Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts

Stewart & friend at Terrapin Park with their haul

Some trash is heavy to carry!

We got together some friends and picked up trash. We were with Project Clean Streams.  My friend Luke joined us.  My mom drove us to Terrapin Park on the Eastern Shore.  We worked 2 hours and picked up 8 bags of trash and a man told us the beach never looked cleaner!!

Connor, Ethan, Eric and James keep their promise

So now they have their heads shaved and all for a good cause.  They raised money to help St. Baldricks and their Cure Cancer Drive.  Our 3 students and a dad raised hundreds of dollars in this effort.

Thanks to all of them for making all of us aware of the work that needs to be done.  Click here to see Jimmy’s Story.

carrying food into Lighthouse Shelter

Ryan says:  We delivered some food to the place called the Lighthouse Shelter.  Its a place where people can go tot get food because they are hungry and they don’t have any money to buy themselves any food.  We brought them food because they said they really needed some help and so we asked what they needed and we went to Target and got some of the things.  And then my sister Hailey and I delivered the bas to the Lighthouse Shelter.  Well I hope the people can have some food now.  (6 years old.)

Hailey says:  We got to Target and mom got some food for the Lighthouse Shelter.  Some of the things we got were peanut butter, cans of vegetables, cherieos, rice and strawberries.  It made me feel happy to give to people who can’t afford money and now they can have some food to eat so hopefully they will like the food we gave to them.

I like doing this, maybe I will be able to do it alot but I want to help buy the food next time.  I am looking froward to be helpful to the Lighthouse Shelter.  It was fun!

PS.  At first I didn’t want to write this but now that I did I feel real good.

Susie C. is a leader

When I walk along the big road near my house, I notice a lot of trash. People throw their trash on the ground and it’s wrong. I wanted to do something to help.

Please Do Not Litter.

I made signs reminding people not to litter. The signs show pictures of animals so people will know that littering hurts animals. We put the signs up on the fence along the road where people litter the most.

Great Job little brother!

I got my little brother Teddy to help me, and we loaded up our wagon with trash. We picked up the litter on the road and filled a big trash bag with all the litter. It was really gross but now the side of the road looks much better.

Emma is R.A.D.

Emma went to the park and saw that there was trash left behind by others. She chose to take the lead and clean it up. She picked up the trash and showed what we call in our school Super Responsibility. That is, she took on a task by cleaning up a mess that she did not make. She did this task because it was the “right thing to do”. Back in October we talked about being a R.A.D. person, Reliable, Accountable, Dependable. Emma is RAD!!

Your child can learn to be RAD too.  Join us in our classes as we teach martial arts and life skills.

toys sent to orphanage in Kenya

My service project was to help collect gifts for the Kidsico Orphange in Mongomu,Kenya.  Our youth group at church made denim bags for each of the kids and we filled them with little toys and school supplies.

students receiving gifts

I picked out the animals in the picture.  We made flash cards with the names of the animals in English and Swahili.  The pastor in Africa sent us pictures of the kids with the presents we sent.   I think they really liked my gift!

Ryan got with his family and delivered food to the pantry.  That is the idea of giving without expecting anything in return.  Good job Ryan!

Ryan drew a picture of his project!

Dear Mr. Joe,
My name is James K. and I’m in the 9-12 year old class on Mondays and Wednesdays at Balanced Life Skills. One of my friends in school told me about his cousin who has suffered with cancer for three years. Each year he participates in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser. St. Baldrick’s helps children with cancer. I decided to help too, and I found out that one in five children diagnosed with cancer will not survive.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/participantid/424611

For more information here is a St. Baldrick Fact Sheet describing the Conquer Kids’ Cancer Project and The St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

completed job!

I picked up trash at the beach with two trash bags.  I started at the entrance in the woods, then I went to the playground, then to the rocks and thats when I found a pile that someone must have left there when they were heading to the beach.  Then I went to the beach and I found sytrafoam, milk bottles tops, plastic bottles, beer bottles, and all sorts of stuff.  I ended up with two bags full.

cleaning up!

All of our students have been over the past year dropping coins in our “Christmas Jar” and now is the time to complete the job and deliver it to a deserving family.  First I want to tell you that the jar was designed by one of our 6 year old students and his mom, Ryan R.   I was so impressed with the design and how he stepped right up and made the jar with out a lot of prompting from myself.

Today I called a friend of mine Cathy Holstrom at Food Link and asked her if she knew of any families that have fallen on to difficult times that may find this inspiring or give the a boost of morale.  Of course she had many stories to tell, but the one I have chosen is of a single dad with a 15 year old son.  After working for the same company for over 20 years he was laid off about a year ago and while looking for work in every conceivable place, has not been able to find even the smallest of jobs.   Like many men he would prefer to work and pay his own way and is not inclined to ask for help, but Food Link was able to help him at Thanksgiving and he will receive another meal at Christmas from them.  He has been doing some odd jobs and his neighbors have been assisting as much as possible. Read the rest of this entry →