Seminar focuses on girls

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

As part of an ongoing series to educate and train counselors, teachers, social workers, coaches, school administrators and lawyers on programs to address juvenile behaviors, Mahoning County Juvenile Court and the Mahoning County Juvenile Court Advisory Board’s will host an “Everything Girls” seminar Friday.

The event will feature Rosalind Wiseman, best-selling author and nationally recognized expert on children’s and teens’ emotional and physical well-being. Wiseman is best known for authoring, “Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriend and the New Realities of Girl World,” the best-selling book that formed the basis for the movie “Mean Girls.”

Wiseman will answer questions from the audience via Skype.

The daylong event also will focus on understanding the specific needs and problems presented by girls and will include a presentation by Kent State University professor Cynthia Osborne, an expert on motivational interviewing techniques and the utilization of specific techniques to improve self efficacy. Young ladies who have been involved with the justice system and a foster mother will share their stories and their first-hand experiences of how court programming successfully fostered social and emotional connectedness and helped create safe and stable relationships in their lives.

Representatives from The Sandy Hook Promise will be on hand to discuss methods to reduce bullying.

The event is supported by the DeBartolo Corp., Dr. and Mrs. Albert Cinelli, the Neil Kennedy Recovery Center, The Sandy Hook Promise and the Coalition for a Drug-Free Mahoning County and will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Antone’s Banquet Center in Boardman.

Registration begins at 7:30, and the $50 per person training cost includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Each participant will receive a copy of “Queen Bees and Wannabees.” Applicants for professional continuing-education credits have been approved. A few spaces remain and can be reserved by calling Jennifer Pangio at Mahoning County Juvenile Court at 330-740-2244, ext. 6418, by Wednesday.