This is an update on my trip to Alabama later this month. We have now been told what we will be doing this time in Alabama.
Project 1. The big project this year is the renovation of the Rosenwald school. I have linked to a site where there is more information about the historical significance of the school.
Project 2. The team will be building a home or an addition for a man who is blind.
Project 3. We will be working on creating a garden project for some in the community.
Project 4. There are 5 youth that 5 members fo the UBBT will establish a mentoring relationship with. They will work along side of the UBBT members, but will also take part in other activities to help build a relationship that can be maintained after we leave the town.
The community is hosting several dinners for the team and one of them is at the City Park where all of the town has been invited to come see a demonstration performed by the UBBT members. In addition during the week some members will be visiting local schools and making presentations.
In addition to this all of us will be doing some training in Diabetes education with Andy Mandell. More on him later, and we will also be training more in Anger Management Education.
When we have time for all of this. The last time I was there we were up and started our day at 5 AM and did not stop till very late in the evening, around 11 or so. This is a zero waste event for us also. All of us are required to bring mess kits, towels and water bottles, as there will be no plastic bottles, paper plates or towels or anything that needs to be thrown away – as much as possible. (toilet paper allowed)
When I return I will be happy to tell you about the event and the things learned there. This is a training program for those who are or who aspire to be, master teachers. What I learn there, I must bring back to our own community, to make the same kind of difference here that the 100 martial arts masters have made in Greensboro, Alabama.
If you would like to support the work in that town with a small donation, it would be happily accepted. My instructor has made it clear to us that only small donations by many individuals should be accepted. I hope that all of us together here at Balanced Life Skills and our AA County community will benefit from the experience I have at the end of this month.
Rain Barrel Event is coming up!
This years Where Does the Rain Go? event is off to a fast start. We are inviting more schools and artists to be involved. To lessen the load on some of our parents who have the past two years spent an extraordinary amount of time on the preparation, we are requesting that some of our students and their parents take part in the preparations.
I am looking for parents / students from each age level to take one rain barrel and do the prep work. You can see the preparation steps on the Rain Barrel web site. This year we will be doing the actual painting and decorating on April 4 at 10 AM at our Balanced Life Skills studio.
This year, we are working on getting the barrels in the public eye by asking local businesses to display the finished product with information about the auction during earth week. We are also hoping to display some of them at Quiet Waters during their Earth Day festivities. Then the actual auction will take place on May 15th at 6:00 PM at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center and all the proceeds will be split between the participating schools and Arlington Echo.
If you want to see the completed video it is on the website also and is available to schools for free on DVD, along with a complete package of worksheets, crossword puzzles, word searches and other resources for the teachers and schools.
Confidence
Young students
Confidence means: “I believe in myself!”
Older students, teens, adults:
Confidence means trusting ourselves and knowing that we can do it.
Living with Focus
I have made this post in My Journey blog also. I feel like the resources mentioned here may be helpful to anyone who reads this:
One thing that has been on my mind recently is how so many of the things we learn are so related and support each other. This past week I completed the one day Time management workshop with a Steven Covey facilitator. The need to be certain of your values, roles and mission was emphasized throughout the workshop. This is about Focus
This ties in so much with work I have been doing with goal setting using the Tony Robbins material. In his material he talks about using the RPM method. What are the Results you want, Purpose- why do you want this, and then creating a Massive Action Plan. This is about Focus.
This ties in so well with my desire to live my life as simply as is reasonable. I have been thinking and practicing the mental exercise of asking myself is this something in my life that is essential – before I do it, buy it or take time for it. Recently I began reading a book called The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta. I have not read anything else this author has written, but his writing is all about Focus.
The quality of our life is determined by our focus. So many have written about this. Our living with focus will help us reach our goals that match our values, roles and mission if we are honest with ourselves.
If you want to work on focus or if you have a child or teen that needs to focus more, please feel free to come and lets work together on making that happen. Simplified, focused living, creates happy children and families.
Trustworthiness: not cheating or stealing
Being trustworthy is one of those qualities that we expect and want in our children. As a parent we want our children to do what is right, to tell the truth and to be fair by not cheating or stealing. Due to the busy schedule everyone has today though, we sometimes overlook the idea of deliberately teaching the virtues that we would like to see in our child.
If we wait to discuss with our children the character trait that leads to not cheating or stealing until there is an incident, we will find that the emotions are too high to make any inroads on that subject. It is the reason that we at Balanced Life Skills are committed to discussing these with our students when there are no obvious reason to do so.
Cheating and stealing is what we will be discussing this week and the affect it has on our ability to be trusted by others. As many times in the past, we will be emphasizing that the consequence of cheating or stealing is the loss of trust and we practice trustworthiness because it is the right thing to do.
This would be a great time for parents to tie into our discussions at home by asking your child what they would do if they saw one of their friends cheating in a game, or copying off of someone’s paper. Or what would they do if they saw someone taking something that did not belong to them? These type of short conversations where we listen deeply and express our family’s belief on this subject will have a great impact on their conduct later in their life.
Giving to others
After coming back from vacation I had a week of being sick like I have not seen for a very long time. On one of the days at home, afraid to move a muscle, I laid with the television on. There was a show where someone fixed up a car for a young teacher who was still in school and just barely getting by, driving a car that was on its last leg. Tears welled up in my eyes.
Have you ever noticed that when we see someone doing something nice for someone who really needs it, how good it makes us feel. Ever seen Extreme Makeover? Ever been to Alabama? We sometimes get this overwhelming good feeling for both parties. In fact we feel great.
When we step up and demonstrate compassion for others, perform an act of kindness, the feeling we receive is even more overwhelming. It makes us feel so good to be a positive part of community. Our family, school, town, state, world community.