Among the programs we have for parents, I want to encourage you to come to our top-notch parent sessions on Tuesday nights. You’ll learn something new, be reminded of something forgotten, and you’ll want to come back. Last week, Arsineh Ararat told parents that if you are doing your kid’s homework, you’re a friend. Be a parent and let the child do her/his own word search, mission, science project. Work side-by-side when you work from home; you’ll set a good parental example.

This week she is going to talk about setting boundaries and communication. Next week, the topic is non-verbal communication and modeling behavior. That’ll be interesting. Arsineh finishes February’s sessions on the 24th with empty promises and threats. All of these topics are related because good communication is key to every relationship you have, especially those that matter most.

I met Arsineh Ararat, LMFT, when she was running Didi Hirsch’s Armunity Grant. She has a rich professional background that allows her to understand complexities of human nature and our community well. Her style is informal and informative, and she kept her eye open for questions. You know the speaker’s successful when people won’t leave! Arsineh works as a counselor with GUSD’s Student Support Services’ Healthy Start Office.

Healthy Start provides food, clothes, bus tokens, health care, dental, vision, housing, toys and other services and items to students. They also serve youth in foster care who live in non-traditional housing or who are homeless and run the Healthy Start Collaborative.

Another service Healthy Start provides is free, anonymous, drug test kits. If you are looking for a way to confirm a suspicion or to begin a conversation about drug use, these kits open the door for you. They test for six substances. Simply talk to your school’s counselor or call Healthy Start at (818) 241-3111 extension 308 to find out how to provide or receive resources.

Parent sessions run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in CV High’s Library, 2900 Community Ave. As always, we appreciate CV High’s administration and custodial staff for their ready and pleasant help and support.

Suzy Jacobs
is the executive director of

CV Alliance located at 

3131 Foothill Blvd. Suite D

La Crescenta, CA 91214

(818) 646-7867

http://cv-alliance.org/

  Suzy JACOBS