Week of November 25

Hooray for Diffendoofer!

Bravo! What a great performance today! Thank you to May School students and staff for helping make this year’s Poetry and Pie such a success.

Students in service of others

Last year, Ms. Trudy’s students learned how to knit. Their enjoyment of knitting led to a service project of making 90 hats and blankets for the New Life Home Trust in Nairobi, Kenya. The students recently received exciting news. After 4 ½ months of shipping challenges, the box of hats and blankets arrived at the orphanage! What a great feeling to know that the baby items the students made last year are now providing warmth and comfort to children.

As a kick off to our food drive students spent part of a morning bagging vegetables at the Bag n’ Hand Food Pantry that were to be distributed to families the following morning. They also had the opportunity to learn about the important work that is accomplished each week at the food pantry which serves over 200 families a week.  Our students and families have taken the food drive to a whole new level this year. Our students have donated over 1,000 items of food. This speaks wonderfully to our giving community. Thank you all for your participation!

CREATING PROTECTIVE COMMUNITIES PARENT SEMINAR

Many of our students are completing personal safety courses through Resolve, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing violence in New Mexico.  Resolve is offering a free seminar to all May School families on Wednesday, December 4th from 6-7:30 pm. 

Free childcare will also be provided by May Center staff.  Children will be served pizza and have the opportunity to craft, play legos or watch a movie. Please RSVP to Patty Conway, patty@maycenter.org,  for childcare by Monday, December 2nd.  

Below is a detailed description of the topics that will be covered during this informative evening. 

Creating Protective Communities

So many of us want to prevent sexual violence among the children we work with and don’t know how best to do so. Much of the time, prevention takes more of an individual approach– what a child can do to deter abuse or respond to “grooming.” Research now shows that it is not only a child that is “groomed” for sexual abuse, but families, schools, and entire communities. This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on the messages we receive about safety as adults and other factors that can lead to violence in our communities. Participants will also learn how to proactively and effectively prevent sexual violence in their communities. 

This training is designed to support those who work with youth and are concerned with reducing the impact of violence in their lives.

This workshop, which is co-presented with Jess Clark of Solace Crisis Treatment Center, provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on the safety messages we receive and other factors that leave our children at risk. Participants will learn how to proactively and effectively prevent sexual violence in their communities by using a community-based approach to “grooming” and other tactics that perpetrators use, rather than an individual child approach. Participants will examine barriers to intervention and practice strategies proven to reduce sexual abuse in communities.

For teachers, school staff, parents, and other adults who work with youth.