SAY San Diego
By Donna Wilson, Child & Youth Development Program Supervisor, with special thanks to teacher Susan Bulloch and retired teacher Donna Moyer for their contributions.
Studies show that children’s academic achievement is directly influenced by their parents’ involvement in their education. Learn how you can bolster your student for success.
A Teacher’s Expectation of Parents
Students, teachers, and parents all share responsibility in the education of a child. As a parent, here’s a minimum level of involvement most teachers expect:
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Prevention is truly at the heart of SAY San Diego’s approach—and has always been. Notably, the science of prevention has advanced greatly over the years, in our area of social services, just as it has in public health and medicine. One area of emphasis has been reproductive health. Reproductive health is not only a critically important area of well-being for youth, it is one where evidence-based prevention efforts have led our county to join the nation in achieving historically low rates of teen pregnancy. Not long ago, San Diego had teen pregnancy rates that were 72–74 out of every 1000 births, now we are 22 out of every 1000 births—the lowest rate on record (CDC, 2016).
By Raul Roman, SAY San Diego Case Manager and Certified Trainer, World Class Relationships Curriculum
2016 Annual Report: Each year, in late fall, we take stock of SAY San Diego’s accomplishments as an agency and document them in an annual report of our progress. 2016 was a meaningful and exciting year at SAY San Diego. Our 45th! We are truly indebted to our terrific workforce, exceptional volunteers, and many talented and generous community partners and donors, all of whom fuel our work. Never doubt your critical importance. For a 36-year-old mother, SAY’s counseling staff recently helped her to change her life—making the difference between living in continual fear of domestic abuse; unable to keep her children safe, and finding a safe pathway forward, with her family intact, healthy and thriving. Please explore the multiple approaches and impacts SAY advances to save and improve lives in our 
Veterans Day, November 11, commemorates the signing of the armistice ending WWI, and honors the bravery and service of all Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Veterans Day also gives us an opportunity to reflect on what we’re now doing and can do even better to serve those who serve our nation. San Diego County has one of the nation’s largest populations of active duty, transitioning and Veteran military members and their families in the country.
In honor of Domestic Violence Month, I’d like to give thanks to SAY San Diego for giving me the opportunity to partake in the treatment of learning healthy boundaries with Andria (my instructor). A lot of us grow up with domestic violence and then become a part of domestic violence as adults. We go from being the children of victims to the person being assaulted. And although the easy thing to say is “just get out,” our childhood trauma binds us to a life that we are accustomed to. The lack of confidence and self-worth crushes our spirit.
As human beings we hope for, work for, and count on healthy, safe, and loving relationships. We are social beings and our relationships with others define us. Healthy relationships begin with one’s relationship to oneself – shaped by early family life and how we have been parented and cared for. They extend to relationships with peers, friends, adults outside of the family sphere, and with romantic attachments. How we act and relate to community and the larger society round out the picture.
