I had a busy week last week, and I’m exhausted. It’s a good kind of exhaustion, though. Our grandsons from California spent a week with us, and our local granddaughter spent much of the week here as well. All three are teenagers and very active, which means I was more active than usual as well.Continue reading “Community-based Mental Health Services: Bluebonnet Trails”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Truth Sandwiches
Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash When I taught Freshman Composition to college students, I learned a method of giving feedback on their essays that was compared to a sandwich. I’ve heard various labels that use this method for delivering criticism, like “compliment sandwich” or “critique sandwich,” but I preferred to call it a “feedbackContinue reading “Truth Sandwiches”
Family Involvement Improves Outcomes for Those with Mental Illness
In my last post, I mentioned being lost in a research rabbit hole—I’m only halfway out by now. The research I’m doing is for the conclusion of a book manuscript that’s due to my publisher at the end of the summer. That may sound like a long time off, but between now and then isContinue reading “Family Involvement Improves Outcomes for Those with Mental Illness”
Of Rabbit Holes and Legislator Lunacy
Help! I’m at the bottom of a rabbit hole, and I can’t see daylight! Last week, I started on research for the concluding section of the book I’m working on about family members who advocate for a loved one diagnosed with a mental illness. I interviewed 12 family members in four categories: parent, child, sibling,Continue reading “Of Rabbit Holes and Legislator Lunacy”
Reading and Young Children: It’s Fundamental!
About once a month, a group of teen moms at the Margaret Hudson Program gathered with their children in the school cafeteria for a story hour hosted by the Tulsa City-County Library’s Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program. Students with children in the toddler rooms were released from classes to attend. The girls were always delightedContinue reading “Reading and Young Children: It’s Fundamental!”
Family Planning and a Nation’s Welfare
A couple of blocks from where I taught at the Margaret Hudson Program (MHP), and a few hundred yards from the Head Start program our students’ children attended was the office of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. It was tucked into the far end of a nondescript strip center, set backContinue reading “Family Planning and a Nation’s Welfare”
FloCrit: Wraparound Services for Teen Families
When I started teaching high school science in Oklahoma in 2007 at the age of 55, I knew almost nothing about teaching. I’d taught Freshman Composition at a local college part time for a few semesters, but I’d never taught science, and never to pregnant or parenting teen girls. You’d think having a degree inContinue reading “FloCrit: Wraparound Services for Teen Families”
A Head Start…or a Step Back?
Just a couple of blocks from the campus for teen moms where I used to teach in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was an older elementary school that had been renovated to host a Head Start and Early Head Start childhood education program. One of the benefits of having a high school campus designed for teen momsContinue reading “A Head Start…or a Step Back?”
Promoting Children and Youth: Annie E. Casey Foundation
In 2001, I responded to an article in my local Tulsa, Oklahoma newspaper by applying to become a part of the Kids Count Leadership Team that was forming that year. It was sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), which I’d never heard of. But the goals of the Leadership Team were to promoteContinue reading “Promoting Children and Youth: Annie E. Casey Foundation”
Nutritional Support for Moms and Babies: WIC Program
Just around the corner and down the hall from my classroom, when I taught at a school for pregnant and parenting teens was a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) office. They operated independently but were a vital resource for our students. Margaret Hudson Program, the nonprofit organization who owned the building we occupied, provided spaceContinue reading “Nutritional Support for Moms and Babies: WIC Program”
Janice Airhart 