All In Mountain Brook parent conference to focus on students
All In Mountain Brook is hosting its second annual parent conference, ALL IN PARENTING 2016, Nov. 1at Mountain Brook High School. The event’s subject is guidance for parenting junior high and high school students. Presentations begin at 5:30, but parents are invited to come at 5:00 for food and fellowship.
On Tuesday night, Mountain Brook parents may attend up to three out of nine workshops, including talks on social media, teenage relationships, better communication with teenagers, the teenage brain, sleep deprivation among teenagers, setting limits without power struggles, and others. Presenters include Mary Halsey Maddox, M.D., psychologists Dr. Bert Pitts, Dr. Dale Wisely, and Dr. Heather Austin, family counselors Michelle Pruett and Judi Shulman Miller, Rabbi Jonathan Miller, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dicky Barlow, and others.
On Tuesday morning, in advance of the parenting workshop, All In Mountain Brook and Mountain Brook High Schools is offering a related set of workshops for students. Students will select three from a menu of fourteen 20-minutes talks by professionals, including some speakers who will present at that evening’s parenting conference.
Community leaders and parent volunteers formed All In Mountain Brook, a 501(c)3 nonprofit community organization, in 2014 seeking to influence and support Mountain Brook youth to enhance positive decision-making and reducing high-risk behavior such as underage drinking, substance abuse, and dangerous driving.
“The mission of the organization is to protect and enhance the lives of the Mountain Brook community,” said Dr. Dale Wisely, a member of All In Mountain Brook's 30-person Board of Directors. “The majority of deaths and disabling injuries of teenagers can be related to mental health issues and high risk behavior.” He said the organization’s focus is to combat anything that might put teens at risk, but also to foster positive decisions and practices by teenagers and their families. Planned annual conferences will help provide parents of the community with instruments necessary for achieving these goals, Wisely said.
In addition to November’s conference, a parent conference for elementary students will be held in February. Its content will feature issues faced by the younger age group.
For more information about the organization and for details on the free conference, including online registration, go to allinmountainbrook.org.