Next Week: Breakfast: Sept. 25-With all the issues we have had with breakfast teams lately, we are still working on who will cook, but I'm sure it will be delicious! If anyone is not currently on a breakfast team and would be interested in joining one, please let me know
Speaker- Donavan Dean on computer security
Someone took a number of tables out of the Optimist building without notifying the president or the secretary, who handles building rentals. This was enough of an issue, but what was worse is that the tables were not returned in time for the next rental. Please return the missing tables and contact either Jan Palmer or Barrett Glascock before you borrow items from the Optimist building.
The East Missouri District Optimist 1st Quarter Conference is scheduled for October 22-23 in St. Peters, MO. It would be great to have a number of people in attendance since the OI President Patsy Garner, OI Executive Director Cheryl Brenn, and OI Foundation President Marc Katz plan to be there. Barrett needs to know who is interested in attending by Sept. 30th.
Eastern District website and meeting invitation
Informational Flyer (pdf)
A delicious breakfast was provided this morning by Chris Felmlee and Leigh Kottwitz, with Chris doing most of the cooking. Thank you for stepping up, even when part of your team wasn't available!
Barrett read a thank you note for the ice that the Ashland Optimists provided for Sadie Robinett's fundraiser on Aug. 28th. Sadie is a young lady in our community who is fighting leukemia. Barrett also mentioned that the schools have provided over 4,000 lunches since July 1st, when they started providing free breakfast and lunch to all students, but that there are issues with finding some of the items that are needed to provide meals because of shipping problems.
Our speaker this morning was Morgan Yarnell with Child Trauma Initiative, which is based out of Columbia, but has been blessed to use space at Walk in Faith Church on Broadway here in town to work with local kids. She talked about the difference between trauma and stress. Trauma involves exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. Fifty to seventy percent of people have experienced at least one potentially traumatic event in their life before they reach adulthood. Much of the funding for their program is provided through the Children's Aid Tax that was passed eight years ago.
Some children cope through natural supports, such as supportive caregivers or strong relationships with other adults in their life, and recover quickly. Other children who have pre-existing behavioral issues, developmental delays, and repeated trauma have less chance of successfully coping. Trauma affects the whole child, even by affecting the structure and chemistry of the brain. Trauma can rewire the brain to expect and over prepare for threatening experiences and can have long lasting effects on attention, memory, impulsivity, and regulation of emotions.
Morgan mentioned some myths about young children and trauma, such as that a child can be too young to remember traumatic events and that therapy is just talking, which is boring to young children. Child parent psychotherapy can be used with preschool children, whereas trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy and trauma and grief component therapy works well for children up to the age of eighteen. Morgan spoke about the different tools they use, such as play and using Uno to work through reactions.
After Morgan finished her presentation, she drew for the attendance drawing. Bern Bonderer, Dave Taylor, and Mike Gilmore had their chance at riches, but since they weren't here, the pot will continue to grow.
Letitia DenHartog