From the desk of Linda Lee, President of GABnow

Hello Friends,

This morning (05-09-13) GABnow had the opportunity to present the edited version of the movie "Bully", along with an hour presentation by James Dean and myself, to the Student Wisconsin Education Association (StWEA) organized by the Teacher Education office at MATC. 56 students attended, along with several staff members from the campus. Our presentation received a standing ovation. We were delighted to present GABnow's pilot program developed with the cooperation with the Greendale School District. GABnow is proud to share with the other communities how the District of Greendale has embraced our efforts to combat bullying.

Because of the success of todays' presentation, MATC has invited us back to present another anti-bullying program in August. MATC President, Dr. Michael L. Burke, stated he would like to be involved with our presentation in August.

GABnow would like to share with you our programs and events we have planned. One of our more involved presentations will be in October, to nearly 800 students, along with their parents, from 8 combined parishes in Greendale, Whitnall, Franklin, Greenfield and several others communities. In addition, the Waukesha School District has invited us to make a presentation to several of their schools starting this fall.

Our foremost priority is to the community of Greendale. We take great pride in the initial training our new panel of Peer Ambassadors; the Greendale School District helped make this possible. 33 students attended the Restorative Justice Training Program provided by the MPS School District last Saturday, May 4, 2013 at North Division High School. The total training for this Restorative Justice Program will be 20 hours. Saturday completed the first 6 hours. Our goal is to develop our Peer Ambassadors, so they can use the skills they are learning to be mentors for our elementary and middle school students concerning the bullying problems.

This is just one component of our training. American Behavioral Clinics, which consists of over 54 mental health professionals, have agreed to provide additional training to the GAB Board and our youth. We want to especially thank Erin Green for providing the Aurora Health Counseling service for our Greendale students and parents.

Joyce Garbaciak, Channel 12 TV special assignment reporter, will be doing a special segment on our GABnow organization. Look for this report soon.

One organization will not stop bullying. It will take a community of help, of which the Greendale School District is one of our partners in this effort.

We sincerely appreciate all the help you have given GABnow.

Sincerely,

Linda
Linda Lee – President email / 414-241-2465

GABnow is proud to be in partnership with the following organizations. We are dedicated to our philosophy:

“Together we will Work to Change the Culture of Learning”

• American Behavior Clinics

• Milwaukee Public Schools District (MPS) –Safe Schools and Healthy

• Greendale School District

• Associated Bank of Greater Milwaukee Area

• MATC – Milwaukee Area Technical College

• St. Alphonsus Catholic Church and School

• Lutheran Social Services

Click HERE for more information.

GAB PEER AMBASSADORS:
GAB Peer Ambassadors are high school students from Greendale and surrounding communities who will play a vital role in the GAB organization and the community at large.

Our Peer Ambassadors are trained from Milwaukee Public Schools Restorative Justice System and American Behavior Professionals in bullying prevention.

Peer Ambassadors will provide a leadership role to other students by helping them to identify bullying situations and offer practical soc ial skills and tools to address the problem.

Peer Ambassadors will also work in the community by helping organize and staff GAB events to increase bullying awareness and solutions.

Peer Ambassadors will learn how to monitor and respond to posts to the Peer Ambassador blog.

Peer Ambassadors will receive recognition for their service as it will go into their school record as community performed service which can be used in their resumes for college and job applications.

PEER AMBASSADOR QUALIFICATIONS:
• Excellent communications skills
• Ability to work effectively with a diverse population of students, faculty, and        staff
• Capacity for discretion, diplomacy, and confidentiality
• Demonstrated record of leadership, maturity, and academic excellence
• Resourcefulness