Newtopia Fun Park Awards Scholarships to Community

Newtopia loves to show their appreciation by being a blessing to our surrounding communities, by rewarding students with scholarship opportunities to better prepare them for their future endeavors. On December 9, 2022, New

Macon East Students Participate in AISA All-Star Football

Place), and our Class Champion Sheika Williams from Train Them Up Academy.

The winners were chosen from a committee based on school champion nominations and a brief summary submissions on their plans for the future. We encourage all students to continue to be their best selves and urge them to take advantage of all the op portunities that lead them to a bright successful future.

Macon East Fourth Graders Enjoy Field Trip

equaling up to $10,000 at our GON Scholarship ceremony.

Our GON Scholarship stands for “Go to the Next Generation”, which began annually in December of 2018. The 2022 first and second place winners

MaKenzie Holmes (1st Place), McKenzie Ogletree (2nd place), Nasiah Rodriguez (2nd

Ms. Johnson’s fourth grade class enjoyed an educational field trip this past Friday that goes along with their study of Alabama State History. The students were able to tour Alabama’s historic Capitol. They were able to view the beautiful rotunda, the spiral staircase, the Avenue of Flags, and the portraits of the former governors. The students also enjoyed touring The First White House of the Confederacy and The Alabama Department of Archives and History. Their special treat added to an already fun-filled day was eating lunch at Chris’ Famous Hot Dogs. Special thanks to Mrs. Custard and her daughter for taking time to guide us and give their expertise at all these historic places.

Eight Macon East student-athletes were honored to participate in the 2022 AISA All-Star Football game held December 2 at Cramton Bowl. Deonte Powell, Sanders Manning, Gabe Spencer and Hunter Tillman all represented Macon East for the East team. Gabe Spencer was honored as Most Outstanding Offensive Back for the East team. Madison May, Ar’monni Payne, Hannah Kate Hodges and Mikalah Belser cheered the East team on from the sidelines as part of the all-star cheerleading squad. The participants enjoyed a few days of practice with their fellow AISA teammates. The East team beat the West team this year 36-22.

Newtopia would also like to extend our appreciation to all the teachers, administrators, educators, and parents for all your hard work and dedication to educating our students. Newtopia appreciates you.

Pike Road High School Leo Club Collects Chrismtas Toys for Kids

Our Leo club did a great job collecting toys to help make Christmas merry and bright for lots of children!

Newtopia Fun Park is a place for families near and far to visit and have safe, clean fun. Newtopia is known to many as a Christian-based facility that strongly believes in serving God’s people and demonstrating God’s unfailing love. Here at Newtopia, giving back to our community is a priority. We value all our guests and the love they have shown continuously throughout the years.

Do your kids complain about being stressed?

How do you help them cope with it?

Experts agree on the following points:

Listen to Them: What’s Going On? How Are They Feeling?

It’s important to sit your kids down and ask them what’s happening and how they feel. Then, listen calmly and nonjudgmentally to what they have to say. “Children learn (and take cues) from the adults around them,” says child psychologist Dr. Lyn O’Grady, “so adults need to be mindful of how they approach stressful situations.” If you overreact to what they are telling you, they most likely will overreact, too. But if you stay calm and collected, you will have a much easier time helping them cope with whatever they are dealing with. As clinical psychologist, Dr. Barbara Greenberg succinctly puts it, “No child wants to talk to a parent who is losing her cool.”

Child psychotherapist Katie Hurley, The Happy Kids Handbook’s author, says that “knowing that you will listen and help them empowers them to work through their stress, instead of stuffing it down and potentially making it worse.” Remember that your kids are not looking for you to solve all of their problems once and for all. Instead, they are looking for you to truly listen to them as a way for them to work through their issues independently. “Sometimes,” says child psychologist Dr. Jamie Howard, “parents avoid having conversations with kids because they’re worried they won’t say the right thing or they won’t know how to answer their questions.” But the truth is that there is no such thing as the one correct answer. Failing to make yourself available to your kids when they need you the most is the only wrong thing.

Reassure Your Kids That They Are Strong and Capable

Listening to your kids is an important first step, but you also need to reassure them that they are strong and capable of coping with whatever stresses them out. Experts agree that you should try to convince your kids that it’s better to confront their stressors head-on than to shy away from them. “If a child faces his or her fears,” says professor of child psychology Dr. Amy Przeworski, “the child will learn that the anxiety reduces naturally over time.”

Dr. Przeworski says it’s also important to cultivate a positive outlook since stressed kids tend to get lost in negative thoughts and self-criticism. She explains, “They may focus on how the glass is half empty instead of half-full and worry about future events. The more you are able to focus on your child’s positive attributes and the good aspects of a situation, the more that will remind your child to focus on the positives.”

It’s helpful to give your kids some perspective by reminding them of how they dealt with similar situations in the past, which turned out all right. When confronted by a stressful situation, it’s easy for kids and adults to lose perspective and forget the previous times they faced a similar situation and that the outcome was not so bad after all.

Help Your Kids Experiment With Various Coping Techniques

Once your kids are reassured that they can handle stressful situations, try to experiment with various coping techniques. A one-size-fits-all strategy for dealing with stress doesn’t exist, but specific, time-tested techniques have proven effective.

One useful coping technique is to have your kids write down what’s causing them to be stressed. It teaches them to articulate what’s bothering them instead of bottling it up and helps them work through the problem and what to do about it. Mrs. Hurley suggests that they write down their stressors “on a piece of paper, read them to you, and then tear them up and throw them away for the night. This helps kids express their worries and let go of them.”

Another coping technique is to aim for balance in your kids’ lives. Instead of insisting they do well at school at all costs, emphasize that to be happy and stressfree, kids also need time for play and physical exercise. Dr. Greenberg suggests that parents sit down with their kids “and come up with a well-balanced schedule that includes all three of these important aspects of life.” When engaged in play or physical exercise, kids have the time to let their minds be free to come up with creative solutions to their sources of stress.

Make Sure Your Kids’ Physical Needs Are Met

Finally, make sure your kids’ physical needs are met. As Dr. Greenberg puts it, “none of us at any age can deal with pressure effectively if we’re exhausted and hungry.” This advice applies to you as much as it does to your kids. You need to be well-rested and satisfied to listen to and support your kids.