Welcome to the USEP-OHIO Discover Parenting Page
Dear teachers, students and friends,
USEP-OHIO is happy to announce we are celebrating a new year of Discover Parenting! We are sending you dates and forms to use as you enter the 2021-2022 project! We invite teachers with Fall 2021 classes to enter the 2021 Discover Parenting Project with their fall students. The deadlines and exhibit dates remain the same as spring 2021 entrants. Teachers may send fall photos to USEP in January 2022 (make sure to ask for a confirmation), or mark clearly and hold to send along with their entrants from spring semester. The following helps you describe the project to others and includes Teacher Registration and Photo Registration forms and more information.
– Cindy McKay
Photos will be on display at the Statehouse, may be at the Ohio State Fair, and at the Early Childhood conference in Sandusky as well as at several conferences throughout the year.
Discover Parenting is an educational program sponsored by United Services for Effective Parenting-Ohio, Inc. (USEP-OHIO) that features classroom study and culminates with a photo project. The lessons, written by teachers, allow high school and middle school students to explore critical thinking and feeling about the issues of safe and responsible parenting. Students conclude the project by submitting a photo with a caption related to the contest theme, “How Does It Feel to be a Safe & Responsible Parent?”
In May, Ohio advocate/leaders assist with judging entries displayed at the Riffe Center for Government and the Arts in Columbus. The goal of the display is to bring Middle and High School students’ work to the Ohio legislators, whose decisions impact their lives on a daily basis, in a place where all Ohioans can view it. View Discover Parenting Teacher Registration form forms and Discover Parenting photo registration form forms, due April 15 each year. Use the website navigation bar to see 2010-2021 winning photos and prize awards. Winners for each year will be posted for viewing, and all entrants displayed in the PowerPoint files linked to each page.
Discover Parenting Photo Display entries must be received by April 15, 2022, for the 2021 (Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 school year) Exhibit. The display will be open throughout the month of May and possibly into June 2022. Please note the winning photos will be identified with colored ribbons denoting each place, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mentions by June 2022. Cash awards are given to recognize winners (students and teachers) in this statewide competition, paid out during the weeks following.
Attention Teachers! The awards will be the same for both the Traffic and Home Safety and for the new Special Topics category, (doubling the rewards by having 2 categories) and adding rewards for teachers who submit lesson plans for either category.
Students may participate with photo entries in our original traffic and home safety category, or choose a special topics category added this year on the following subjects critical to safety:
- Human Trafficking
- Opioid and Substance Abuse
- Safe at School and Community
- Safe in a New Land
Contents fit with a host of Health and Wellness issues, Competencies and Outcomes for students including Career Development, Global Environment, Family Development, Parenting and others.
It also fits the critical new areas of personal and family dangers and challenges our Ohio students are facing in their lives today and in the future.
Students may enter their photos in either or both categories. Prizes for the new special topics category will match those offered in our original category.
Teachers are also invited to contribute lesson plans to be shared from either category with $50 reward for those that contribute to either or both categories.
The Rewards for Discover Parenting photo entrants will be the same for both the original and the new special topics categories – doubling the prizes for this year.
- $25.00 mini grants to all teachers whose students enter the final competitions
- Discover Parenting Winners:
- First Place – $150.00 each to student and to school
- Second Place – $100.00 each to student and to school
- Third Place – $75.00 each to student and to school
- Honorable Mentions – $50.00 each to student and to school
“Keeping your Family Financially Safe”
Your students may wish to explore Financial Responsibility through Discover Parenting. Look for resources via the OATFACS website. There are links to help you. Try the Ohio Treasurer’s Office with excellent resources including and http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/assets/pdfs/lessons/lev9-12/TG_Lesson1.pdf and a lot more.
Resources:
“Discover Parenting Classroom Manual” original is available from the USEP-OHIO office [email protected]; and is presently being updated with new resources and information. We hope to add it to the website soon.
Kids in the Car. . .With Grandparents and Others Who Care, a multi-media-kit produced by USEP-OHIO, and sponsored by NAWHSL is available for download.
USEP-OHIO References page has a list of links to resources/information you may wish to use, like Safe Kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and more.
Go to Safe Connections and Resources, our new safety website designed to help supply ideas and projects, data and a wide range of safety information. You will see links to many organizations and sites that contain materials to support your lessons.
If you need further information or in order for USEP-OHIO to suggest materials or provide support, please contact us at 1-800-262-4KIDs, 614-571-8313, fax 614-868-9755, or email us at [email protected] as soon as possible.
NAWHSL (National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders), and the Ohio Chapter OAHSL (Ohio Association of Highway Safety Leaders) are our partners. Some of the Discover Parenting photos and the action projects will be displayed at the NAWHSL national conference and other conferences as requested. Go to www.NAWHSL.org for more information.
Register using the Teacher Registration Form. Please complete and return this form to our office by April 15 of each year. This helps us to gauge the number of possible entries that will require mounting. Teachers, watch for any changes and confirm deadlines.
Discover Parenting Guidelines