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When: 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 27. Pre-registration will begin at 7:30 a.m.
Where: Westside Middle School, 8601 Arbor St.
Cost: Registration is $25 or $30 the day of the conference. Free child care will be provided for those who register by March 19.
Everyone who attends the conference will receive a free copy of the book, “What Kids Need to Succeed: Proven, Practical Ways to Raise Good Kids.”
For a conference brochure and to register, visit www.westside66.org or call 390-2109.
When Danny Butler was 12, he read “Free the Children,” a book about child labor around the world.
He decided he wanted to raise $6,000 to build a school in China.
Scott Butler, Danny's dad, didn't exactly jump up and down at the notion. His first instinct was to protect his son from disappointment. It was a lot of money for a young boy to raise. Surely he wasn't going to be able to do it.
Danny raised the money, donating it to the Free the Children organization for a school in China's Gansu province.
And Scott Butler learned a lesson. “What I had to learn was my role was to shut up and get out of the way and help him when he needed help,” he said.
Scott and Danny, who is now 16, will discuss that and other lessons they've learned together at the 33rd annual Statewide Parent Involvement Conference on March 27 at Westside Middle School, 8601 Arbor St.
Specifically, they'll look at the role parents play in developing some of their kids' key personal and social traits, known as the 40 Developmental Assets. Research indicates the traits help them thrive and avoid risky behaviors.
Butler said they'll focus on the “I cans” of parenting: involvement, consistency, awareness, nurturing and spirituality.
They plan to have a little fun with the topics, using video clips from popular movies to show when parents have handled a situation well or badly.
The pair do the same with their own personal stories, as with the Chinese fundraising tale. Scott Butler is the chairman of the Greater Omaha Healthy Communities Healthy Youth Initiative, which aims to spread the assets in the community.
Both Butlers serve on the initiative's speakers bureau. Scott Butler is an expert on the 40 Developmental Assets and an assistant principal at Beadle Middle School in the Millard Public Schools. Millard and other districts have incorporated the assets into their curriculum.
The morning-long conference also will offer up experts in a wide range of topics, such as bullying, cybersafety and reading strategies. Multiple sessions on each are scheduled to allow parents to attend as many as they choose.
Contact the writer:
444-1223, julie.anderson@owh.com
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