FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 22, 2009 Nationally-recognized speaker to address parents at Scotia-Glenville Middle School on Friday, Oct. 30 about how to really listen to their children Michael Pritchard, praised by the Wall Street Journal, CNN and Time for his ability to use humor to inspire and educate his audiences, will meet with Scotia-Glenville parents from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, at SG Middle School, Prestige Parkway, Scotia. His talk will be entitled “Listen to What Your Kids Aren’t Telling You.” He will talk to parents about how they can talk to their children about bullying, teasing, verbal or chemical abuse and making healthy and wise choices. He will speak to Middle School students earlier in the day. His program focuses on preventing the unaddressed grief of children from turning to anger, rage and violence as they grow older. Youths may not be telling parents all of the funny, sad, painful or wonderful things going on in their lives. Or maybe parents aren’t listening. He is a highly acclaimed keynote speaker at countless conventions, school districts and conferences. He offers an entertaining, yet powerfully inspiring message. He has been hired as a host and emcee for countless fund-raisers for a variety of charitable organizations. Pritchard began his career on both the comedy stage and as a juvenile counselor in San Francisco’s Youth Guidance Center. In 1980, Pritchard won first place in the San Francisco International Stand Up Comedy Competition as well as winning the prestigious California Probation Officer of the Year. Drawing from his counseling background, Pritchard began using humor to inspire, teach communication skills, anger management, diversity, conflict resolution and overcoming burnout and stress. He has spoken to a variety of audiences, ranging from corporate and government workers to health care employees. His work has been featured on CNN, NBC’s “The Today Show”, “The Tonight Show”, CBS “Sunday Morning” with Charles Kuralt, “Time” magazine and “People” magazine. His PBS educational series has been seen by millions and focuses on youth guidance in the areas of violence prevention. His appearance is being sponsored by the Scotia-Glenville PTA Council, PTA organizations and the Middle School Shared Decision-Making team. For more information, contact Shari Keller, principal, at 382-1263, or Robert Hanlon, Communications, at 386-4343.