Rediscovering Hope—Our Greatest Teaching Strategy

Richard Curwin wrote the book, Rediscovering Hope—Our Greatest Teaching Strategy, over two decades ago, but the message is still relevant.  While I agree that “hope is not a strategy,” I do believe that it is an essential ingredient for people to move from where they currently are into a brighter and more meaningful future. 

In his book, Curwin spends some time discussing the meaning of “at risk.”  We all have our definition for this, but it boils down to youth being “at risk” of dropping out of school and not achieving their full potential.  Instead of spending time on what “at risk” is, Curwin devoted space to what causes youth to be “at risk” beyond the typical things we identify.  He begins by sharing that youth begin to be “at risk” the first time they feel unwelcome at school or in an afterschool program.  They begin to be “at risk” when they feel that there has been an attack on their dignity. They sense other youth are valued and appreciated while they are not.  They start to be “at risk” when they are labeled and cynicism sets in when youth believes, “What’s the use?  No matter how hard I try, I’m not good enough.”  Once the seed has been planted, the feelings and actions that become synonymous with “at risk” begin to manifest, the spiral down speeds up.

What can we do to mitigate this spiral and transport youth from “at risk” to “in opportunity?”  We have to believe that afterschool programs are for kids, all kids, and that when we support them it begins first by building a relationship with them.  We must let youth know that we value them for who they are and that we believe they have something important to contribute.  We must help them begin to HOPE again.

Hope is not one of those “one size fits all” things.  There are different kinds of hope.  Hope can mean dreaming or wishing for something to happen that is beyond our control.  This kind of hope is like passive perseverance.  In other words, I hope this happens but I’m not really doing anything about it to make it so.  When we cling to this type of hope if something concrete and wonderful happens, then we can consider ourselves fortunate or maybe even lucky.  A second kind of hope is based on faith, the deep down inside you feeling that things will turn out all right.  This kind of hope too, is beyond our control with the exception that we believe it can be so.

The third kind of hope involves taking some sort of action—or being proactively perseverant  I think of the story of former astronaut Jose Hernandez who applied 12 times to be an astronaut----the first 6 times with passive persistence and the last six with proactive persistence.  When hope resembles this, it becomes actionable, and with actionable hope we have great possibilities.  One person commented, “People with hope chase rainbows and sometimes catch them.  Those without hope see little reason to try.  They do not believe that rainbows can be caught and that even if a rainbow could be caught, it would be nothing more than colored mist.”  Positive role models and mentors give substance to rainbows. Hope gives youth the courage to be a rainbow chaser. 

Please join with Entrusted Legacy in promoting hope; hope that is about forming a positive future.  It is proactive when we begin to orient ourselves to this future we have imagined.  It is the beginning of our future self and of being convinced we have the capacity to become so much more than we are.  If you are not able to work directly with youth to support them as a role model and mentor, then support someone who is.  Invest in the future by investing with Entrusted Legacy.  Contact us at support@entrustedlegacy.org or by going to our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org  

5 Ways Poverty Harms Children

In a blog post on January 8, 2014 David Murphey and Zakia Redd contributed to the post on 5 Ways Poverty Harms Children.  This article could not be more appropriate since it is the fiftieth anniversary of the War on Poverty proclaimed by President Johnson in mid 1960s.  At that time approximately 23% of children in the United States were living in poverty.  Fifty years later, the figures are almost identical, with the exception of an increase for black and Hispanic children of 5%, from 34% to 39%.  So in 2014, fifty years after war was declared on poverty, 1 in 4 youngsters lives in conditions of poverty, and if those youth are of color, it is 1 in 2-3.  The damage caused by living in poverty continues.  Here are five ways that poverty can harm a child.

First, poverty harms the brain and other body systems—Children of poverty are more likely to have chronic illness, shortened life expectancy and the actual development of the brain architecture is sometimes damaged.  Whether this is from the stress of not knowing about where you will live or what you will eat, or the fact that what you do eat is not nutritionally sound, the results are the same.  Children of poverty struggle with issues of health. 

Secondly, poverty widens and creates achievement gaps—One needs to look no further than the evidence surrounding summer learning loss to see this in action.  Research has demonstrated that youth of poverty are less likely to attend summer learning programs than middle class youth, and as a result, by the time they are in fifth grade can be two-three years behind others in their class.  Youth from poverty also tend to have poor self-monitoring skills, and low or poor school attendance, which exacerbates the achievement gap.

Third, poverty leads to poor physical, emotional, and behavioral health.  Children in poverty do not have the luxury of a sense of security around the basics.  If we look at Maslow’s Hierarchy, the lowest level of need is for the basics—food, clothing, shelter, which are often erratic and feel very much like “hit or miss” to youth in poverty.  This causes anxiety and stress and an inordinate amount of energy to be focused on survival.  These youth often have untreated chronic health issues such as asthma, causing even more stress and tension.  If you saw the movie, As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, you remember how her child went from one emergency room visit to another, with no real progress being made until the Nicholson character saw to it that she and her child had a private pediatrician to look after her son.   

Fourth, poverty leads children to live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.  The challenge in this is that not only is the child poor, but the neighborhood does not have what it needs to support youth.  These youth are more likely to witness and experience violence and more likely to attend a school that has fewer resources.  Poverty seems “normal” and just the way things are for youth who are surrounded by it.

Fifth, poverty can cause harm through the negative effects it has on families and home environment.  While it is certainly true that everything a child needs can’t be purchased, there are certain basics that are needed and that poverty holds at bay.  Parents report higher stress, aggravation, depressive symptoms and say they are challenged to plan, prepare, and provide for the children’s material needs.  They have fewer books and resources than in homes where poverty is not an issue. They are often challenged with temporary homelessness and housing instability.   

Building resiliency in youth of poverty is essential. One of the tried and true ways of doing this is through role models and mentors.  Many afterschool programs are in neighborhoods with high-poverty rates.  The training and staff development for the people who work with youth in these programs can make all the difference in the world.  Entrusted Legacy is working hard to find people, such as you, to invest in the training necessary for young people to succeed.  Support these youth today.  Go to our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org and invest in the future of these youth today.

Supporting the Transition

K-12 education is in the process of transforming.  For the past twenty years we have been focused on No Child Left Behind as determined by standardized test scores that have students memorize information and then select the correct answer from a list of choices.  Certainly some good things came out of this push for accountability.  But there were also some collateral damage.  If you haven’t watched the You Tube video: 

Why We Need Common Core: “I Pick C”, 

 I would suggest you do and what you will see is the downside of memorization and multiple choice tests—lack of critical thinking (to say nothing of communication, creativity and true collaboration—not just working together to select the correct answer choice.)

Afterschool, with its youth development focus and its “learner-centric” approach is well-positioned to help the transition from test performance to authentic assessment.  Afterschool has used disguised learning strategies to bolster practice time in math and English Language Arts and project-based and service learning strategies to engage youth in hands-on, minds-on learning, that is meaningful and collaborative.  In this process skills are being developed and horizons broadened, and youth are being prepared to enter the 21^st Century Workforce.

Central to this work of afterschool is a well-trained staff.  Staff who are prepared to be a role model and mentor, and who have skills needed to facilitate learning.  This doesn’t happen by accident.  Please join Entrusted Legacy in supporting the staff development of these afterschool professionals.  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!

3.5 Hours to Change America

Entrusted Legacy has raised the question, “Can 3.5 hours a day change America?”  Is there remedy to be found in the 3.5 hours after-school each day?  If we are to believe Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education when he states, "If we are serious about having more students be productive citizens, if we are serious about having more students prepared to be successful in college, dramatically improving the quality and the quantity of after-school programming is going to be at the heart of our work as a country." then the answer is a resounding “YES!”  Entrusted Legacy believes after-school is an integral part of the solution.

After-school programs provide something every person needs—mentors and positive role models.  How many mentors have you had?  Do you remember seeking advice from this wise and trusted counselor and teacher?  Think back to the person who had a profound and positive effect on your life and the choices you’ve made as an adult.  Picture the person’s face.  Hear the words of encouragement and absolute belief in the possibility of you in this person’s voice.  Recall the feelings of self-confidence and assuredness you had in your personal judgment, ability and power to get things done because this person first believed in you.  Was this mentor your parent, a grandparent or your pastor?  Was your mentor a favorite teacher, coach or tutor?  Was it the plumber or mechanic down the street who could fix anything?  Or was it your best friend’s mother who always had time to listen to you?  Imagine what it would be like to have the opportunity to replicate this with hundreds of youth.

Join with Entrusted Legacy to be sure that afterschool professionals have been trained to handle the responsibility of being a positive role model and mentor for youth.  Entrust you legacy to us.  Donate now!  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

What does “Making A Difference” really mean?  Is it something you can “do on purpose” or is it “serendipitous”, or a combination of both  I want to share my experience that perhaps answers those questions.  When I was a sixth grade teacher each year in January and February all of the 6^th grade students came together and learned the songs and dialog of an historical musical that we would present at the PTA’s Founder’s Day program at the end of February.  We went all out and with the help of parents, teachers, and other volunteers, each year we created a background setting, props and costumes for the kids.  We practiced Monday through Thursday for 1 hour every day, and each of the teachers worked on some aspect of the program.  The night of the performance was always very special and a packed crowd of parents and other family enjoyed watching their student participate in this elaborate play.

Many years after I had moved from the classroom into administration, I was getting my car watched and a young man came up to me asking, “Do you remember me?  You changed my life?”  Wow!  The fact of the matter is that I did remember him—or at least knew he was one of the boys in a large family.  I asked him to refresh my memory, and as soon as he stated his name, I knew which of the brothers he was.  I asked, “Just curious, how did I change your life?”  This is what he told me: 

“Do you remember the musical we did when I was in 6^th grade?  Well, I was supposed to be a colonist and I told you that my parents weren’t able to get a costume for me.  You said, ‘That’s okay.  We’ll figure it out.”

I was a bit perplexed because I couldn’t see how this would make the difference.  It is the response I would have given to any youth who was struggling with a costume.  So I asked, “How did that change your life?”  His response, “At that moment I knew that I mattered, that I was important.  So I’ve been working to live up to my destiny ever since.”

We continued the conversation and he shared his current successes.  But what struck me was that something small can make such a difference—life changing difference.  It was something that I didn’t even remember, but yet had been a guiding light for this young man.  I believe that this is what “making a difference” is really about.  Doing what is right and then letting the seed be cultivated and nurtured, and voila, a difference is made.

Please join with Entrusted Legacy in making a difference in the lives of youth and the adults who work with them.  A little from a lot of committed people can make a difference in the lives of youth everywhere.  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!

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!

Importance of Mission Driven Work

What does it really mean to be a mission driven non-profit?  Certainly it means to embrace a social cause and be essentially purpose driven to address this social cause.  It is important that we are able to integrate the cause into our mission and our values and establish core business practices to we can have an authentic social impact and accomplish our mission. 

As a non-profit, we agree with Steven Van Yoder.  He states that a mission-driven non-profit cannot succeed on the passion of the Board and a few volunteers.  He goes on to say that a mission-driven organization needs the commitment of others to support the economic engine required to accomplish its goals.  He then indicates that the mission must be supported by core values and beliefs.  He also stated that the organization must be absolutely committed to the cause and the work to be done to fulfill the cause. 

At Entrusted Legacy we think that afterschool programs are a vital part of the solution for reinvigorating learning in our K-12 system.  We are committed to supporting the adults who work with youth by providing the training and staff development needed by these youth workers to successfully role model and mentor these youth. 

If you find our mission compelling, we ask you to entrust your legacy with us and help us to make a difference in the lives of youth and youth leaders.  There is an old adage that states, “Many hands make hard work light” and we believe that our mission can be accomplished if we work together.  Please fo to our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org and invest in the future of our youth.