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Community Corner

Creating Peace for Children of Divorced Parents

Peace Starts at Home is dedicated to the idea that bringing mothers and step mothers together, will create greater peace and a healthy environment for children of divorced parents.

We will be hosting the first Peace Summit to break grid lock between mothers and step mothers.

The Program:

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Part 1: “The Other Mother”, a play by Isidore Elias where gridlock between a mom and step mom is broken.

Part 2: A panel of leaders on the relationship between a mother and her perspective step mother and the children involved:

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Moderator:  Dane Peters is the head of Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, a PreK through 8th grade school in Brooklyn, New York.  He served as head of Mooreland Hill School in Connecticut for eleven years.  Among his thirty years in independent school education, ten were served in boarding schools.  A Klingenstein Fellow, Dane served as Director of the New England New Teachers Seminar and on the faculty of the NAIS New Heads Institute.  He also serves as the Director of the New York State Association of Independent School’s (NYSAIS) Beginning Teachers Institute, Experienced Teachers Institute, and as a mentor with the NAIS/E.E. Ford Fellowship for Aspiring Heads.  He has been a member of the Professional Development Commission and served as the Board President of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), and he currently chairs the Professional Development Committee for NYSAIS.  He has served on ten non-profit boards, three as president and two as head of school.  He is currently a trustee on the NYSAIS Board of Directors and the American Montessori Society Board of Directors.  His articles have appeared in Education Week, The Head’s LetterParents’ League Review, Montessori Life, Montessori Leadership, Teaching Children Mathematics, and Independent School magazine where he served as chair of the Editorial Board.  You can read many of his articles on his blog, www.danesedblog.blogspot.com.

 Panelists:

  • Paula Bisacre's mission is have a positive impact on stepfamilies and remarried adults by providing solutions that increase happiness and success, as well as shift cultural perceptions about blended families. Paula is the founder of Remarriage LLC, a multimediacompany that provides information, community and products that enhance the experience of remarriage and stepfamily living.  Through Remarriage LLC's online offering,www.RemmarriageWorks.com, Paula provides practical solutions and resources for the ever-growing remaariage community.  Her business venture, along with her personal experience of meeting the challenges that come with blending a stepfamily of seven, has put Paula at the forefront of the national stepfamily conversation. As a trusted expert and advocate, Paula frequently speaks, writes and consults about stepfamily issues and was the creator of the monthly remarriage column in The Washington Times. Paula has also authorized the book, Journal for Stepmoms
  • Jennifer Newcomb Marine is the co-author of the best-selling book "No One's the Bitch: A Ten-Step Plan for Mothers and Stepmothers," which was co-written by her daughters' stepmother, Carol Marine. The book outlines how to create a harmonious relationship between ex-wives and stepmoms or -- barring peace -- at least foster empathy and understanding. She has been featured on The Dr. Phil ShowThe Washington Post, Psychology Today, The Huffington Post, Canada'sGlobe and Mail, Publisher's Weekly and the Library Journal. She is the mother of two teenaged daughters and an honorary aunt to her children's stepbrother
  • Brenda Ockun is the founder and publisher of StepMom Magazine. The website was launched in January 2009 after her own search for helpful resources fell short.  She says:“Becoming a stepmom was one of the biggest challenges I ever faced. I looked for information and advice early in my marriage but had a difficult time finding resources.  I created the “how-to” guide I wished I had when I married my husband.  My goal  is to provide stepmoms with information and support to help them live happy lives while giving stepfamilies the tools they need to be successful.”  Ockun relied on 20 years of corporate marketing experience to guide her in designing and developing the magazine which now serves readers all over the United States and in other countries including Canada, Australia, South Africa and the UK.  She resides in upstate New York, with her husband of six years and his two children, ages 15 and 17.
  • Joel Schwartzberg is a remarried father of three and nationally-published essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times MagazineNewsweek, The New York Post,The New York Daily NewsNew Jersey Monthly, The Huffington Post, Babble.comStepMom MagazineChicken Soup for the Soul, AOL ParentDish and many other outlets. Joel's award-winning collection "The 40-Year-Old Version: Humoirs of a Divorced Dad" (www.bookfordad.com) was published in 2009, and he is at work on a second collection. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and an undisclosed number of cats.

When peace starts at home it will spread to the playground, to the college campus, to the workplace and greater communities. Suggested Donation $10.00 – Peace is free and a Summit has expenses!

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