Westlake's Parent Café | Fall 2018
“Screen Time vs Scream Time: My Kids Won’t Listen” was the topic of the our first Parent Café for this school year! It was a successful event with lively and engaging discussions among Westlake parents. The participants thought it was an interesting topic and their interactions provided them insights and knowledge to help handle this situation with their kids! The Café also helped them feel connected as they have a safe and comfortable venue to share their feelings and their opinions are heard and valued. Thanks to our amazing and hardworking Parent Café Team: Decor & Table Host - Maria Gomes, Café Host - Cheryl Dizon, Organizer & Table Hosts - Paula Flores, Fabiola Blanco, Leah Tostado, Geisce Ly and Mrs. O'Neill for the opening remarks, refreshments and support for this activity. We hope to see you again for the next session. We will share the details soon!

Westlake's First Parent Café | Spring 2018
Westlake's inaugural Parent Café was an amazing event, with over 40+ participants. Attendees were treated to coffee and pastries in a beautiful cafe inspired setting. We shared our stories to help us as parents take better care of ourselves, and build strong families.

The 5 Protective Factors

The main purpose of the Parent Café is raising awareness of the 5 Protective Factors:

• Resilience
• Relationships
• Support
• Knowledge
• Communication

Parent Café Agreements:

• Speak from your own experience. Use "I" statements.
• Listen attentively. Do not interrupt.
• No judgement, positive or negative.
• Do not give advice.
• Confidentiality. What is talked about in Parent Café stays in the Parent Café.
• Turn your cell phone off. Or silence it.

In this café, we focused on the three Protective Factors: Support, Relationships, and Resilience.

Parent Café Experience Takeaways:

• Parents had different, yet similar experiences
• We neglect to take care of ourselves
• There are health and emotional benefits from sharing
• Help is available through sharing support strategies
• Dads are involved
• We share our pain, joy, and struggles
• We can support, help, and listen
• This is a judge-free zone

One Word That Describes Our Experience:

1. Empathy - We're all in the same boat with different stories. We connect through our emotions
2. Communication - Everyone can talk
3. Attention - We are being listened to
4. Comfortable - Benefits of listening
5. Open - Taking down our masks and being more genuine
6. Fun - Lots of laughs
7. Beautiful
8. Gold - Having a Dads' table
9. Connections - Help building new friendships
10. Intrigued - Interesting hearing other's experiences on the same topics
11. Relaxing - Free time to just talk
12. Community Building - Being better neighbors

Thank you to the Parent Café Team!
Café Organizer: Mrs. Kloezeman
Café Host: Paula Flores
Café Decor: Maria Gomes
Our Wonderful Table Hosts and Helpers

A special thank you to everyone who attended, you made this fun event possible!