Penny Lindballe and Joanne McMahon brought show hosts Cindy Seibel and Lorna Costantini up to date on their introduction of web 2.0 tools in their school. Wired Wednesdays are happening with Penny at the local library. Parents are working with Penny learning how to use Google applications like the calendar and setting their Facebook privacy settings. It is exciting to see Penny take a leadership role in educating parents. Joanne is celebrating the addition of 3 other teachers and her principal to the roster of teachers blogging in her school. It certainly shows that good examples bring forth participation. We wish Penny and Joanne another successful school year

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Vanessa Van Petten was the guest of this episode of Parents as Partners.

Vanessa's mission is "to improve parent-teen relationships by providing them with new perspectives, stories and neutral places to communicate." She believes "this will help families instill values and build strong relationships that promote healthy attitudes and lifestyle behaviors in this generation of young adults". Vanessa strives to provide positive role models for young people.

Vanessa shares widely through her website www.onteenstoday.com Her work includes her writing – in books, in her blog and others' and in magazines. She mentors teens and connects them with other mentors outside her home base in Los Angeles. She is an accomplished speaker, both in person and online. And all this from a woman still in her early 20's.

Vanessa's latest book is The Dirt E-Secrets of an Internet Kid. Once again she has written for parents describing kids' internet lives from their perspectives. On the show she talked about how to get parents online for the first time and described kid's Internet lives form their perspective.

Watch her video.

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