It is Monday and time to buy a lottery ticket. Went out for a walk to the local news agency - my "supplier". What would I do with the money? For sure, I would support and empower friends and relatives and fund a foundation for the DARE to AFFIRM campaign to spread the word faster than we can do right now. But then, the tortise beat the hare in the race now, didn't he?? So we can be patient and our message will spread as it is meant to.
Debbie sold me the tickets. Yes, I chose the cash payout because, hey, I am not so young that I would rather have an annuity!! No matter. Why I am really writing this is because of the conversation we had when I was there.
We talked about kids today and how they are different from "when we were raised". She shared that there are some kids who come into the news agency and just walk up to people and ask for a dollar! No, they don't know them. They just think they deserve it and for no special reason. These kids just don't have, as Debbie said, "the old fashioned values that we were raised with."
At that point, I took off my purple and orange DARE to AFFIRM button - the one with the Dancers of Relationships and gave it to her and told her what we were all about. She shared a perfect example of how kids are recognized and affirmed where she works.
Clearview Middle School in Harrison Township, NJ, has a Wall of Honor. When a student does something that deserves to be recognized, their name is put on the wall for everyone to see. Debbie shared the story of Tommy. Just the other day at lunch, he took the teacher's lunch tray when she was finished and cleared it for her. No one asked him to do that. The teacher asked his name (no, she was not his teacher and did not know him) because she knew he deserved to have his name on the wall. It was so gratifying to hear that a local public school was spending the time catching their students doing something right. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if there is the opportunity for a parallel process where the administration or students can catch the teachers in the same way?!? I will have to go back and ask.
Debbie sold me the tickets. Yes, I chose the cash payout because, hey, I am not so young that I would rather have an annuity!! No matter. Why I am really writing this is because of the conversation we had when I was there.
We talked about kids today and how they are different from "when we were raised". She shared that there are some kids who come into the news agency and just walk up to people and ask for a dollar! No, they don't know them. They just think they deserve it and for no special reason. These kids just don't have, as Debbie said, "the old fashioned values that we were raised with."
At that point, I took off my purple and orange DARE to AFFIRM button - the one with the Dancers of Relationships and gave it to her and told her what we were all about. She shared a perfect example of how kids are recognized and affirmed where she works.
Clearview Middle School in Harrison Township, NJ, has a Wall of Honor. When a student does something that deserves to be recognized, their name is put on the wall for everyone to see. Debbie shared the story of Tommy. Just the other day at lunch, he took the teacher's lunch tray when she was finished and cleared it for her. No one asked him to do that. The teacher asked his name (no, she was not his teacher and did not know him) because she knew he deserved to have his name on the wall. It was so gratifying to hear that a local public school was spending the time catching their students doing something right. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I wonder if there is the opportunity for a parallel process where the administration or students can catch the teachers in the same way?!? I will have to go back and ask.
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