 | | | Carol Shenon Photo provided
| | | | | | Carol Shenon was recruited by the three Lamorinda school districts to serve as the Child Safety Awareness Coordinator for all the elementary and middle schools in Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda. Employed by the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County, with funding from the districts, Shenon is a passionate child education advocate who's been working for years in East Bay school districts teaching children, staff and parents about respiratory conditions and allergies. With a focus on prevention, Shenon understands that to effect change, both parents and children need the same information, tools and vocabulary to discuss issues together. The same participatory approach is used with the child abuse prevention program "Speak Up-Be Safe," a program piloted in Florida that has benefited 270,000 children and is now expanding to other states. In late August, Shenon will train staff in each district and hold parent meetings in the three communities. She plans to start teaching all first, third, fifth and sixth graders in September. "At the end of last year we started with all the first graders in Moraga and had very good feedback," says Shenon, who sent a parent letter after her meetings explaining what was taught along with talking points for parents to share with their children. She will teach in over 100 classes, interacting with each class twice a year, building students' knowledge over the years. For information about how to support the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County, visit www.capc-coco.org.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA