Speakers Offer Tips to Help Preteens Eat Well, Keep Fit, and Have a Positive Body Image
As preteens sort through sometimes conflicting messages from parents, peers, and media, it can be challenging to guide them down a path toward positive self image and healthful eating and exercise habits. At the May 1 Preteen Alliance luncheon, Ann Tipton, MD, an adolescent medicine specialist from Kaiser Permanente, and Amy Jussel, executive director of Shaping Youth, offered tools to help parents and caregivers meet those challenges.

To read a re-cap of the event, and download the speakers' handouts and tips, visit preteenalliance.org.


Report: What Makes a Quality After-School Program for Preteens
Preteen Alliance members, particularly those who work in an after-school setting, may be interested to know about a new report commissioned by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health and produced by Public/Private Ventures, Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens. This report identifies six characteristics of quality after-school programs that are linked to positive outcomes for preteens. The full report and a companion Online Resource Guide (detailed below) are available at http://www.lpfch.org/afterschool.

Resource Guide: Tools to Strengthen After-School Programs
This guide, intended primarily for practitioners, including agency directors, program managers, and program staff, provides resources for creating, enhancing, and expanding programs. The guide is organized around the six principles for after-school program quality outlined in the report Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens. The full resource guide is available at http://www.lpfch.org/afterschool/resourceguide.html.

A Summary of Data About Preteens
Remember that data about preteens in six Bay Area counties -- San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa -- are available on kidsdata.org. For a summary of data about local preteens, visit http://www.kidsdata.org/demographicdata.jsp?menuused=indexdem&dem=21.




Friends and Bullies: The Social Lives of Preteens
The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health and Kaiser Permanente are co-sponsors of this Childhood Matters radio show about helping preteens navigate the ups and downs of their social relationships. Sunday, May 25, on 98.1 KISS FM.
http://www.kidscal.org/event/204465

Babysitter Training
Designed especially for preteens, this American Red Cross class will focus on the information and skills necessary for preteens to provide safe and responsible care to younger children. Sunday, June 8, in Palo Alto.
http://www.kidscal.org/event/201616

A Head Start on the College Experience
The San Mateo County Community College District offers this three-week program for students in fifth through ninth grades that combines summer camp with academic enrichment classes in a college setting. Starts Monday, June 16, in San Bruno.
http://www.kidscal.org/event/204418

Find more preteen events on kidscal.org: http://www.kidscal.org
Add your events to kidscal.org: http://www.lpfch.org/cgi-bin/calendar/admin.cgi

If you have information about preteen events or activities for the next newsletter, please send it to preteens@lpfch.org.

The Preteen Alliance promotes the emotional and behavioral health of preteens by using information to raise public awareness and inform regional action, with an emphasis on Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The Alliance has more than 1,100 members, and is guided by a two-county steering committee. For more information, see http://www.preteenalliance.org/about.html.

Also on preteenalliance.org:

  • News and Research About Preteens: Find recent news and research commissioned by the foundation regarding preteens, as well as links to other relevant research.
  • Resources and Services: Preteenalliance.org's resources page links to websites and services on topics affecting preteens.

If you have questions about The Alliance or want to include information in the next edition of The Preteen Post, reply to this e-mail or call us at (650) 724-5778.

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