BCP conference: Parents Listen Up
By Elizabeth Billips lizbillips@yahoo.com

Burke Community Partnership wants to help parents wake up and smell the coffee.

On Saturday, April 26, the non-profit organization will host "The Parents Listen Up Conference" at Burke County Middle School.

"This came about after we interviewed local teenagers at our Teens Lets Talk forum and learned what they were doing on the weekends," BCP Executive Director Deena Sams said, noting that it's funded by a $16,000 grant. "Sex, drinking and fighting are recreational activities for them - and the parents had no idea."

Sams said the conference, which is free to the public, will motivate parents to get involved and show them methods to help keep their children out of trouble.

"Most of these kids said they were lying to their parents about where they were going and the parents never checked up on them," Sams said. "They've got to become more actively involved ... the schools can't do their jobs for them."

The conference lasts until 4 p.m. and will feature guest speaker Milton Creagh from the PBS series "Parenting Works" and Keith L. Brown, one of the nation's most popular motivational speakers.

To attend the conference, parents must fill out a registration form and return it to the BCP office on East Seventh Street in Waynesboro by April 18.

Forms were sent home last week with every child enrolled in the Burke County School System, and additional forms are available at BCP, Burke County Health Department, Juvenile Justice Department and Burke County Department of Family and Children Services.

While parents may stay for only a portion of the conference, those who attend from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. will be given $25 Wal- Mart gift cards.

BCP will provide free breakfast and free lunch to all participants, as well as free daycare for toilet trained children ages two and older.

For more information, contact BCP staff members at 706-554- 7213.

WORKSHOPS OFFERED

· Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Positive Parenting for the Hip Hop Generation - presented by David Miller · Is MySpace Invading YOUR Space? - presented by the Georgia Teen Institute · School Policies: Do You Know Your Rights as a Parent? - presented by Dr. Roderick Sams · Message in the Music: Gang Awareness & Prevention - presented by Marc Fomby · It Takes a Village to Raise a Child - presented by Milton Creagh · Uncover the Good Parent in You - presented by LaMarr Darnell Shields · Special School Initiatives: Parent Connect / Graduation Coach / Title I /Credit Recovery - presented by Felicia Baum, Katrina Williams, Cathy Cancer, Glenerra Martin and Dr. Allen Kicklighter · Parenting Kids with Special Needs - presented by Cathy Fowler and Sarah Ashe