YWCA Week Without Violence 2013

We’ve completed another successful Week Without Violence events.  We kicked the week off with our Women for Racial Justice Breakfast on Monday, October 21^st at the Pasadena Hilton.  Dr. Analise Enrile delivered a powerful message that left all guests ready to take action against human traffickers and empowered guests to stand up for women’s rights.  Cher Calvin from KTLA news was the Emcee and Dr. Jacqueline Jacobs received our 2013 Women for Racial Justice Award.  A special thank you to U.S. House of Representative Congresswoman Judy Chu for serving as our 2013 Honorary Chairwoman.

Special thanks to all of our sponsors Avery Dennison, Kaiser Permanente, Southern California Edison, Wells Fargo, All Saints Church, The Gas Co., Pacific Oaks College, PCL Construction and US Bank. To all of our supporters and donors, a BIG THANK YOU because we could not have done this without you.  

We would also like to thank our in-kind donation sponsors who contributed to our raffle:  Los Angeles Sparks, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Lakers, Pasadena Ice Skating, Tournament of Roses, Sharp Seating Company, In-N-Out, Tommy's Burgers, Nestle, Aquarium of the Bay, Aquarium of the Pacific, Pasadena Police Department, Johnnie Mae Teacakes, Los Angeles Zoo, Boomers Gofl, A Noise Within, Pasadena Playhouse, El Portal, Mark Robert Halper Photography, Massage Envy, Zoey Van Jones Waxing Studio, Wine and Canvas, Color Me Mine, Santa Anita Park and UCLA. 

Our media sponsors included: Pasadena Now, Pasadena Magazine and Mosheh Photography.  Other thanks go to 10,000 Villages, Arcadia Sign Company, Gorilla Banners, Pasadena Water and Power and Eleanor Lee.

On Tuesday, October 22^nd the YWCA hosted Mind, Body and Soul: Survivors Edition, a three-part workshop for survivors of Domestic Violence.  Our survivors attended three workshops that covered the mind, body and soul.  Chella from Money Basics 101 presented our financial literacy segment, Brittney from ‘A Temple Within,’ conducted a yoga workshop that challenged the ladies to stretch away their current worries and our masseuse helped the ladies enjoy the power of touch.  We would like to thank PF Chang’s General Manager, Kevin Sedik for the generous donation of food.  We would also like to thank Jamie Barton of FEMDefend for providing items for the gift bags.  Tears and laughter closed another successful event for our Domestic Violence survivors.  Remember that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and we are collected items at our office to assist women and their children, this campaign runs through November 1st. Please call our office for more information 626-296-8433.

The YWCA took over City Hall for their first Annual Chalk for Change Festival.  More than 100 people gathered to chalk for a change.  We would like to thank the City of Pasadena, Jackie Robinson Center, Panda Express – Panda Cares Program, Planned Parenthood Pasadena, Pasadena Police Department, Day One, La Pintoresca Teen Center, Peace Over Violence and Institute for Girls Development for being a part of a committee that planned such a successful event.  The kids were able to express themselves via art and they had positive and inspirational messages and pictures to share with passerby’s.

13-Year-Old Graduate Student

While most 13-year-old girls are just returning to middle school or high school, Sushma Verma is well on her way to recieving her Master's degree!

Having grown up poor in Lucknow, India, Sushma has had all the odds stacked against her. Her father earns less than $3.50 per day and Sushma and other young girls like her are typically discouraged from persuing a formal education. But this has not stopped the Vermas and this teenager has made several academic accomplishments at a young age. According to ABCNews, Verma "finished high school at 7 and earned an undergraduate degree at age 13." Sushma is currently in the process of obtaining a Master's degree in Microbiology at B.R. Ambedkar Central University in Lucknow.


WAY TO GO, SUSHMA!


http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/13-yr-indian-girl-begins-microbiology-masters-20265714

Emotions Matter

As children get settled into the school year, make new friends and become adjusted to the new homework load they also become overwhelmed with an assortment of emotions. Every new year at school can be like starting over. They have new teachers, new skills to learn and new friends to make. How can we make this transition as successful as possible? How can we make sure children thrive and are part of an engaged learning environment? One way is through teaching our children emotional literacy.

Photo by: Woodley Wonderworks

          A child's emotional intelligence can make a difference in their school experience and how they interact with others. According to Marc Brackett, director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University, New Haven, it is difficult for this subject to be held in high regard in schools when it is in competition with other mandates. The rigorous requirements put upon teachers do not offer time to teach emotional literacy. 

          In an interview on National Public Radio, Brackett and Maurice Elias, professor of psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey and director of the Social and Emotional Learning Lab there, spoke about why it is so important to teach emotional literacy and how it can be applied within the education system.

          Emotional intelligence is defined as the process of children learning to recognize how other people are feeling and how their actions affect others.   

          When children start learning these skills at a young age, it helps them have healthy personal relationships and allows them to get along better with others. This learning should partly begin in the classroom where a multitude of emotions arise.

          Mixed and intensified emotions are symbiotic with new experiences. According to Elias, studies show that children's abilities to learn are related to their emotional state. Now what magnitudes this is the fact that children's emotional literacy vocabulary (in other words, their ability to label a feeling with a word) is very limited. Because of this, many times they are unable to tell us how they feel or act accordingly.

          "When kids walk into a school, they put a lot of things in their lockers, but the one thing they don't put in are their feelings," said Elias. "They carry those feelings around with them every day, every classroom, in the hallway, in the lunchroom. And if we don't help them understand those feelings and know how to calm themselves down when they're upset, and in fact, frankly even calm themselves down when they're too elated, they're going to have a hard time paying attention to what's going on in the classroom."

The goal of emotional literacy is to teach children five main things summed up by the acronym: RULER

Recognizing emotions in oneself and others
Understanding where those emotions come from and the causes of emotions
Labeling emotions
Expressing emotions
Regulating emotions

Photo by: Bill Young

 

       However, both Brackett and Elias stress that all individuals, adults and children alike, must develop these skills. Teachers and adults need to be aware of their own emotional cues and those of the children they work with. Many teachers can mistake a child not paying attention to "boredom" or "disinterest." When in fact the child's inattention is linked to an emotion that is blocking their ability to focus or pay attention.

          Teachers and adults must also understand the importance of expressing how they feel to their students and children. They must not assume that the child knows they are upset or sad. An engaging environment must be created by showing through example that children can succeed and do well at a task even when they are upset.

          Brackett and Elias want schools to foster an open, honest and engaging learning environment when it comes to children and their feelings.The simple act of a teacher taking the time to warmly great every student, or hold a classroom meeting to go over the day's events has been shown to increase classroom productivity. Giving children the time to "reset" their emotional switchboards allows them to be in a better position to handle feelings that come up later on during the day.

          Even though there are difficulties getting emotional literacy programs adapted into schools, Elias states that it's a growing trend in which science is catching up with observed reality.

          "The science will eventually show that emotions matter," said Brackett.



For more information about emotional intelligence and teaching emotional literacy visit:

www.casel.org
character.org
ei.yale.edu  

Great Lakes resident about to get her bachelor's degree at 14

 

  

 



Most 14-year-old teens are enjoying their summer and gearing up for a new school year while anticipating catching up with friends and classmates but not Thessalonika Arzu-Embry. The Illinois resident is set to receive her bachelor’s degree from Chicago State University in psychology on August 30 after a college track that began three years ago at College of Lake County.

 

 

Regardless of her age, Thessalonika says her college expirience has been pretty normal.

 

"My college experience is a traditional college experience for me — it is just that I have completed it faster. I am very excited about joining others in having the opportunity to contribute to society in a significant way.”