Village Living neighborly news & entertainment for Mountain Brook
Volume 5 | Issue 7 | October 2014
It takes a community New organization forms to point youth in the right direction
Rabbi Jonathan Miller and parents Leigh Ann Sisson and Renee Fenn are part of a new community-wide effort to help Mountain Brook teenagers with a wide set of issues. Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
By MADOLINE MARKHAM
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Leigh Ann Sisson knows that it takes more than schools to point children and teens in the right direction. “When there is a tragedy, people point their fingers at the school and ask what they are going to do with that,” she said. “What we know from the
Pride Survey is that when they are making poor decisions, it’s generally not at school, and parents are the largest deterrent to things like substance abuse for their kids. It’s how we model behavior that’s going to influence our kids, and it’s been time for us as a community to step up and say we want to make strides as a community to put our hands around these kids and support them.”
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Sisson, a mom of four, is one of several veterans of the Mountain Brook Anti-Drug Coalition who have organized a new nonprofit organization, All In Mountain Brook, to address a wider set of issues among youth. The Anti-Drug Coalition had primarily focused on programs around Red Ribbon Week and Hitting Home programs for parents.
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“Some of that had been good, but it had run its course,” former coalition co-chair Renee Fenn said. “We wanted to focus on broader problems that many of our youth are faced with, like highrisk behavior, violence and mental health.” This past summer the new organization came to
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Fall Home Guide
Leaving a legacy
It’s a perfect time of year for home improvement projects. Find tips and ideas in our special section.
MBHS Athletic Director Terry Cooper is retiring this month. Read more about how he as led sports in Mountain Brook for decades inside.
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General Election Nov. 4th