making a charitable contribution to help Challenge Success pursue its mission. You can make a tax deductible donation online at our Donate page. Click here to visit the Donate page now. Every donation counts and we appreciate your support.
Thank you again for all of your enthusiasm, support and encouragement!
The Challenge Success Team
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Challenge Success is located at
Stanford University School of Education
485 Lasuen Mall, MC 3096
Stanford, California 94305-3096 |
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