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.

A True Win-Win

We've heard it said that “people have the infinite capacity to wait to get even.”  Now when one first reads a statement like that the words that come to mind are revenge, retribution, payback, reprisal, and maybe even vengeance.  We immediately think about a time that we were wronged or belittled or underestimated and can conjure images not only of our own humiliated self but the perpetrators of those feelings.  In the book, Don’t Laugh at Me, the authors state, “Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names.  Don’t gain your pleasure from my pain.” 

In the movie and novel, Time To Kill, there is a poignant scene in which the character prompts the jury to think about a heinous crime and then flips the scene for the jury to consider how they would feel if that story applied to someone they loved.  This notion of “flipping the context” works equally well with the quote above, “people have the infinite capacity to wait to get even.”  What if we put a positive spin on those words?  Did you have a role model?  Did you have a mentor that helped you to believe in the possibility of you?  Do you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you are better off today because of that relationship?  Do you have the “infinite capacity to wait to get even?”  At Entrusted Legacy we are working hard to “get even” with all our mentors and role models.  We are committed to developing a critical mass by training and developing others to reach even more youth than we can reach on our own.

Go to our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org and exercise you capacity to “get even” with those who helped you by helping others.  Together the difference we can make is powerful!

Making a Difference

Are there any sweeter words to hear than, “I couldn't have done it without you?”  At the end of every campaign season and throughout the Hollywood awards season, we hear the powerful and the famous say those words.  But it isn't just those who hear those words from the powerful and famous who want to know they have made a difference.  We all desire to know that the world is a better place because we have lived, loved, laughed, and learned.  So how, when we are neither powerful nor famous can we make this happen?  We at Entrusted Legacy believe that the combined efforts of caring and sincere people across the nation can make a difference.  There is the notion of six degrees of separation which postulates that all of us are linked through a network of connections that emanate around each of us.  Mathematically, it brings forward the idea that we each know 200 people and that those 200 know 200 who know 200 and so on.  By the time you work through the exponential effects of this thinking, every one of us, no matter where we live and play, is connected.  As we see the world figuratively shrinking we can be even more convinced that this is the truth.

Entrusted Legacy believes that we can make a difference by developing positive role models and mentors for youth.  This requires that we get ready to “run this race”.  While practice and application of knowledge are key, having that knowledge to begin with is often the weakest link.  Please join us at Entrusted Legacy and help us to help those who work with youth in informal learning sessions each and every day.  Entrusted Legacy and our affiliate have the means and materials to support the development of role models and mentors 24/7 through web-based staff development.

Log on to our website at www.entrustedlegacy.org and invest in the future today.  We can do this work together.

Get To Know ETL

Entrusted Legacy (ETL) is a new nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization which supports the non-traditional education and development of people who work with children and youth, particularly in the out-of-school time arena.  Providing training and staff development to these workers results in a domino effect that helps youth to learn and grow as well.  We believe that great civilizations are built by great people and that a seed of greatness and unique contribution exists in each person, waiting to be unleashed.  ETL is committed to help people transform through a process of metamorphosis supported by education and development.

ETL is the result of over 70 years of experience working with both youth and adults.  Working closely with learners provides a wonderful opportunity to observe people transform into capable and competent individuals.  In after-school ETL has the opportunity to support the transformation of both youth and staff.  This is the process of "becoming".  Not growing up to be the lawyer or the doctor, the teacher or the journalist, but "becoming" who you were meant to be because of the unique combination of talents and gifts you were born with.  When ETL works with people we realize that each person has the right to become, and ETL has the responsibility to support that process. In this country, the promise of America—the promise of social justice, can only occur when people of good will come together in the intentional support of that end.

ETL is committed to “leveling the playing field” through education and support that encourages the learner to develop personal character and competence, the skills to become a contributing team member, and the strategies to influence a culture of excellence in both personal and professional settings. We believe education, supported by coaching and mentoring, provides a space for one to release his/her infinite capacity.

C4K believe that a teacher or educator is one who instructs, and those adults who work with children and youth outside of school day classroom are indeed, teachers.  Confucius unknowingly defined the importance of a strong teacher, role model when he stated, “If I am walking with two other(s)…, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.”  Publically funded non-school day programs are typically a high volume-low margin business and as a result, they are challenged by high rates of staff turnover and insufficient time for staff development.  With support from Entrusted Legacy, program professionals can participate in a variety of training and staff development opportunities—face-to-face, web-based, and other digital formats.

Entrusted Legacy is an embodiment of these words from Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”  Working together, the Entrusted Legacy Team supports the development of young people by supporting the education and development of those who work with them.  Entrusted Legacy understands the importance of multiple entry points into a strong future for the United States.  “Great [educators] help create great students.  In fact, research shows that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement, so it is critical to pay close attention to how we train and support both new and experienced educators.”[1]  We can all remember that special connection we had with an adult who was our teacher, guide, and mentor.  This is your chance to honor that relationship by helping ETL help those who impact today’s children and youth on a daily basis.

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[1] Edutopia.  http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-development-introduction