Community Fund of Darien 2021
The Pressured Child part poster wide Facebook

‘The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Find Success in School and Life’ Presentation, Thursday Night

By |
Download PDF

New York Times bestselling author Dr. Michael G. Thompson will speak Thursday, Nov. 18 at the Middlesex Middle School auditorium at to speak about “The Pressured Child: Helping Your Child Find Success in School and Life.” Dr. Thompson’s presentation, one of a series of events to address student mental health and substance use from the Thriving Youth Task Force (TYTF) in response to its recent student survey findings about Darien 7th-12th grade students’ mental health and substance use. “The Pressured Child” presentation is recommended for “pressured parents” who have forgotten what school is actually like for children and who may mistakenly believe that there is a one-to-one correlation between school performance and success in life. Dr. Thompson will remind adults that children are almost never judging themselves by grades: they are always monitoring their own development and constantly searching for three things: connection, recognition and a sense of power.  Each journey has its own different pressures, and every child is constantly developing strategies for coping with the pressures that they feel.

Student Assets Survey 2021

Findings Presented on Substance Abuse, Mental Health From Darien Student Survey

By |

Darien’s Thriving Youth Task Force (TYTF) will present the findings from the Student Assets Survey at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 20 in the Middlesex Middle School auditorium. Subjects covered in past student asset surveys included teenage drinking and drug use. TYTF will share the findings from surveying Darien 7th through 12th graders last February about their substance use patterns and mental health. The event will include a panel discussion afterwards about how the community can help support our teens.

Darien Thriving Youth Task Force 2021

Findings From Darien Student Survey on Substance Abuse, Mental Health To Be Presented Wednesday

By |
Download PDF

Findings from the a survey of students from the 7th through 12th grades about substance abuse and mental health will be shared with parents at a public meeting  at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 20 in the Middlesex Middle School auditorium. — an announcement, partly reworded, from The Community Fund of Darien

Among the findings from the survey, from the Student Assets Survey conducted last February for the Thriving Youth Task Force (TYTF) in partnership with the school district:

——”[G]etting into a good college and getting good grades are the primary sources of stress” across all grades surveyed, from 7th thrugh 12th, “even in middle school!” according to an Oct. 7 post on the TYTF Facebook timeline.

Community Organizations
Allegra Erickson and Christina Passaretti Thriving Youth Task Force TYTF

Two New Members Named to Community Fund of Darien’s Thriving Youth Task Force

By |
Download PDF

The Thriving Youth Task Force announced Monday that Allegra Erickson and Christina Passaretti will join its executive board for the 2021/22 school year. — an announcement from The Community Fund of Darien
Erickson will assume the role of Executive Board co-chair.  She will succeed Shelly Skoglund, who will complete her term as co-chair this year. Christina Passaretti will serve as vice chair, succeeding Susan Marks, who will also complete her term this year. Erickson brings a wealth of experience to the Thriving Youth Task Force. She has served our community on the PTO executive boards of Hindley Elementary, Middlesex Middle School and Darien High School and was a board member, Youth Asset Team adult advisor, and Community Investment executive board member for The Community Fund of Darien.