Meg Patterson has a Master’s degree in Reading Education and NC teaching certificate in English and Special Education from Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. She also has BA degrees in Political Science and Speech-Communications from North Carolina State University. She is currently an Executive Skills coach and has recently completed an academic/vocational pilot program she developed called STAG. She taught high school English to regular and special education students for 10 years at South View High in Fayetteville, NC and at Hobbton High in Newton Grove, NC. She has been in private coaching for over 4 years through her business, Tutoring for Excellence, in the Atlanta area. Her aim is to help students grasp the power of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” and create habits to follow their dreams. She will help your child apply the principles to their own life now. Whether to set goals for the upcoming school year or develop personal habits of success, the 7 habits applied can create permanent results. She is a strong advocate for the 7 habits due to the results she has experienced personally and of the children she has worked with. Read Meg’s Full Bio…

Megan Dicken is a NATA Board Certified & State Licensed Athletic Trainer and a Life Skills Coach. Megan will help students build healthy habits both mentally and physically; she is an academic life coach in the Atlanta area. As a Certified Athletic Trainer (not to be confused with Personal Trainer) she has extensive education about the body/brain connection as well as in depth knowledge of the impact of nutrition and physical activity on overall life performance. She will also help students who need nutritional guidance in our nutritional support program. Megan also has years of experience working with children with developmental delays and those with Autism and can help customize the 7 habits program to their unique learning styles.

Ellen Carrington is a trained Parenting the Love and Logic Way course instructor and has taught this course for 14 years in schools, churches, and for foster parenting programs. Ellen has found the Love and Logic skills to have a positive impact on her parenting and in her work as an educator. She and her husband, Mark, have been married for 26 years are the parents of 15-year-old twin boys.

Renee Pitchford, English Language Arts teacher at Sutton Middle School, will teach the proactive habit with her “Build Your Binder” system.  This approach to organization is a practical way students can apply the “Be Proactive” habit and reap benefits immediately in school.  She will not only help students create their own binders but will guide them in the “habit” of managing it daily. It is both aspects of this organizational skill that make using a binder effective.

Wendy Battaglia, Horticultural Therapist, will help dyslexic and ADD students understand the value of being dyslexic as a unique learning style and the power and advantages of ADD. She will discuss the gifting and advantages of being dyslexic in terms of creativity, story-telling and seeing the world in pictures.  Her talk will help dyslexic students understand themselves better and celebrate their unique learning style as a valuable gift to themselves and the world.  She will help them understand how to adjust to the framework around them when necessary without losing confidence, esteem or sense of self.

Azizi Blissett, life coach and founder of ZFusion, a 501 (c)3 devoted to personal empowerment, will focus on stimulating your child’s creativity and imagination to help them envision their future goals.

She will guide the students in creating their own vision boards to take home as reminders of the direction they have chosen even as they will refine or revise it. It will be a guiding point for them as they create goals for the new school year.

Manda Groth, an Aquatic Supervisor with degrees in Outdoor Recreation and Camp Administration and Leisure Studies and Education Ministry and Psychology, has designed activities that embody the three public victory habits. Manda specializes in group activities based on teamwork, problem-solving and communication. All three habits will be integrated into the exercises and students will be given time to reflect on experiences in light of their new understandings of these habits.

Maureen Dougher, Professional Balloon Artist – Teens will relax with healthy refreshments while Maureen talks about balancing this habit so that it increases the effectiveness of all the others.  She will encourage teens to share about their own renewal time and experiences and share her own dose of “fun” with them in the process.  Teens will have a chance to socialize with other teens while listening to music in a relaxed environment.  Maureen will offer her specialty glitter tattoos, give students a special show and the opportunity to learn to make balloon crafts!

Felicia Henderson, World History teacher at Sutton Middle School, will talk with students about the important habits to develop in order to be an effective middle and high school student. For upcoming 6th graders, she will help with the transition from elementary to secondary school by discussing teacher expectations, the rigors of secondary school and how students can best prepare themselves.

Anne Radack, Special Education Teacher with Fulton County Schools for 15 years, currently working as a pre-K Diagnostician, will manage the camp while it is operating and add her expertise to guide students throughout the day.