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Investing in Our Children’s Future 2018 Report to the Community

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Investing in Our Children’s Future2018 Report to the Community

Dear Friends:

When Melissa was murdered in 1995, we never could have imagined the horrors that have engulfed our country. The loss of so many promising and heroic lives at the music festival in Las Vegas is another significant tragedy for our nation. Unfortunately, this savage gun violence has become far too commonplace. The frequent mass shootings in the U.S. are a clarion call to action. We must add our voices to a groundswell of protest screaming, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” Many sensible legislative solutions have been proposed, and each of us must demand action to address this scourge of gun violence in our society. We must never waiver in our commitment to create a safer world for our children and future generations.

With the support of many, including donors like you, The Melissa Institute has accomplished so much. Your compassion and contributions have enabled the Institute to affect change in public and private schools, family support agencies, and mental health and legal services. Through collaborations and consultations locally and nationwide, the Institute continues to be a leader and a resource for issues such as bullying, early learning, positive parenting and effective interventions.

Research has given us the tools to alter the seemingly never-ending cycle of violence with proven methods for prevention. As you review the enclosed report, you will find leading research from some of our Scientific and Honorary Board members. We encourage you to visit our website, www.melissainstitute.org, for a wealth of information. You will also find links to our two other websites, www.readingteacher.net and www.teachsafeschools.org.

Common sense and research indicate that early intervention and education are the keys to altering the trajectory of violence. It is important to us that our four grandchildren inherit a safer world than the one their Aunt Melissa experienced when she was 22. To help make a lasting impact on the lives of children and their families, we need your support now. Please make a generous contribution to help us reduce violence and continue creating safer communities.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Lynn Aptman Michael Aptman, M.D.Founder and President Founder

Stop Bullying at Its Roots l in Early Childhood

What is the best way to prevent bullying in early childhood?

Bullying can occur among children as young as 3. But before bullying develops, children often experiment with many forms of harmful “pre-bullying” behaviors that do not yet fully qualify as bullying, which is defined as intentional, repeated and power-imbalanced forms of emotional or physical abuse. For example, when a young boy pushes a girl, grabs her toy and shouts, “Mine!” this “pre-bullying” behavior is typically done without a hostile intent to repeatedly harm a less powerful child, but rather as a single act with the practical purpose of acquiring the toy. Far too often, these “pre-bullying” behaviors are permitted to continue or are responded to in counterproductive ways that allow these early behaviors to develop into patterns of full-blown bullying. The good news is that young children’s “pre-bullying” behaviors can be recognized and stopped more easily in the early stages, thereby preventing them from turning into more complex and resistant patterns of bullying.

How can parents and other caregivers prevent bullying in early childhood?

Parents and other caregivers have an important opportunity and responsibility to help stop bullying before it starts in early childhood. However, most adults do not think about bullying until it has already grown into a major problem. To make matters worse, they may perpetuate violence by giving the victimized child the bad advice to beat up the bully.

To control bullying effectively, caregivers need to begin in the early childhood years to: (1) understand the nature and origins of bullying; (2) discuss and establish clear rules with

young children that disallow harmful behavior and encourage helpful behavior; (3) teach and give young children practice in applying prevention skills they will need to strengthen in the roles of bully (empathy skills), victim (assertiveness skills) or bystander (problem-solving skills); and (4) prepare themselves to recognize and respond effectively to young children’s “pre-bullying” and early bullying behaviors. By working together before bullying has become a difficult and established problem, young children and adults can support each other in becoming effective bullying preventers.

What resources are available to help adults and young children prevent bullying?

A free and readily available toolkit, entitled Eyes on Bullying in Early Childhood by Dr. Kim Storey and Dr. Ron Slaby, provides easy-to-use, research-based guidelines and skill-building activities to help adults and young children become early bullying preventers. (http://eyesonbullying.org/pdfs/eob-early-childhood-508.pdf)

— Ron Slaby, Ph.D., TMI Scientific Board Member

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Hibiscus Elementary School students at the City of Miami Gardens Bullying Prevention Youth Conference with counselors Patricia Bryant and Wilma Theoc-Desinord.

Violence Prevention Must Begin EarlyA high school diploma has the potential to open doors to family-supporting careers and can serve as a powerful protective factor against the lure of criminal behavior and substance abuse. The positive news is that high school graduation rates are on the rise across America. Unfortunately, this increase is seen predominantly in middle- and high-income students; data show that low-income students still graduate at often substantially lower rates. A state-by-state study published by the U.S. Department of Education revealed that the four-year graduation rate for low-income students nationally was only 76%, with gaps between low- income students and their higher-income peers of as much as 28% in some states (https://eddataexpress.ed.gov/data-element-explorer.cfm/tab/data/deid/6108/).

Recently a long-awaited research report was released in the American Journal of Public Health. The authors were a team of researchers involved in a 20-year, federally funded study of youth violence prevention called the Fast Track Research Project. In the early 1990s, the researchers asked kindergarten teachers at four sites around the country to complete a short, eight-item behavior rating form. These teachers were asked to rate the degree to which a cohort of 753 kindergarteners from low-income rural and urban families demonstrated social competence skills in their interactions with classmates and teachers.

The items included skills such as “Shares materials with others,” “Is helpful to others” and “Very good at understanding other people’s feelings.” The researchers controlled for background variables such as poverty, race and gender, and the children did not receive any additional social competence interventions after kindergarten.

At age 25, for every one-point increase on the eight-item scale, the child was:

n Twice as likely to attain a college degree in early adulthood; 

n 54% more likely to earn a high school diploma; and 

n 46% more likely to have a full-time job at the age of 25.

For every one-point decrease on the eight-item scale, the child had a:n 67% higher chance of being

arrested by early adulthood; n 82% higher rate of recent marijuana

usage; andn 82% higher chance of being in or

on a waiting list for public housing.

This report contributed to a mounting body of evidence that “social skills” have a major impact on later-life outcomes, an impact that may even exceed those of IQ and reading readiness. “Being ready for school” in ways beyond knowing the alphabet has taken on a new urgency. Children who enter kindergarten already possessing the social skills necessary to learn effectively in a classroom full of other 4- and 5-year-olds have a significant leg up. The typical environment in which to learn these pre-kindergarten skills is the home, and the primary teachers are the parents and extended family.

Researchers at the highly regarded Child Study Center at Penn State University (http://csc.psych.psu.edu/research/head-start-redi-project) have concluded that children entering kinder-garten should have the following social and emotional skills to be successful in their new school environment:n Identify common feeling states that

they are experiencing.n Identify common feeling states in

others.n Show self-control of aggression.n Play cooperatively with age-mates.n Solve problems nonviolently.

The good news is that in almost every cohort of kindergarten students, including low-income students, most of the children come to school already prewired with these social and

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emotional skills. However, communities need to get very serious about how to wire-up the rest of them. If one examines the records of students who graduate from high school the records of students who end up in juvenile corrections, many of the roads will lead straight back to the first years of school. The data are clear that social and emotionally skilled children have a discernable and measurable advantage.

The challenges are substantial, and many parents have all they can handle just trying to keep their children safe and healthy today, let alone worrying about what those little ones should be doing two or three years from now. Poverty, racism, immigration worries and counterproductive child-rearing practices all interact to put many children at significant risk. These real and significant challenges may be surmountable, but there is a need for creative thinking and a willingness to explore new methodologies.

For schools and communities, this is a budget item and a substantial one. Today, it costs over $100,000 a year to house an 18-year-old in secure detention. Bringing effective training in social and emotional skills to a 4-year-old costs a fraction of that, and the payoff can be incalculable.

— Jim Larson, Ph.D., TMI Scientific Board Member

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21st Annual Conference l Interpersonal Violence

Our May 2017 Conference — Treatment of Victims of Interpersonal Violence: A Life Span Approach — was held at the Donna E. Shalala Student Center at the University of Miami and facilitated by leading experts in the fields of psychology, trauma and interpersonal violence. Current epidemiological findings in the U.S. include the following: n Some 60% of youth report exposure to violence within

the past year.

From left: Conference presenters Christine Courtois, Ph.D., John Briere, Ph.D., Lynn Aptman, M.Ed., President, and Don Meichenbaum, Ph.D.

ResilienceIn the aftermath of experiencing traumatic and victimizing events, most individuals are impacted, but some 75% evidence the ability to “bounce back” and become resilient. In contrast, some 25% of victims “get stuck” and develop physical and mental disorders.

Resilient individuals access and receive social supports, control negative emotions and experience positive emotions such as gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, grit, love and joy, which can change how the brain works. They are able to “re-story” their traumatic accounts in terms of benefit- finding and benefit-remembering. They may undertake meaning-making activities and survivor missions that help transform losses into a “gift” they can offer others.

— Don Meichenbaum, Ph.D., TMI Research Director and Board Member

SOS DonationThe Melissa Institute received a $5,000 donation from SOS: Students Offering Support in May to support our bullying prevention services. The funds were raised through the annual Bowling Against Bullying event and other fundraising activities. We are thankful for the generosity of these impressive high school students.

Christopher Garrett, 2016-17 SOS President; Heather Winters, Executive Director; Councilwoman and Melissa Institute Board Member Karyn Cunningham; and Chase Moralejo, 2017-18 SOS President.

n One in three women and one in four men have experienced intimate partner violence over the course of their lifetime.

n One in 10 community-residing older adults (65+) experience some form of elder abuse.

Suzanne L. Keeley, Ph.D. Community Service AwardThis year’s recipient of the Suzanne L. Keeley Community Service Award was South Miami Children’s Clinic, established in 2007 to improve access to healthcare and health education for uninsured/underinsured children, with the belief that improving access will help these children build healthier minds and bodies.

From left: Lissette Perez-Lima, Ph.D., board member and UM faculty; Tina Scott, M.D., Medical Director, South Miami Children’s Clinic; Lynn Aptman, M.Ed., President.

Kids Will Be Kids and Guns Will Be Guns Firearm Risk and Child Development

Firearm injury accounts for nearly 18% of all deaths in the U.S., almost as many deaths as those by car crashes. Over the past several decades, firearm injury rates have increased, largely driven by self-inflicted shootings. Gun suicides usually occur in a victim’s own home, most often with a family gun.

Firearm injury can disrupt normal child development — immediately and, as with fatal firearm injury, irrevocably. Even non-fatal gun injury can cause physical, emotional and mental trauma to injured victims, unintentional child shooters, children who have lost loved ones, fully functioning caretakers and youth in the community who react to noises and conflict with anxiety or a disordered stress response.

It is estimated that there are more guns than people in the U.S. With so many around, children do find them. Too often, this leads to devastating accidents in which children are shot, shoot or both. When children are shot accidentally, the shooter is usually a family member. Unintentional child shooters shoot themselves most often, followed by siblings, other family members and friends. The vast majority of these shootings take place in a home — the child’s, or that of someone known to the child — and with a gun owned by a relative (most often the child’s father). Almost invariably, the gun was left unlocked. These are some of the reasons why firearm injury might be considered “America’s most preventable disease.”

Normal Child Development and Risk of Firearm Injury

Childhood is a time of incredibly rapid growth — physical, emotional and intellectual. As children journey through development, they increasingly engage with their environment. Every developmental stage means children are reaching forward – beyond their current habits, and sometimes out of view and reach of the most caring of parents. Exploring puts them in contact with new objects and contexts, often with a degree of risk. Babies roll off the edge of a bed, toddlers reach for what they should not put in their mouths, schoolchildren run off the curb and teens experiment in all sorts of ways.

As children progress, parents may not always understand their full developmental capacities. They may not recognize that a toddler has the strength to pull a trigger, that a young child’s curiosity will lead him to find the unlocked firearm, and that

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even normal and nice teenagers will sometimes act emotionally and impulsively after an argument or a disappointment.

Wanting to protect our children, we may wish that it is enough to tell them “no.” Good intention has led to the creation of educational programs aimed at children. Most of these programs emphasize the simple message of “Don’t touch; leave the area and find an adult.” The best-known of these programs is the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program. Yet there is no evidence that any of these programs are at all effective. In fact, as these studies have demonstrated, even after education by adults, including law enforcement officers, most young boys will still handle a gun if found and about half will actually pull the trigger.

Against such evidence, or perhaps unaware of it, a majority of parents report that their kids know better than to handle a gun if they find one, and many gun owners with children in the house do not lock all their guns. A quarter of gun-owning parents who say their child has never touched their gun have children who contradict them, reporting that they know where the family gun is and that they have already handled it. Relying on children not to act as children puts them at risk of injury. Almost half of gun-owning parents say they believe children younger than 6 years can tell the difference between a real gun and a toy gun — a difficult task for most adults, including law enforcement. Parental overconfidence in a child’s abilities and restraint can lead to deadly outcomes.

The best means of prevention is to reduce access to firearms. Children and adolescents in homes without guns have been shown to have less risk of suicide, homicide and unintentional injury. Keeping all guns locked also has a protective effect.

Some 40% of homes with children also keep guns. A majority of the gun-owning parents see their firearms as a means to protect their families. All parents need to be aware of the joys and risks of normal child development — curiosity, exploration, experimentation, independence, impulsivity and even some disobedience. Parents may not recognize how frequently unlocked guns are kept in places where their children visit. All parents can be encouraged to be more aware of the risk of firearm injury, and to lock or remove guns that children may access – as well as to speak with others about the risk before their children visit a new environment.

— Judy Schaechter, M.D., TMI Honorary Board Member

n Normal child development poses risks that are particularly high when children are exposed to lethal weapons. n Parents may underestimate children’s and adolescents’ risk around firearms. n Telling children and adolescents not to touch a gun is not enough to prevent firearm violence.n Prevention of firearm violence requires adult responsibility, including removal of or securely locking firearms.

— 5 —

On March 16, The Melissa Institute hosted its annual Peace, Harmony & Moonlight event at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens. Guests enjoyed a cocktail reception, live music and silent auction on the garden lawn, followed by dinner. Special thanks to members of the Greater Miami Youth Symphony and guitarist Adrian Ulloa for providing music; SOS: Students Offering Support for providing volunteers; The Orchid House, Parties by Lyn, Esprit Miami, Always Flowers and Events, Anje Soirées and Denise Winston for creating a beautiful ambiance on the lawn and in the Garden House; and finally, to Acacia for the donation of wine. We could not have done it without you.

Peace, Harmony & Moonlight

Don’t miss next year’s Peace, Harmony & Moonlight, March 15, 2018!__________________________________

Board members Philipp Ludwig, Lissette Perez-Lima, Ph.D., Penn Chabrow, Karyn Cunningham, Ken Bloom and Etiony Aldarondo, Ph.D.

Michael Stein, Commissioner Sally Heyman and Brian E. Keeley

Scientific Board Member Daniel Santisteban, Ph.D., Yoli Santisteban, Alyse Messinger and Dr. Jonathan Messinger

Dr. Mark and Debbie Caruso and Drs. Joan and Paul Gluck

Board members Etiony Aldarondo; Suzanne L. Keeley, President Emeritus; Lynn Aptman, President; Heather Winters,

Executive Director; Karyn Cunningham, Vice President and Councilwoman; Honorable Mari Sampedro-Iglesia;

and Daniel Santisteban, Ph.D.

Board member Maggie Snyder and Aaron Snyder

Jose Iglesia and Honorable Mari Sampedro-Iglesia

Jill and Emery Sheer

Marilyn and Dr. Norman Goldberg

Mike Baxter and Honorary Board Member Jo Baxter

Michael and Carly Epstein

OUR VOLUNTEER BOARDS Without the participation, expertise and leadership of our volunteer boards, the Institute could not accomplish its goals. These include the Board of Directors, Scientific Board and Honorary Board.

•BOARD OF DIRECTORSEtiony Aldarondo, Ph.D.Lynn Aptman, M.Ed.

President Michael Aptman, M.D. Kenneth M. Bloom, Esq.Grace L. Carricarte, M.S. Ed.Penn B. Chabrow, Esq.Karyn I. Cunningham, B.A.

Vice PresidentJoan C. Gluck, M.D.

Suzanne L. Keeley, Ph.D. President Emeritus

Philipp N. Ludwig, M.S., MBA Treasurer

Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. Research Director

Lindsay A. Mendiola, CPA, MBALissette M. Perez-Lima, Ph.D.Vanessa Lopez Silverman, CPAMarguerite Snyder, Esq.

SecretaryAtlee W. Wampler III, Esq.

SCIENTIFIC BOARDEtiony Aldarondo, Ph.D.

Provost, Albizu University, Miami Campus

John Briere, Ph.D. Assoc. Professor, University of Southern California; Director, Adolescent Trauma Training Program; National Child Traumatic Stress Network

Wendy Craig, Ph.D., FRSC, O.Ont, Professor, Head of the Department of Psychology, Queen’s University

Jim Larson, Ph.D., NCSP Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo

Guerda Nicolas, Ph.D. Professor, University of Miami

Clifford O’Donnell, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, University of Hawai’i

Debra J. Pepler, Ph.D., C.Psych. Distinguished Research Professor, York University

Isaac Prilleltensky, Ph.D. Dean, School of Education & Human Development; Vice Provost, Institutional Culture, University of Miami

Daniel A. Santisteban, Ph.D. Professor; Director of Dunspaugh-Dalton Community & Educational Well-being Research Center, University of Miami

Wendy K. Silverman, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor; Director, Anxiety Disorders at Child Study Center, Yale University

Ron Slaby, Ph.D. Senior Scientist, Center on Media & Child Health, Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Dale M. Willows, Ph.D. Professor, University of Toronto

Marleen Wong, Ph.D. Associate Dean, Director of Field Education, University of Southern California

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Schools and the Pathway to Crime l A Focus on Relationships

Schools comprise a primary socializing context for children and youth. In many jurisdictions, schools operate in loco parentis — in the place of parents — while students are at school. Baumrind (1991) identified two important dimensions of parenting: providing love and being responsive, as well as guiding, setting expectations and limits for children’s behaviors. Therefore, if schools are expected to operate in loco parentis, they have some of the same responsibilities as parents for nurturing and supporting students, teaching and guiding them, and keeping them safe.

Schools have long served as society’s institution for socialization, not only for academic skills, but ideally also for the social-emotional skills and moral development that are essential for healthy development and adaptation across the lifespan.

At school entry, there is a group of children who are unprepared for the academic, behavioral and social demands in the school setting and consequently vulnerable to experiencing problems and not engaging with school. Based on inadequate socialization within the family and/or daycare context, these children enter the school system with: an inability to regulate their behaviors and emotions, poorly developed executive functions, a lack of social skills, weak moral understanding and attitudes, and mental health problems (e.g., anxiety, oppositional behavior). As Dodge and colleagues (2009) note, the combination of difficult child factors and adverse social contexts sets up a developmental cascade of failure in family, peer and school contexts and risk of movement into antisocial and illegal behaviors, where alternate reinforcement processes attract the youth into crime. For children with these initial vulnerabilities, society

depends on schools to be the socializing institution and to pick up where parents left off or were unable to establish a foundation for adaptive regulation and learning. When these children and families are surrounded with support, it can lead to changes in genetic expression and positive behavioral change, diverting them from a life of crime (Dodge, 2017).

— Debra Pepler, Ph.D., TMI Scientific Board Member

Youth attending the 15th Elementary School Student Conference on Bullying Prevention.

HONORARY BOARDJanine ArmstrongJo Baxter, MBAPatricia E. DeeringFrank G. DeLaurier, Ed.D.

Executive Director EmeritusLisa Goldberg, Esq.The Hon. Bob GrahamMartha C. JurneyRemi J. Kajogbola, MBAJudith S. KatzenDavid Lawrence Jr.The Hon. Cindy LedermanIra H. Leesfield, Esq.The Hon. Carlos J. MartinezAlyse MessingerMarie D. Osborne, Esq.Leonard Pitts Jr.The Hon. Orlando A. PrescottThe Hon. Katherine Fernandez

RundleThe Hon. Nushin G. SayfieJudy Schaechter, M.D., MBACynthia Wolman, M.Ed.

STAFFHeather Winters, LMHC,

M.S. Ed., Executive DirectorTrish Ramsay, M.A.

Education Director

IN-KIND DONORSActors’ Playhouse at the

Miracle TheatreAmoura DesignsDr. Michael & Lynn AptmanAquaticaArt by GodAwards Trophy WorldBali Ha’i CharterBaptist Health South FloridaBellezza Spa & SalonThe Biltmore HotelBizNet TechnologyFrancisco J. Blanco, DMDBugatti RestaurantBulla Gastrobar Spanish

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DONORS

$10,000-$24,999 Dr. Michael & Lynn AptmanRichard P. ColePatricia E. DeeringDr. Suzanne L. & Brian E. KeeleyDr. Julie Schwartzbard &

Neil Bernstein

$2,500-$9,999 Lowell & Eileen AptmanJavier Hernandez-LichtlJosh & Christine KotlerKenneth O’Keefe &

Jason StephensPatricia S. RamsayStudents Offering Support, Inc.

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MeichenbaumDeborah Montilla

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$1-$99 Brett AdlerCindy AmarAmazon SmileLynn AndersAbel AronovitzMaria A. AvilaBank of America Employee

Giving CampaignDr. Carl & Lisa BarenboimDanie BeckHershel BeckerDr. Douglas & Melissa BeekDr. Javier BerezdivinIra & Debra BergmanBobbi BerlinEliza BermanJackie BerneyAmanda BickerstaffRebecca BidermanDr. David & Nancy BillingsSteve & Margie Mitlin BloomMinx BorenAndrew BrownDeborah BuslerDr. Ken & Patti ButlerGrace CarricartePhilip & Kathryn CarrollReva CeaderCeline ClarkPatrick Andrew DavisRachel DelphinMarisol Demonzayet &

Elias BeijRobin DenisonStephanie Heavener DentonArlene EasleyDr. Gerald & Beverly EnerfeldMario & Diana EspineiraMonica EwyEliza FendellMary FensterRhonda Denton FiggVanessa FinkelmanBruce FitellDebra Berman FreedmanJessica FreilichWilliam & Judith FriedelRobin GallagherDavid & Jo-Anne GardnerGerald & Vicki GeistNorman & Gail GelvanJoanne Gentile

Katie GhelliMaria Cecilia GiorgiLisa GoldbergAngelica GonzalezAngela HaganStacey HalpernKenneth & Adele HertzCharles & Johanna HorowitzJosephine KalismanAnnette & Steve KatzBarry J. KatzIngrid KesslerMarc KhouzamiShaun & Jamie KolnickDonna LatshawPeter & Karen LavenBev LefcourtMadelyn LlanerasPhilip & Barbara LudoviciPatrick LupinskiRobyn LynAndres & Ana Maria ManraraDr. Stephen & Harriet MargolisTodd MichaelsTony & Tania MoralejoElizabeth MorganAndrea MorillaJudith MunozDr. Ian & Myrna NisonsonMarcos & Patricia OrtegaMilton OzarJennifer PenaDr. Nancy PolkSharon Polk-SadownikNancy PollackLeslie PruynAngela Puentes-LeonDoug & Cathie RalphKrissa RamsayDr. Tavis & Jessica RamsayMary ReinckeArmando & Maria ResillezMercedes ReyesDaniel & Cara RobertsonJoel & Ellen RosenblattJoshua & Caitlin SadownikMichael & Risa SahrMargo SchneiderDr. Fred & Katie ShermanRoberta ShevinLillian SiegelScott & Melanie SimonStephanie SnyderHollis SpitzBernard & Carol SteinRichard & Audrey StoneDiana SuarezEstela TostLaura UrquiagaLawrence VitulanoAlan & Harriet WagnerLenore WalkerSteve & Arlyne WaynerDennis & Debbie WintersSteve Zimet

This list represents donors from August 1, 2016, through July 31, 2017. We regret any omissions due to the printer’s deadline.

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On May 5, 1995, Melissa Aptman was murdered in St. Louis. A Miami native, she was just two weeks away from graduating with her bachelor’s degree from Washington University. One year after her death, Melissa’s family, friends and violence prevention experts established The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment to honor her memory and make a difference by working to prevent violence and assist victims.

The Melissa Institute is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the study and prevention of violence through education, community service, research support and consultation. Our mission is to prevent violence and promote safer communities through education and application of research-based knowledge.

Melissa Aptman

Belfer-Aptman Scholarship Recipient

The Belfer-Aptman Award is available to graduate students who address issues of violence prevention or treatment. The goal of this award is to support violence prevention research. Congratulations to the 2017 recipient! n Karen Trister Grace, Ph.D.(c), MSN, CNM

Nancy Glass, Ph.D., MPH, PN, FAAN, Advisor Johns Hopkins University

“Exploring Correlates of Reproductive Coercion Among Low-Income Latina Women”

Located at the University of Miami, School of Education and Human Development

1507 Levante Avenue, Suite 331 n Coral Gables, FL 33146Phone 305-284-2930 n Fax 305-284-2960

The Melissa Institute1507 Levante Avenue, Suite 331Coral Gables, FL 33146

NON-PROFIT ORG

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

MIAMI, FL

PERMIT NO. 3725

MelissaInstitute.org n TeachSafeSchools.org n ReadingTeacher.net n SilenceTheViolence.org

A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. REGISTRATION #: CH7314

Student art from Miami MacArthur South High School

Tyrique Fenley Carlos Morales Euleen Caraballo Marionda Stevenson