Week of 11/7/16

Good afternoon & happy Thursday-

I am writing today because I head off shortly on the Make-A-Wish service trip to Give Kids the World in Florida. What an honor to travel with such an amazing group of students committed to giving back to the world around them. 

The end of Term 1 is here. Grades close today. 

Report cards will be available in iParent/iStudent on Friday, November 18.  If you need a paper copy of the report card please email Mrs. Chaney in the front office (lchaney@ashland.k12.ma.us).  

Dear AHS Parents and Students,

Health Careers are booming, and students and parents are routinely asking us about them.  Our health care system affords a wide range of well-paying health care occupations requiring varying levels of education.  AHS, with the support of several community members is sponsoring a “Health Careers Night” on Tuesday, December 6^th at 7 pm here at AHS in the Ruthfield Auditorium.  AHS students and parents will learn from community members in the health care field about a wide variety of rewarding careers in health care.  Panelists will share their path to their career, what they love about it, and what their day to day responsibilities are.  This is the first in what is hoped to become a series promoting other career fields, and we invite parents and students to join us!  Please contact Mr. Garrigan in the guidance office with any questions.

Sincerely,

Ashland High School Guidance Department

Contact:

Brian Garrigan

(508) 881-0176

bgarrigan@ashland.k12.ma.us

Dear Ashland Families,

As many of you know, the Decisions of Every Turn (DAET) Coalition & the Friends of the Ashland Public Library Community Programming with support from ASHPAC and the Ashland K-12 PTO, were able to bring Dr. Ken Ginsburg to Ashland for a full day on October 19^th. Dr. Ginsburg spoke to students (grades 7, 9 & 10), staff, and parents about fostering resilience in our community. There has been a wave of positive feedback and comments indicating that his messaging should be shared broadly. To that end, several learning opportunities are available:  

• For a limited time we are able to share Dr. Ginsburg's evening presentation with Ashland families at https://youtu.be/YgMpLyKZEbA. Invite your Middle or High School-aged child to watch it with you. This is a great opportunity for parents and their teens to have meaningful conversations around fostering and building resilience. For additional information, Dr. Ginsburg’s website can be found at http://www.fosteringresilience.com/.  
• DAET's Resilience and Social-Emotional & Mental Health Parenting for Prevention tip sheets are attached to help support resilience-building efforts and student social-emotional & mental health.
• DAET recently convened a Parent Group to discuss how Dr. Ginsburg's messages can be further integrated into our homes, schools, and community. It was a great conversation; thank you to those who attended. DAET looks forward to hosting another Parent Group meeting in January. We hope you can join us; stay tuned for details.

Thank you for all of the generous support of Dr. Ginsburg and the excitement for continuing this very important conversation.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Ashland's Decisions at Every Turn Coalition at CoalitionInfo@AshlandDecisions.org or visit the website at www.ashlanddecisions.org. 

 Click here to see Dr. Ginsburg's presentation: Dr. Ginsburg parent presentation

Please take a moment to review the Parent Flyers.  
Consider joining the Friends of the APL and Decisions at Every Turn at the World Cafe Discussion on Alcohol next Tuesday, November 15.  More information can be found in the flyer.  

Ashland Raises Healthy & Happy Kids:

Signs of a healthy teen (or adult) relationship

1. Mutual respect -  Respect in a relationship means that each person values who the other is and understands  the other person's boundaries.
2. Trust -  It's ok to get a little jealous sometimes,  jealousy is a natural emotion. But how a person reacts when feeling jealous is what matters. There's no way you can have a healthy relationship if you don't trust each other.
3. Support - In a healthy relationship, your significant other is there with a shoulder to cry on when you go through something difficult  and also there to celebrate your accomplishments.
4. Fairness/equality - You need to have give and take in your relationship.  Things get bad when a relationship turns into a power struggle, with one person fighting to get his or her way all the time.
5. Separate identities- Neither of you should have to pretend to like something you don't, or give up seeing your friends, or drop out of activities you love. And you also should feel free to keep developing new talents or interests, making new friends, and moving forward.
6. Good communication - Speak honestly and openly and do not keep your feelings bottled up.