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Author: breakfastclubguest
Parenting Strategies to Conquer the CyberBullying Puzzle
Many articles being written lately are suggesting that parents are the missing piece in solving the cyberbullying puzzle. What they are suggesting is that communication between parents and their children is often too many times missing. Parents need to truly get involved in “cyber” discussions with their children. We need to take the initiative to dialogue on “cyber” issues...
Lead People, Not Programs
If you are in any sort of leadership role in any type of organization running any type of program and managing any number of people, I’m asking you to do something. I want you to copy the sentence below, paste it into a Word doc, increase the font size to about 200, bold it, italicize it, and post it somewhere in your office where you read it every day. Here it is: NOTHING INCREASES STAFF MO...
The Lights On Afterschool Movement and the Future of 21st CCLC
So much has been going on in the afterschool movement these past few weeks, it is hard to know where to begin. We’ve had inspiring moments. Intensely frustrating policy developments. Exhilarating waves of grassroots action. And very worrisome threats to the future of 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21stCCLC). I’m on my first cup of coffee this morning, so let me start with the...
The Benefits of Working with At-Risk Youth
Two months ago I finally recognized it happening; I could never forget the needs and the gleam in their eyes. As I began to pull my supply cart back to my car and pull out my keys to open the trunk a young man yelled my name “Mark!” It was at that moment I realized a seed had been planted, watered, and began to sprout. This was a rare occasion. I had been visiting this site for three y...
IF IT’S TO BE, IT STARTS WITH ME
I heard a story recently that I’d like to share it with you. One day a mother came to Gandhi with her little boy for help. She asked Gandhi, “Please, Bapu, will you tell my little boy to stop eating sugar. He simply eats too much sugar and will not stop.” Gandhi told the mother to leave and come back with the boy in three days. The mother returned with her son and said to Gandhi,...
Got Alignment?
“Honeeeeeeeeeeeey, I’m hoooooooooooome. What’s the plan for dinner? Did you make it to the bank to take care of the girls’ accounts? Where are the kids?” Sound familiar? Well, it should. It’s common daily conversation in many homes. In fact, this is the exact verbiage that came out of my mouth when I arrived home to my stay-at-home hubby yesterday. His answer: &...
Go Team, Go!
The daughter of a manicurist at a local Orange County nail salon was visiting her mom at work. She overheard that I had been a teacher and a principal, picking this up from parlor chatter — a charming cultural overlay to having nails done. Julie came right over to engage me in conversation during my manicure. Her mother had told me she loves school. As a fifth grader, she turned out to be a ...
Do you Suffer from Terminal Modesty?
At my house in the mornings I can usually talk my five-year-old son into going outside and fetching the paper from the drive while I prepare a few bowls of cold cereal and pour two cups of hot coffee. Usually I enjoy reading the headlines and filling my head while I fill my tummy, but I have to admit that lately it has been frustrating to read about the school budget cuts here in Austin. Hundreds ...
Safe Schools: Utilizing Youth Leadership Programs to Develop a Safe School Climate
In developing school based approaches to create safe schools and positive school climates the single most important factor that youth leadership programs neglect to focus in on is the importance of developing a sense of belonging to a group identity for young people. We know that “After transition to middle school, peers become primary sources of support and motivation to achieve while the q...
What Are You Planning For Your Summer Vacation?
It’s the middle of winter so, of course, I’m thinking about summer programs. We know summer programs are important for education and the fight against obesity. Learning requires momentum and so does establishing a healthy lifestyle. Without summer programs to keep children’s minds and bodies active, many children, especially those from low-income backgrounds, experience “le...
Developing Superheroes
With age also comes reflection. Often this reflection is not sought after by the “elderly” but rather triggered. I was recently approached, after doing a keynote, by a disgruntled site coordinator who wanted to know where I found all the “Unbelievable” staff that did all of the inspirational adventures I had just talked about. This question has always been a double edged sw...
Waiting for Superman?
For five years I mentored a student in Alexandria, Virginia. He lived with his grandparents in the same “Berg” housing projects made famous in the Denzel Washington movie Remember the Titans. During my time with this young man I witnessed a series of personal tragedies beginning in fifth-grade. His two younger half-brothers were taken from his home and sent to foster care. His 15 year-...