At the Aug. 16 Communities That Care meeting, the group continued discussions on proposed community conversations.

Denise Continenza, CTC coordinator, noted Whitehall Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. was interested in the idea. Michelle Khouri, Whitehall-Coplay School District registrar, also lent her support at a previous meeting. According to Continenza, they will be getting together after the Sept. 20 meeting to discuss logistics.

These conversations are to get community members involved in the betterment of the community as a whole and will allow them an opportunity to have a voice and be heard regarding specific topics.

Continenza noted each community conversation would have a specific theme or topic for discussion. This would help the informal meetings have more structure and help keep the conversation on track. There would be a facilitator for each conversation to assist.

Continenza recommended using the Parent Cafe or World Cafe model for these discussions. This involves having the attendees break into groups to discuss a particular facet of the topic at hand, then rotate to different subtopics. At each station, the participants would write down feedback and ideas. This allows everyone to explore different angles and allows for discussion within the smaller groups. The conversation’s facilitator would collect the written thoughts and ideas and put them together into a cohesive document and send it to the appropriate parties, depending on the topic of conversation.

Continenza noted this format often allows for more ideas and a wider variety of feedback, as compared to an open discussion. She sent the group information on training sessions in the Parent Cafe model if they were interested in facilitating.

Susan Falkenstein, of Angel Resources Ministries, recommended setting up a website of some sort to help get the information out to the community and to keep people updated on future discussions. The group agreed this was a good idea.

Continenza also recognized Andy DeAngelo, a retired juvenile probation officer, for his efforts in putting together short videos to help combat underage drinking and parental social hosting. DeAngelo partnered with PennState Extension, where Continenza works as an educator, to create several 30-second videos to reach a wider audience.

In the past, the CTC has learned parents do not come to meetings and events regarding the dangers of social hosting. It was also noted using technology is a more effective tool for reaching teenagers. Thus, the idea was formed to create a series of short videos. This way, the information is out there, and parents and students can watch on their own time.

In the videos, DeAngelo talks about consequences and dangers of social hosting to try and reach the parents. Two students from Penn State Lehigh Valley also took part in the videos to help reach the younger audience.

Nikki Dietz, a student at Whitehall High School, mentioned drinking and substance use are problems.

“We need to do more to address these issues,” she said. “But this is a start.”

“No one plans to get arrested,” DeAngelo said, “but it happens. We need to at least get the message out there.”

Falkenstein noted the videos would be good to play during events, such as school open houses. Parents can stop for a minute and see the message without having to go out of their way.

Continenza mentioned she talked with Dr. Lorie Hackett, WCSD superintendent, about getting the messages to play on the scoreboard during sporting events as well.

The CTC next meets 8:30 a.m. Sept. 20 at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3355 MacArthur Road, Whitehall.