About Focus Adolescent Services

For over 30 years, Linda Lebelle has been an advocate for youth and families. She's worked as a teacher (social studies, English, outdoor education) in public schools with gifted, at-risk, and special needs middle school and high school students, and also served as education director at juvenile facilities for court-adjudicated youth. She was a founder, teacher, and head of the Spiritual Life Committee at Friends Elementary School, which later merged with Sandy Spring Friends School. Linda has lectured at Salisbury University's Department of Sociology, Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy, and University of Maryland College of Education where she also served as a mentor and research advisor in Graduate Studies. Linda is a member of Southern Methodist University's Department of Education Policy and Leadership Advisory Board. Linda worked directly with victims of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual assault while serving as Professional Training and Community Education Director for the Life Crisis Center, a shelter for women and children providing advocacy services, counseling, and community outreach, and while Counseling Supervisor for the Maryland Crisis Hotline Network and the Maryland AIDS Hotline. During 9/11, Linda was part of New York City's volunteer medical team offering crisis counseling. Linda has been a member of Physicians for Human Rights Juvenile Justice Network, Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, the Center for Teaching Peace, and the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Emmy Awards Judging Committee for Community Service Programs. Linda has given presentations and workshops for such groups and organizations as the National Association of Missing and Exploited Children, March of Dimes, and the Center for Civic Education, and has been a guest on numerous radio programs, including The Michael Reagan Show and The Montel Williams Show. Linda earned a B.A. in Philosophy and M.Ed. in Elementary and Secondary Education, and completed post-graduate studies in Constitutional Law at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is certified in HIV/AIDS Crisis Counseling by the Maryland Department of Health and Human Hygiene.

Emotional Abuse in Youth Sports

Youth sports - player on bench

Ideally, well organized youth sports programs provide a safe and wholesome environment where young people can have fun, make friends, and develop character, self-esteem, confidence, trust, and the accomplishment of goals. Young people who take part in organized sports programs are …

Universal Education

John Taylor Gatto

Universal education is the kind of education that, instead of fitting people into the pigeonholes offered by the economy, helps students become self-confident, reflective, and creative adults. Universal education is the kind of education that serves, supports, and strengthens individuals, …