Springfield school to host prominent parenting author

Ridgewood School has partnered with Rocking Horse Community Health Center and the Community Health Foundation to bring New York Times best-selling author and psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax to Springfield on Sept. 12.

The school previously held a Parenting with a Purpose program, originally hosted Dr. John Rosemond in 1989 and spoke on the Six Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children.

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“I remember how exciting it was back in the 1980s,” said Beth Dixon, director of development and alumni relations at Ridgewood.

And when Aliya Ranginwala, the head of school at Ridgewood, shared an article about Sax, Dixon mentioned the Parenting with a Purpose program that Ridgewood had previously done.

“I felt that what Dr. Sax talked about in the article was very current and up to date and that the issues were relevant to families,” Ranginwala said. “I thought that if we sponsored the series and opened it up to the community, that it would be a great insight to parents.”

Sax, who is the author of several books including “The Collapse of Parenting,” will speak to teachers at Ridgewood and also give two free presentations. The first program will be at the Rocking Horse Center, 651 S. Limestone St., from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The presentation is open to the community and will be geared toward social workers, medical personnel, psychologists, teachers, probation officers and counselors.

“The professionals will come out and be more effective advocates for children and families,” said Dr. Yamini Teegala, chief medical officer at Rocking Horse Community Health Center.

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The second presentation will be held at the John Legend Theater, 700 S. Limestone St., at 6:30 p.m and will be open to the public and will be focused on parenting topics.

“Parents need support right now,” Dixon said. “They need to know how to navigate their children through technology and knowing how much their children should be in charge. We just really felt strongly that Dr. Sax would have a lot to give to the community.”

Sax is also expected to talk about behavioral issues and helping make children more resilient.

“I hope that the community will pick up some great tips and support,” said Joan Elder, Community Health Foundation program coordinator. “For people to have good parenting skills is to help children grow up health and happy.”

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