Peg Tyre The Trouble With Boys:  A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do   Tuesday October 27, 2009 Rye Country Day School Performing Arts Center     Education journalist and prize-winning investigative reporter Peg Tyre has written a book of resounding relevance for any parent who has ever contemplated how gender frames the educational experiences of our children. “The Trouble With Boys...” addresses the phenomenom of falling grades among school age boys, the rising rates of ADHD diagnosis and the subtle but surprising inconsistency in what we expect from boys and girls in the classroom.   A long time staff writer for Newsweek, Tyre’s groundbreaking 2006 cover story “The Boy Crisis”  encouraged a closer examination of this national debate over the noted achievement gap between boys and girls in school and why our boys are attending college in reduced numbers.  In her book, Peg Tyre invites parents to consider the vital questions.  Does equal tolerance exist in our schools for the distinct learning styles and behavioral differences of boys and girls?  Has society overcompensated to ensure the academic advancement of girls at the expense of boys?  Be part of this fascinating conversation about the education our sons and daughters.   A graduate of Brown University, Peg Tyre has lectured at Harvard University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is a frequent speaker at public and private schools around the nation and has twice been nominated for a National Magazine Award.  Currently, she is a non-resident fellow at The Education Sector, a non-partisan educational think thank in Washington, D.C. and is at work on another book.

Dr. Roger H. Martin A College President Becomes A Freshman Again:  A Unique Perspective On College Transition Thursday November 19, 2009 Rye High School Performing Arts Center    Have you ever imagined what it would be like to fulfill the fantasy of re-living your college experience? To regain that blooming confidence and sense of endless possibility that seem to belong only to college students?  When former Harvard dean and then President of Randolph-Macon College in Virginia enrolled as a college freshman in 2004 he was indeed poised to realize this extraordinary yet most common of dreams.   Taking advantage of a scheduled sabbatical and after battling a life threatening cancer, Roger Martin became a sixty-one-year old college freshman at St. John’s College, the Great Books School in Annapolis, Maryland.  There he pursued the freshman course of study and boldly reintroduced himself to the classics, joined the college crew team and fully embraced his second chance at academia and introspection. His epic journey back to the classroom is chronicled in Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again.   In his presentation, Dr. Martin will recount his compelling motivation for this unconventional academic undertaking and will share his many lessons learned through a literary lense that is both candid and humorous.  For it is Homer’s Odysseus who becomes Martin’s mentor as he travels the uncertain path of studenthood - again!  His gift of rediscovery allows him to consider, among other issues, the value of liberal arts studies in our careerist society and what really makes the college experience meaningful.  Booklist has described Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again as “ alternately amusing and poignant...offering a much needed perspective on cultural dilemmas both ancient and modern.” Library News has recommended it as “a must read for adults of all ages.”   Prior to heading Randolph-Macon College as its 14th president, Martin served for 11 years as president of Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  He also served as associate dean of the Divinity School and a lecturer in church history at Harvard University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drew University, a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Yale University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University.

Keri Glassman, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. Nutrition for Kids of All Ages And What We Know About Eating Disorders in Teens Wednesday January 27, 2010 Rye Neck High School Auditorium Learn the “ABC’s of Nutrition” and how they can help your children maximize the energy they need to enjoy their busy days!  Find out why those dietary “Most Valuable Players” are important in planning meals for your multi-tasking family...Keri Glassman, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. is the author of The Snack Factor Diet and The O2 Diet (January 2010) and is president of Keri Glassman, A Nutritious Life. Her nutrition consulting practice counsels clients on how to integrate sound dietary planning with proper sleep, stress management and the right exercise to achieve what she calls a “Nutritious Life Cycle”.   Mark your calendar for a presentation that’s sure to offer valuable information on how you can promote the growth and good health of your children.  Ms. Glassman has helped  thousands of families redefine their view of nutrition and re-acquaint themselves with healthy living (and eating) habits!  Did you know that all snacks are not created equal?  Borrow some smart snacking ideas and kid-friendly week-night recipes from Keri.  Her scientific yet simple advice will inspire you to put your family on a path toward living a nutritious life.  Keri will also discuss spotting the early signs and symptoms of eating disorders and how you can distinquish eating disorders from disordered eating. She will offer tips on how you can prevent disturbances in eating behavior from affecting your family.    Ms. Glassman has shared her nutrition know-how through countless articles and websites and been widely quoted in top publications such as Marie Claire, Prevention, Allure, Self, Shape and Harper’s Bazaar.  From “Healthy, Quick, Delicious Brown-Bagging” and “Brainfood For Kids” to “Keep Your Kids Healthy This Winter”, she offers nutritional wisdom for today’s busy household.     Ms. Glassman is a Contributing Editor for Women’s Health Magazine, Nutrition Contributor to the CBS Early Show and a Beauty & Skin Care expert for WebMD.  She holds a Masters of Science degree in clinical nutrition from NYU.

Nathan A. Dungan Families, Money & Habits - Navigating the New Normal & How Not To Be Your Child’s ATM Thursday February 11, 2010--CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER Event rescheduled for Wednesday March 17, 2010 Rye Middle School Multipurpose Room   Do your children understand financial boundaries or do they think of you as their personal ATM?  Is your teen developing the healthy financial habits he or she will need for college and beyond?  Experts suggest that we are creating a generation of young adults with unsustainable spending habits and unprecedented levels of credit card debt!   Don’t miss this chance to hear nationally noted financial advisor Nathan Dungan explore issues surrounding allowances, chores, savings accounts, debit/credit cards and gift-giving.  He’ll offer parents ways to think and talk about money that are consistent with their family values and will share useful information about the effects of mass marketing on young people.    Nathan Dungan is the founder and president of Share Save Spend, an organization that helps youth and adults achieve “financial sanity” by developing and maintaining healthy money habits. Its mission is to provide concrete tools that assist people in shifting from a spend-centric mode to one that balances spending with saving and sharing.  Mr. Dungan is, most recently, the co-author of Personal Finance: A Lifetime of Responsibility, a textbook for high school students. His first book, Prodigal Sons and Material Girls: How Not To Be Your Child’s ATM was released in 2003.  Considered one of the national media's go-to experts on family finances, he has been widely quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.   Dr. Jordan D. Metzl  Sports Medicine:  What Every Parent, Coach And Athlete Needs To Know Tuesday March 9, 2010 Blind Brook High School Auditorium   Save the date for this special evening of sports medicine education presented by Dr. Jordan D. Metzl, a nationally recognized Sports Medicine Physician at New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery.  Dr. Metzl knows how much time our children devote to school sports and athletic competitions... and  he wants you to be knowledgeable on the subjects that can and do affect the young athletes in our lives.   Dr. Metzl will highlight what every parent, coach and athlete needs to know about topics including ACL injuries, prevention techniques, performance enhancing drugs, concussions and bone density. He will also offer updates on specific issues such as strength training for kids and ways to safely improve sports performance.   Widely known as “the athlete’s doctor”, Dr. Metzl is the team physician for several area high schools, thousands of runners and triathletes and is the sports medicine physician for the Radio City Rockettes. He is the co-founder of the Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes at Hospital for Special Surgery, one of the first multidisciplinary centers for the treatment and prevention of adolescent sports injury and is one of only ten sports medicine physicians named by their peers to New York Magazine’s Top Doctors’ List.   Dr. Metzl is the author of The Young Athlete, A Sports Doctor’s Complete Guide for Parents (2002) and Sports Medicine in the Pediatric Office (2007). In addition to being the medical columnist for Triathlete magazine and the “Fitness Coach Columnist” for Best Life Magazine, he is a twenty-five time marathon runner and a six time Ironman triathlete.

Dr. Joel Haber Bullyproof Your Child:  Practical Advice For Parents And Children Wednesday April 14, 2010  Rye Middle School Multipurpose Room   However blatant or subtle, we’ve each experienced or witnessed bullying at one time or another.  Certainly for parents, incidents of bullying involving our children can often leave us feeling frustrated and powerless. How can we safeguard them from hurtful name-calling, exclusion, public humiliation or even physical abuse?  What can we do to turn a bullying situation into a long lasting lesson of empowerment and resilience?   This evening’s presentation promises answers to these questions and will also explore how the nature of bullying has changed in the last several decades and what strategies really work to counteract it!  Learn how to role play bullyproofing exchanges with your child and teach him or her the right phrases to use when confronted by a bully.   Dr. Joel Haber, the nationally renowned “Bully Coach”, is a clinical psychologist who has devoted more than 20 years to the identification, reduction and prevention of abusive behaviors in children and adults.  His book Bullyproof your Child For Life: Protect Your Child from Teasing, Taunting & Bullying for Good (2007) is a practical, step-by-step bullyproofing prescription that outlines a research-based approach to counseling and coaching designed to more effectively diffuse bully situations. It offers useful tools and advice, enabling parents and educators to be part of a solution through awareness, insight and action.   Dr. Haber is founder of the Respect U Program, a comprehensive, training-based organization that helps identify and combat bullying in camp, school, sports or workplace settings.  His professional affiliations include the National Register of Psychology, the American Psychological Association, the Society for Behavioral Medicine and the American Camp Association.  He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton and received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.