No Name-Calling Week in Edgemont and SFCS Announces the Girl's Center

In honor of National “No Name-Calling Week," Edgemont Junior Senior High School students are being encouraged by school psychologist Dr. Mitch Shapiro to wear the following colors and refrain from bullying during the week of January 23 through January 27.

• Monday: Wear Red and STOP the name-calling, harassment, rumor spreading, negativity, etc…
• Tuesday: Wear Orange and Be BOLD and come to the aid of a student being mistreated
• Wednesday: Wear Yellow and SLOW DOWN and think about the potential impact of words before you speak.
• Thursday: Wear Green and Go out and COMPLIMENT as many people as you can.
• Friday: Wear Blue and Be KIND and invite someone to do something this weekend.

No Name-Calling Week is an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities. No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled "The Misfits" by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. In the end, the No-Name Party wins the support of the school's principal for their cause and their idea for a "No Name-Calling Day" at school.

The No Name-Calling Week Coalition was created by GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) and Simon & Schuster Children's publishing, and includes over 40 national partner organizations who organize No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities.

The Girl's Center

The most precious gift we can give girls is the liberty not only to listen to the greater voice of themselves but to act on it. This is the simplest kind of freedom and the most sacred sort of empowerment. Rachel Simmons, The Curse of The Good Girl

Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service is proud to announce the launch of the Girl's Center, a unique and exciting series of ten creative workshops for girls, ages 11-14 focusing on self-esteem and leadership skills. The program is designed to help girls feel good about themselves through the pursuit of authentic, profound and creative expressions.

Held at the Scarsdale Woman's Club, 37 Drake Road, the series will begin on Thursday, March 1, 2012 and run for ten consecutive Thursdays from 3:30-5 p.m. (excluding April 5th, spring break). Enrollment is limited to 20 girls in 6-8th grades.

The workshops will be lead by Laurie Albanese, Tina Henderson and Emily Vallario. Albanese is an author who wrote Blue Suburbia and Miracles of Prato and works as a high school English and creative writing teacher. Tina Henderson is a long-time educator, college admissions officer, middle school girls' teacher, administrator and private tutor and is a graduate of The Harvard Graduate School of Education. Emily Vallario, LCSW, is a youth outreach worker and staff member of SFCS.

For more information and to register, call SFCS at (914) 723-3281. This program is made possible by a private foundation grant and the generosity of a supporter of SFCS.