May Newsletter: The Power of Smiling

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View this email in your browser NEWSLETTER May 2019 WHAT'S INSIDE: THE POWER OF PARENTING SCHOOL CHOICE LEGISLATIVE UPDATES #SAVETHEKIDS FOLLOW-UP TECHNOLOGY PLAN NEWS & EVENTS POWER2TEACH THE POWER OF PARENTING: "The simplest positive action is a smile." -Maxime Lagacé Have you ever tried to keep a straight face, or even frown, when someone smiled at you? Chances are you cracked a smile because that's what we're biologically programmed to do. Researchers Ulf Dimberg and Sven Söderkvist in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, March 2011 found that we are programmed to imitate the behavior we see. So, when we see another person smile, our biological response is to smile. Even more importantly, these same researchers found that facial muscles have the ability to initiate emotion. So, when we smile, even a forced smile, we stimulate endorphins in our system that tell us we are happy. This is significant because it produces a positive feedback loop of happiness. When we smile we feel good, so we smile some more, which makes us feel happy, we smile more, and so on. How significant can a smile be? According to Ron Gutman in his book, Smile: The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act, "[British] researchers found that one smile can be as pleasurable and stimulating as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate." These same researchers measured brain activity to see what amount of money it would take to generate the same level of brain stimulation as one smile. They found that it took a person receiving $25,000 to match the same level of pleasure from one rewarding smile! Smiling can also help us reduce stress, lower blood pressure and makes us appear more likable and courteous. So, it turns out, one of the best, easiest, fastest ways to improve our homes and families is to smile more. It's calorie-free, cost-free, takes up no space and is with us all the time. We have the power to create feelings of joy in ourselves and others by the simple act of smiling.  If we want to feel better ourselves we should smile. If we want our children to feel better and be happier, we should smile at them. Since they're biologically conditioned to mimic what they see, we'll trigger a positive feedback loop in them that can truly help us to raise happy children. Thank you Peccole Family Dental for sponsoring this message! Dr. Shih, Dr. Funamoto and Dr. Moore specialize in General, Cosmetic, Implant, and Orthodontic Dentistry.  Back to Top SCHOOL CHOICE Homeschooling Meet & Greet: Come hear what Nevada's leading advocate for homeschooling, Elissa Wahl, has to say about becoming a homeschooler, homeschool styles and philosophies, thriving in alternative education, educating your special needs child, what your children are entitled to under Nevada law, what legislation is coming our way, and more!   Thursday, May 9, 2019 6:00pm - 8:00pm. Click here for more information. Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Click here for more information.   Introduction to Homeschooling Meeting Monday, May 20, 7:00pm - 9:00pm.  Click here for more information. Open Enrollment CCSD: CCSD schools with available seats will allow parents/guardians of students who do not reside in these attendance zones to apply for enrollment. Parents must provide their own transportation for their children if children are accepted into another school through open enrollment. For more information on CCSD's open enrollment, click here. Back to Top LEGISLATIVE UPDATES GREAT NEWS! Assembly Bill 430 (AB430), the bill which would have allowed government agencies to do home visits on citizens with no evidence of any crime and no probable cause, has been amended to become a voluntary study. We are grateful the Assembly heard the our concerns and amended this bill. Assembly Bill 295 (AB295) (Comprehensive Sexuality Education) failed to receive a hearing this session, which means it is dead. We will continue to monitor bills for this material. Back to Top #SAVETHEKIDS FOLLOW-UP Social Internet Crusader, Collin Kartchner spoke in Las Vegas at the end of February to discuss the dangers of social media and its affect on our children's mental health. He also covered the dangers of technology, if not used responsibly. At the end of his presentation, he challenged parents to create a Family Technology Contract signed and on the fridge by March 25th. If life has gotten away from you and your plans are not quite done, do not despair! Chelsea Brown, of Digital Mom Talk, has created a free download to walk you through creating a Family Tech Plan. Check it out here.   Chelsea is a Certified Security Professional whose mission is to provide families with the complete tools to teach their kids how to survive and thrive in a digital world. Use code ParentPower to get 10% off any product on her site! If you haven't had a chance to see one of Collin's life-changing presentations, you can view one here. Back to Top NEWS & EVENTS Dangerous, New  Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Programs being pushed in Nevada schools:   On April 24th, the Sexuality Health and Responsibility Education and Advisory Committee (S.H.A.R.E.) in Washoe County rolled out a Comprehensive Sexuality Education curriculum (CSE). In CSE, students are no longer taught the science of the reproductive system. Instead students are exposed to the most explicit and expansive forms of pleasure-based sex education. Instruction includes the right to sexual gratification, pleasure, exploration and experimentation. Masturbation, anal sex, oral sex, and abortion are taught and promoted. The websites listed as resources in the curriculum are pornographic, medically inaccurate, and place students in greater danger by downplaying the risks of certain behaviors.   We are not opposed to giving medically accurate and age appropriate information to children. We are opposed to distributing pornographic, how-to manuals that promote sexual exploration and experimentation, or that negate a parent's ability and responsibility to teach values in their home.    The current Sexual Risk Avoidance curriculum (SRA) currently being taught in Health is effective.  According to HHS.gov, teen pregnancy rates in Nevada dropped 66% between 1988 and 2013. Furthermore, youth risk behavior according to the CDC indicates that from 2005-2015 there was a significant decrease in the percentage of high school students who had ever had sexual intercourse. Our current SRA curriculum is working and there is no need to pursue CSE.   To view some of the recommended resources in the proposed CSE curriculum, click here. WARNING! This is EXTREMELY graphic and explicit content. We advise that you do not view this material anywhere your children might see it.   If you are a parent in Washoe County, make your voice heard by emailing your Trustee and asking him/her to vote "NO" on the proposed CSE curriculum. The list of Trustees can be found here. The meeting to vote on whether this curriculum will be adopted is May 28th at 2:00pm. Please attend this meeting to make your voice heard that you OPPOSE this curriculum.  Central Administration Building, Board Room 425 East Ninth Street Reno, Nevada 89512 Help us keep up the fight against Comprehensive Sexuality Education! Click here to donate. Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter and Facebook page. We will keep you informed on potential legislation that affects you and your ability to parent. Public School Board of Trustee Meetings:   Are you concerned about what is happening in your child's school? You have an elected Trustee to represent your voice in the school district. This includes procedural and financial decisions. These Trustees meet regularly and these meetings are open to the public for you to attend and voice your opinion. You can listen in online and email in a statement and express concerns! This is your chance to make your voice heard. Visit your local school district's website to see the Board of Trustee Meeting Calendar. The CCSD Trustee Meetings for April will be held May 9th and May 16th at 5:00pm and can be viewed here.   The Washoe County School District Trustee Meetings can be found here. Back to Top POWER2PARENT IN THE NEWS CARP Las Vegas: Building Intact Families in Sexualized Culture Power2Parent Vice President, Deborah Earl, speaks on the dangers of Comprehensive Sexuality Education at the 4th Campus Talk organized by CARP Las Vegas. Campus Talk is a movement started by college students to build strong families in an increasingly sexualized world. Power2Parent was honored to be a part of such an inspiring event and we're proud to advocate for the cause of strengthening families in Nevada! Play Together! With the help of Red Rock Casino and Suncoast Casino, Power2Parent passed out 750 decks of playing cards to the students at Linda Rankin Givens Elementary School with a list of games to play togther as families and the importance of playing together as a family.  Have your own deck of cards? Click here to check out our list of card games to play together as a family! Would you like us to help you spread the message at your school? Email us at info@power2parent.org Family Day at SeaQuest Together with SeaQuest and the Mrs. Nevada-America Program, Power2Parent arranged a special family day outing at SeaQuest of Las Vegas. Mrs. Nevada-America, Yelena Anter, and the 2019 Mrs. Nevada-America Contestants met at SeaQuest with their families to celebrate families and the importance of spending time together as families. We know that one of the most important things we can do to positively influence the development of our children is to spend time with them. Have an idea for a parent engagement activity? Contact us at info@power2parent.org   Back to Top POWER2TEACH Congratulations Rebecca Bailey!    Rebecca is this month's Power2Teach winner of a $50 Amazon gift card and will be entered into our end of year $500 grand prize. Rebecca was nominated by parent, Mindy Davies, who had this to say about her: Rebecca is beyond dynamite! Her classroom is such a fun, friendly atmosphere for learning! She offers her students hands-on projects and experiences that they have fun with and remember! Mrs. Bailey goes above the call of duty.  When she found out my son was playing baseball, she asked for his baseball schedule, and made it a point to come to two of his games. He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face, seeing his favorite teacher cheering him on! This is a woman that has her own family, children ranging in all ages to care for and attend their sporting events and activities, yet she took the time to make my son feel loved and important by going the extra mile.    Rebecca teaches Kindergarten at Grant Bowler Elementary School in Logandale, NV. Do you have a teacher who has gone the extra mile for your child, or who has had an amazing influence on students in the State of Nevada? Each month we will choose one teacher in Nevada who will be highlighted in our monthly P2P Newsletter and who will then be in the running to win our grand prize of $500 to use for the next school year! We love our Nevada teachers and we're excited to show our support in a big way!  Good Luck! Nominate a Teacher here: https://bit.ly/2B0rizB Back to Top DONATE NOW We exist to inform, organize, and mobilize community members for the protection of fundamental parental rights. Sign Up! Text Message Updates Now Available! 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