Reflecting on the Year

During 2013 Entrusted Legacy had an opportunity to try out several strategies to enlist the support of people across the country and the world to ensure that afterschool professionals are well-prepared to be positive role models and mentors for youth.  Some strategies were very successful—Kayla’s Campaign, crafting a grant-win plan, and figuring out how to enlist the support of individual donors.  This lead-up work has prepared us to launch into 2014 with a solid Business Plan and plenty of opportunities to make a difference in the lives of both adults and youth.  We would encourage you to check us out at www.entrustedlegacy.org and become part of our noble cause.  You may not have the time to be a role model and mentor for youth but you can support someone who does have that time.  Be part of what Margaret Mead calls, “small number of thoughtful, committed individuals” and help us change the world.

Our vision and mission have stayed the same.

Our Vision

·         A cadre of well-trained people forming the nucleus around which learning organizations are built

Our Mission

·         Holistically train adults who work with youth to be a positive role model and mentor for youth

Our Goals

·         We will service 100 Million Youth and 20 Million Adults by 2023.

·         We will prepare youth workers to instruct, support, encourage, motivate, and develop youth by being positive role models and mentors.

·         We will engage everyone in helping us level the playing field for youth.

·         We will uncover an individual's talents, skills, passions, and interests; preparing them to make his/her unique contribution to the world.

Entrust your legacy with us.  Contact us at support@entrustedlegacy.org, by calling (661) 322-3437, or going on line at www.entrustedlegacy.org and donating now!

Making A Difference

The story I am going to share with you is a true story, although I will not name the heroine of this story.  This is a story of the difference that can be made in the life of a person when a mentor and positive role model enters the picture.  The success in this story began about twelve years ago, but before I get to that part, I think you need a little context.  A beautiful young teenager was unhappy at home.  She discovered an “older” boyfriend who could take her away from the less than supportive environment.  Soon she was pregnant with her first child.  She kept going to high school but soon got pregnant for a second time.  By the age of 16 she had two children and by 17 she had added a third.  Through this all she stuck to her guns and was able to get a high school diploma.  This accomplishment speaks to her tenacity and will. 

She applied for an opportunity to participate in AmeriCorps, an organized program that allows people to give back to the community.  For this young woman it also gave her a breather, provided her with a small monthly stipend, medical insurance for herself and child care for her children.  She elected to serve for two years.  During that time she connected to a role model and mentor who believed in her.  And slowly over that two years, she began to believe in herself.  After she completed her years of service she was hired to work in an afterschool program and she realized that she could be a mentor for middle school girls in a way that others could not.  She worked with the girls, shared with them the challenges of being a teenage parent, and as she helped them believe that each of them could succeed, she began to believe it for herself as well.  All the time, her mentor stood by her and encouraged her. 

She used her AmeriCorps Education Award to get a college education.  She has successfully changed not only her own life but the life of her four children (she had one more after AmeriCorps), and she has reached hundreds of people with her story and by becoming a role model and mentor to others.

It is not difficult to imagine how this competent and compassionate young woman could have ended up a negative statistic had she not found a person who was willing to invest in her, to spend time with her, to support her, and to believe in her.  You have the opportunity to contribute and help Entrusted Legacy create more stories with this happy ending.  People who work with youth need to be trained and mentored so they too can pay it forward.  Contact us at support@entrustedlegacy.org or check out our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org. 

Contributions of Online Education in Brazil

Education is a process that involves the acts of teaching and learning, involving the intellectual, physical, moral and social aspects of a person, which vary according to geographic region or set of values ​​and beliefs of a particular group or individual. Much like the society, education needs and policies change, and for this reason, it is necessary for professionals and students to walk in the direction of change and to respond to it accordingly. This educational process can occur in two places:

- At school: the learner has the opportunity to develop academic skills, and can develop reasoning, language, and science skills (important content for intellectual growth);

- In life: the student learns from life experiences, including: facts, issues or  situations that the learner can then take as lessons of daily life.

            With the changes in education, the way that we learn also changes. Education becomes more complex, because the world is becoming more complex. With this, the need and demand for courses and classes that meet the most diverse sections of the population in different geographical realities, become a constant.

The concept of education that was held just prior to acquisition settings and content now includes knowledge and skills development in affective and social areas.

Over time, educational strategies have encountered new scenarios, as it leaves the physical space of the classroom, to occupy virtual spaces, attendance, academics through professionals from miles away.

            The focus of learning ceases to be content to be the apprentice (and  what he actually learns). The knowledge that previously occurred individually, becomes what we know today as knowledge management and collaborative learning.

Information technology and communications are becoming increasingly cheap and accessible to the population and has the following benefits: education and new knowledge, gained anytime and anywhere.

The courses in Distance Learning, fit the profile and the needs of the students. School curricula have become more dynamic and flexible in time, in space, in the methodology, management and evaluation.

The online education today offers a world of possibilities, with varied pedagogical and technological solutions, and can combine: live classes, social networks, forums/chats and even games for educational purposes. The learning system, using a combination of various media, is a reality that is increasingly present in the scenario of online education in Brazil.

Currently, Brazil is investing in courses at a distance, where the student has the possibility to realize it virtually wherever they are at any time or region. These are courses with online lessons and activities, accompanying features like games, cases, animations and videos. The content of the lessons can be done in real time, or forwarded to the teacher by email. At the end of each course, the student completes an evaluation test in the field. This type of education is ideal for the student or professional who wants to develop academically or professionally, and has limited availability. There are also courses that start as the formation of small groups. The teaching modules are focused on materials and activities.

For some courses, the goal is to serve a larger number of participants. With this type of education, television is used as an effective teaching resource. These are programs produced by professional teams, supported by printed material and guidance of expert tutors.

Called “teleconference”, these are used for classes of up to 50 students, where a teacher transmits his class for classes across the country, accompanied by a local tutor. The classes take place live, and students have the opportunity to ask questions in real time.

The process of change in education is not easy, but it's not impossible. You need to make time to meet and acculturate to new processes and pathways taken by education. Some are prepared (and open) to the new, others not. It takes time and disposition to learn new concepts and ways of conceiving learning. For this reason, it is necessary not only access, but also the democratization of information, so we can be socially included subjects in a society that is constantly changing.

By Contributing Writer, Daniela Silva

Daniela is an Entrusted Legacy volunteer that puts her writing skills and educational background in Pedagogy to use researching and creating informative blog and scholarly articles for educational movements across the globe.  Daniela’s home base in Sao Paulo, Brazil gives her unique insight to educational trend and topics outside of the United States. 

Empowerment

What if you had the capacity to empower youth to exceed beyond all expectations?  What if you had the opportunity to empower role models and mentors for youth to be a guide for those who come to them looking for support?  What if you could impact the lives of youth and change the path a family is on?  What is you could unleash the power of a person to excel and reach his or her unique potential and share his or her unique talents and passions?

With Entrusted Legacy you have that opportunity.  We are committed to train adults to be personally and professionally effective.  Our efforts are focused on adults who work with youth.  We believe that developing positive role models who effectively demonstrate the capacity, character and competency to practice the advanced citizenship required in a global society is essential. 

Systematically we teach adults to routinely demonstrate and practice prevention strategies with youth, rather than waiting for problems to occur and having to implement intervention strategies. As the saying goes “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of intervention”. Educating youth in this way makes this metamorphosis of becoming a self-reflective adult an empowering instead of an enabling process. Just as caterpillars turn into butterflies, our youth will turn into adults, and our efforts will help them to become contributing members of society—teachers, ministers, bankers, construction workers, doctors and nurses, entertainers, service-industry professionals, and certainly parents of the next generation.

For us, it is not a question of “if” you get involved, but rather a question of “how” will you get involved. Entrust your legacy to us. Volunteer your time, give financially or introduce us to others who might be interested in doing the same.  Impact the lives of youth everywhere. The greatest education in the world without the ability to implement successfully is futile. Join us as we empower current and future citizens.

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries—a You Tube Broadcast featuring Nick Vujicic

WOW!  Talk about a positive role model and mentor!  Have you had the opportunity to either see in person or view You Tube videos featuring Nick Vujicic?  To give you a little background, Nick was born with no arms or legs (although he does have a foot of sorts which he calls his chicken wing) in Australia.  He now lives in Los Angeles and makes his living as a motivational speaker, especially with young people.  His message is to dream big and never give up. 

Nick shares the challenges he had growing up.  He shares how he was depressed thinking about how he wished his life was different and that he kept asking himself the question, “Why me?”  He said he worried that he would lead a life without purpose.  However, because of the love of his family and the constant encouragement of his parents, he developed hope.  He discovered his value, his purpose and his destiny.  He shares that encouragement takes you closer to the possibilities that are within you, while discouragement takes you further away.  He also shares that if you leave a seed of doubt and discouragement in your heart, it will grow and it will continue to try and take you over and have you “die” to the possibility of yourself.

At the end of a presentation with high school students in El Centro, California he says, “I love you and you’re beautiful just the way you are!” 

If you haven’t seen Nick, please take the time to do so today. Look at yourself after watching this video see No Arms, No Legs, No Worries 

You can invest in the role models and mentors who work with youth every day in afterschool programs.  Check Entrusted Legacy out at www.entrustedlegacy.org or by contacting us at support@entrustedlegacy.org  

Leveling the Playing Field

Entrusted Legacy is committed to social justice and change and the development of people so they can practice the advanced citizenship necessary in a global society.  We are convinced that the path to ultimate success is not littered with people you have dominated, but rather with a cadre of people you have lifted up.  And so we work to “level the playing field.”

Closing both the achievement and opportunity gaps for young people is essential to create a society based on the principles of equality and valuing the dignity of every human being that is at the center of social justice.  People have captured this notion in a variety of ways.  We believe, as does the International Labor Organization, that a lasting, global peace must be founded on social justice.  We agree with Bill Harley when he sings:

                                             “We all live in the Milky Way; The Milky Way’s our galaxy

We all live in the Milky Way, It’s home to you and me.”

The lyrics go on to spell out that, “In that galaxy, there’s a star, and around the star a planet spins, and on the planet there is a fine sea which surrounds a land, that has a town, with a street and a fine house with a person in it—you or me, and we all live in a galaxy that’s home for us all.”  We accept Thomas Friedman’s pronouncement that the “World Is Flat,” and believe along with Tony Wagner that it is essential to close the “Global Achievement Gap.”  Perhaps most importantly we believe in the words of Margaret Mead:

“Never underestimate the power

of a small group of committed people 

to change the world. In fact

 it is the only thing that ever has.”

Join with us in our efforts to level the playing field, one school, one neighborhood, one afterschool program at a time.Contact us at support@entrustedlegacy.org to discover how you can help bring social justice to all youth.

Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty?

We have all had the opportunity to ponder this quote about our perception—is the glass half-empty (on the downward cycle with little hope for rejuvenation) or is the glass half-full (ripe with possibilities to be even more successful).  Your mindset surrounding this quote is critically important for all of us.  Stephen Covey stated in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that, “…all things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.”  He then goes on to bring this notion into view when he talks about the design of a home that is so visualized in a person’s mind that when the blueprint is drawn, those thoughts are easily captured. It would be easy to focus on what isn’t working in education today.  It would be easy to focus on the glass half-empty when we read the newspaper and watch the news.  At Entrusted Legacy we believe that the way to combat the “half-empty” glass is envision “a cadre of well-trained people that form the nucleus around which learning organizations are built.”  We believe that this cadre of people, well-prepared to be a positive role model and mentor for youth, can change the future.  The first creation was determining what knowledge and comprehension needed to be shared with these positive role models and mentors.  The second creation was developing a system that would be available to youth leaders 24/7.  Now the challenge is to see to it that everyone has the access to this great content training.  The first creation is Entrusted Legacy.  The second creation relies on your willingness to make a difference. Please visit our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org and invest in our first creation today through your donation.  Together, we can make a difference.