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Parenting for Peace

Parenting for Peace is a speaker series intended to bring issues of interest to parents in the Greater Portland community.  Initiated by Kim Simmons, a parent and member of the Board of Directors, the series started in May of 2009 and is offered free to the public. 

Friends School of Portland's Parenting for Peace speaker series presents:

The Ecology of Hope: Reflections on Parenting, Activism, and the Environment

With:    Sandra Steingraber 

When:   Tuesday, May 11, 2010  at   7:00 p.m. 

Where:   Abromson Community Education Center, University of Southern Maine

What:   Book signing and reception to follow

Sandra Steingraber, is an award winning ecologist, Cornell University professor, mother, cancer survivor, and former Ms. Magazine Woman of the year. Dr. Steingraber's newest book, Living Downstream, 2nd edition, will be published in April 2010. The book is also being produced as a documentary.

This event is co-sponsored by the USM Women and Gender Studies Program, The Environmental Health Strategy Center, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Natural Resource Council of Maine. Information about these organizations, and more, will be available before and after the lecture.

This event will include ASL interpreting. 

 

Past Events

The first in the series featured author and psychologist Susan Linn, Ed.D. speaking on "The Case for Make Believe: Why Children Need to Play, Who's Stopping Them and What We Can Do About It." Susan Linn is a psychologist at Judge Baker Children's Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston. She is the co-founder/director of A Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. She is also an award-winning ventriloquist, internationally recognized for her pioneering use of puppets as a tool in play therapy with children.

The second in the series was a panel presentation on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 and was presented in partnership with Physicians for Social Responsibility. Taking a proactive approach, "Detox Your Toy Box" explored current research linking environmental toxins to children's health and opportunities for personal and collective action. The panel also shared strategies for engaging children in making healthy choices for themselves and their planet. Experts from diverse, yet connected fields came together as a panel and include:

  • David Bellinger, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School.
  • Nicole Borrasso, Friends School Teacher and Outdoor Educator, FSP
  • Kristine Jenkins, Environmental Health Organizer, Environmental Health Strategy Center

The panel was moderated by local pediatrician, parent and FSP Board member, Jeff Peterson.