Melissa McEwen and the 8 Keys Of Excellence

July 11, 2011 — Quantum Learning Education

Melissa McEwen is working to create her future using the 8 Keys of Excellence character education principles as her guide after attending Senior Forum in 2007 and 2008 and then Leadership Forum in 2009 at Colorado College.

“I learned a lot about positivity and how you are the creator of who you are,” the 20-year-old Tampa resident says. “It helped a lot with memorizing tools. The keys – this is it, staying in the moment, the organization maps I would do – help with organizing my day-to-day time.”

Melissa says the 8 Keys give her tools for living with integrity, purpose and perseverance, while SuperCamp taught her new study skills and gave her supportive friendships.

“When I went to Colorado I did not know I was going back with some people I had been going with every year in North Carolina,” she says. “I formed really good friendships and kept seeing them at Leadership Forum in Colorado.”

The 8 Keys and how they have helped Melissa:

INTEGRITY – Match behavior with values

Demonstrate your positive personal values in all you do and say. Be sincere and real.
Melissa says she’s learned to be true to herself, so she doesn’t say one thing and do another. “It helps me in my friendships to not have a mask and be real. I feel better about myself, too.”

FAILURE LEADS TO SUCCESS – Learn from your mistakes

View failures as feedback that provides the information you need to learn, grow, and succeed.
Melissa started her freshman year of college only to find the particular college was not right for her. Failure from Success means “I do not look at it as a failure but (as) how can I make my future brighter…No matter how difficult they (mistakes) are, it makes you a stronger and brighter person when you turn the situation around into a learning experience.”

SPEAK WITH GOOD PURPOSE – Speak honestly and kindly

Think before you speak. Make sure your intention is positive and your words are sincere.
Melissa says: “I use that key every day because I believe if you treat others the way you want to be treated and think before you speak…people realize you have more respect for them.”

THIS IS IT! – Make the most of every moment

Focus your attention on the present moment. Keep a positive attitude.
Melissa says this key has helped her overcome struggles and connect with others to help them. Learning at SuperCamp to make the most of each moment “was definitely a life-changing experience. It was a positive week and it made me feel good about myself.”

COMMITMENT – Make your dreams happen

Take positive action. Follow your vision without wavering.
Melissa has not yet determined what her dream career is, but she wants to work with children, particularly those who were abused, to find loving adoptive homes. “I was adopted as a baby. 3 weeks old. I knew a lot of friends who came from abusive families and they found wonderful families,” she says. “I want to help kids who are in abusive families where they can find good families who care for and support them.”

OWNERSHIP – Take responsibility for actions

Be responsible for your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. “Own” the choices you make and the results that follow.
Melissa says this key helps her understand that if she says or does something wrong she should apologize and take responsibility. “It’s knowing that you can’t just blame everybody around you,” she says.

FLEXIBILITY – Be willing to do things differently

Recognize what’s not working and be willing to change what you’re doing to achieve your goal.
For Melissa this key applies at this moment in her life as she decides what she wants to do next. “I am trying to figure out where I am going to go and what I am going to do and rearrange my future goals and dreams to make them happen,” she says.

BALANCE – Live your best life

Be mindful of self and others while focusing on what’s meaningful and important in your life. Inner happiness and fulfillment come when your mind, body, and emotions are nurtured by the choices you make.
“Every day is a balance – you have to balance what you want to do and your time from when you wake up until you go to bed,” Melissa says. “Finding a balance within yourself and people around you to support you…people that believe in you. And if you believe in yourself you can overcome anything.”

Go Melissa!!!

Posted in 8 keys of excellence. Comments Off »

Excellence Effect Movement Visits New Orleans

March 21, 2011 — Quantum Learning Education

The Excellence Effect Movement recently took their mission of reaching 50 million kids to two New Orleans schools, Schwarz Alternative School and Dr. Martin Luther King High School, which is located in the lower ninth ward.

“Your outstanding presentation, enthusiasm, selfless commitment, and sheer love permeated into our hearts, and showed students that there are persons that dedicate their time, love and efforts into making the lives of children more fulfilling,” School Administrator Mr. Lockett said.

As students suffer from a cultural Excellence Deficit and teachers struggle with lack of programs due to education budget cuts, the aim of the Excellence Effect Movement is to reverse this trend by offering a meaningful character education curriculum at no cost to families and students with a goal of reaching 50 million kids by 2015.

“The Excellence Effect is a program that guides young people toward a positive future full of confidence, motivation, creativity, teamwork, leadership and valuable life principles,” said Bobbi DePorter, President of the non-profit that created the Excellence Effect Movement, Learning Forum International.

At both school assemblies, members of the Transformational Leadership Council, an elite group of many of the world’s greatest transformational leaders, led talks on the 8 Keys of Excellence and interacted in small groups with the students.

The no-cost school program provides K-12 teachers with a full year of character education lesson plans, online resources, training and support.

Bobbi DePorter is the founder and president of Learning Forum International. Bobbi developed the 8 Keys of Excellence 30 years ago as an education tool for students attending her SuperCamp summer enrichment programs. She is the author of The 8 Keys of Excellence – Principles to Live By and has written over a dozen books on teaching and learning, which have been translated into seven languages. Ms. DePorter is also the founder and president of Quantum Learning Network, which offers training to youth, educators and businesses throughout the U.S. and in over 12 other countries. She attended the University of Washington and University of Southern California Graduate School of Business CME program.

“Our kids are at risk – it’s our responsibility to do something” she said.

Posted in 8 keys of excellence, college prep, learning skills, life skills, parent support, programs, study techniques. Tags: , , , , , . Comments Off »

Summer by the Numbers

January 21, 2011 — Quantum Learning Education

The always thorough SuperCamp administrator Katie Terrill reflects on what it took to put together SuperCamp in 2010.

Remember your first impressions of camp? Being greeted by the most delightful staff member you’ve ever met? They were wearing one of those ridiculously stylish blue collared shirts you just had to have. We liked them so much too that over the course of the summer those shirts were worn over 15,000 days total. Watch out GQ.

Then you hopped in line and were given the sweetest lanyard your eyes have ever beheld. It’s gentle fold and brilliant colors almost brought you to tears. You promised yourself you would never take it off – and because you didn’t, those lanyards were worn over 22,000 combined days this summer.

Once you were checked in and your parents had gone you knew it was time to party. You ran outside with pure glee enveloping your face, jumped into the first hackey sack circle you could find and began dropping your honed skills and knowledge in all our faces. Because of your commitment to making it a great summer, we volleyed almost 600 hackey sacks in just a few short weeks. Calculate that amount of kicks…and the number of horrified groans you made when that precious ball of woven wonder hit the unsanctioned ground.

Then the most glorious thing happened. You heard a song that made your jaw drop. Your body had no choice but to begin clapping and grooving with the rhythm. Feet stomped, arms pumped and you vaulted up onto a chair that filled a magnificent Main Room. Giving it all you had, maybe even biting that lower lip, you clapped it in and dropped exhilarated into what can only be known as “Stock in Costco” – a folding chair. Not too soft, and maybe not quite “just right,” that chair was your friend for days. Thank you dear friends, for holding us up, supporting us whenever we needed you and at times even making us stand a little taller  – all of us together sat in over 10,000 of your kind. Good luck with your family tree.

We embraced and lived through 2,800 playbooks that contained just as many POW-OOOOOO-CHA’s. 12,500 pens later we’ve mastered Mind Maps and Fast Writing. Helping us along the way were 2,200 so deliciously-scented-you-just-might-eat-one Mr. Sketch markers. I call grape.

How can we forget our WHOA claps? Our hands were an array of colors and levels of tingly as we shared the clap with each other over 2,600 times. Of course there were the Power Whooshes. 1-2-3 (clap, clap, clap) Whoooooooooooooosh. Imagine that x 2,600 – because it already happened.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better you were presented with a terrific teal blend of cotton. At this moment you had a pinnacle of understanding – this truly is the fabric of your life. You caressed its texture with awe and wonder. You began visualizing all the feats you could accomplish wearing this amazing gift. Scaling a ladder and hovering 30 feet in the air wearing nothing but a harness and a ¾” thick rope was simple. Morning came and you could barely contain yourself. You threw it on and felt its power course through you. That summer, only 2,300 of these splendid babies were made, and you had one. With almost 7 billion people in the world, that’s impressive. Wrap that up with just as many brilliant made postcards written and mailed home. Whew!

Academics, team times, and some remarkable singing and dancing led us into the home stretch. Over already? You couldn’t believe it. But wait. What’s this? Another gift – something to remind you of the changes you’ve made and will continue as you head home. You may only be one voice, but a voice that will be heard. We shouted it all out together, “I Make A Difference!”. This medal reminded us that for the past few days we’ve focused on the Me – combined with the Indian word of “Dal” (meaning: a ready source of proteins for a balanced diet) we realized that the word MEDAL really means that sometimes we need to focus on bettering ourselves to be part of a healthy balance.

It’s a good thing we ordered 2,400.

(All statistics used in this mind-blowing blog post are true and accurate).

Posted in academic summer camp, summer camp, summer camp staff. Tags: , , , , . Comments Off »

A Thanksgiving Attitude

November 25, 2010 — Quantum Learning Education

Our trusted Facilitator and loved SuperCamp administrator Marina McDonald shares some whooshed Thanksgiving love.

Watch this video and then ask yourself, what is it that you like in your life?:

Thanksgiving comes around and I find myself still sitting at the kids table with a paper plate and spork. I sigh deeply, look at my 30 year old sister and laugh because she is sitting next to me.

At SuperCamp I listed a series of “I am” statements including “I am a teacher, I am a friend, I am hilarious” in the first step to writing realistic, specific and measurable goals for myself. I took time to reflect on who I am and the goals I set. Admittedly, I would have to look back at my playbook to find specifically (how ironic) which goals I talked about. What happened to the goals you set at camp? How far along are you to accomplishing those goals?

In high school, I focused on the obstacles I faced to get to college including parents, teachers and the multitude of never ending exams.

College: same thing. I was focused on getting past these “obstacles” so I could enjoy life in the job I worked so hard for.

With this perspective, I was trudging through life. I did not realize until now that in high school and college I was growing, learning and developing those “I am” statements. Reality check.

Every Thanksgiving, I look in the mirror and reflect on what I am thankful for. Just like the little girl, I love my house, I love my mom and why not?–even my haircut. Simple things shift my focus from looking at the obstacles to admiring the opportunities.

In the end, I replace my “attitude” with “gratitude.”  I am grateful for all the work my mom put into making my lunches, taking me to school, and making sure I got what I needed all before she headed to the factory to work a 10-hour shift. I am grateful for the teachers who were constantly reminding me what assignments I was missing so they could catch up on a huge pile of papers to grade while they mulled over their leftover choices.

Reflect on your camp. Reflect on life. What are your goals? Who are you grateful for?

What are you saying to yourself in the mirror?

Sweet haircut, by the way.

Posted in 8 keys of excellence, gratitude, learning skills, life skills, results, study techniques, summer camp, summer camp staff, supercamp news, thanksgiving. 1 Comment »

6 Ways To Battle A Bully

October 20, 2010 — Courtney Pollock

Adam Sandler in the movie "Billy Madison"

This guest post was written by Mr. Doug Couch, sports enthusiast and experienced SuperCamp staff member.

“O’Doyle rules!”

While glorified as entertaining on the silver screen in movies such as Billy Madison, bullying is an act that is all too serious and real in today’s schools. This seemingly inescapable byproduct of adolescence is an issue that three quarters of all students say they have experienced first-hand. Verbally, physically, and psychologically, bullying can take on many forms – name calling, threats, teasing, rejection, and even physical violence.

The lasting effects of bullying can be as widespread as the acts themselves. It can make students afraid of school and social interaction, which can have lasting effects on their psyche through adulthood. For many students, it is difficult to focus on the assignments at hand when they are worried about the bully that stands between them and their locker. As technology has progressed, so has the art of bullying and it’s effects. As a result, bullying can make school a fearful place that can lead to greater stress and school violence, not just for the bullied, but for everyone.

In the post What Parents Can Do About Teen Bullying,  there are some great parent tips on how to help kids deal with adolescent bullying such as listening more and talking less, establishing family values, and building authentic bridges between parent and child so a solid support system is created. But what can kids do to stand up to bullies in the moment?

Over the last decade, I have worked with students across the country, seen a broad spectrum of personalities and witnessed many different types of student interactions. Here are six ways I have found to be the best in dealing with bully situations:

1. The most convenient action is avoidance.

If you know when and where the bully is going to be, take a different route. If you are out of sight, then you are likely out of mind which will help in avoiding any conflict.

2. Stand tall and be brave.

Many times bullies prey on those who they think they have power over. They pick on kids who become upset easily or who won’t stick up for themselves because they are an easy target. Eliciting strong reaction from another can make a bully feel empowered. Sometimes, simply standing your ground and not giving in is enough to make a bully back down. How does a brave person look and act, you ask? Standing tall with your shoulders back will send the message, “Don’t mess with me!” It’s much easier to feel brave and strong when you feel good about yourself.

3. CONFIDENCE!

Know who you are, what you want, and what it takes to get you there! What is it like when you look and feel your best? Tap into that emotion and know that no one can take it away from you. Commit to yourself to be the best person you can be. Do you want to be more physically fit? Commit to yourself to turn off the computer and be more physically active for an hour each day and make healthier food choices. The perception we have of ourselves is the reality we send to the world. Be confident in yourself and others will acknowledge you for it.

4. Have a friend and be a friend.

Friends are some of the best tools in standing up to a bully. Make a plan to be with a friend or two when you’re walking home, eating lunch, or just hanging out on the swings. Offer to be there if you know a friend is being bullied. Most importantly, get involved! If you witness bullying in your school, speak up! Tell a teacher, take a stand with the kid being bullied, and show them both what strong confidence and bravery looks like!

5. Never bully back!

Stand up for yourself and remember to never bully back. Fighting back only gives the bully the power of eliciting the emotional response they wanted in the first place. It’s never worth getting yourself in trouble because someone else is being a jerk. It is important to keep your feelings under control. Use your wit. Keep your mind focused elsewhere until the situation is over and you are in a safe environment to let your feelings show.

6. Most importantly, speak out.

Talk to your teachers, principals, parents, even the lunch lady (who always seems to smell like sloppy joes, even on chicken nugget day!) when you encounter bullying to yourself or someone else. Find someone you trust and tell them everything you can. Many times, bullies stop as soon as a teacher finds out because they’re afraid of being punished by the school or their parents. After all, by speaking out you could be saving your own life or the life of a friend. Everyone has the right to feel safe.

Do you have other good ways to handle bully situations? Please share them in the comments below.

Posted in camper support, life skills. Tags: , , , , . Comments Off »

All I Do Is Win, Win, Win

October 15, 2010 — Courtney Pollock

I want to say a big huge THANK YOU to all of you who participated in the “Get Paid to Rave About SuperCamp” contest we ran this past summer. Every single person who walks through those main room doors has their own special and unique version of this little experience we call SuperCamp, and it was such a treat to read a few of those stories this summer.

So I bet you’re wondering who won, huh?

Can I get a drum roll please?

1st Place

2010 Stanford Senior Forum grad Olivia Ross

Prize: $100 Visa gift card

Olivia (left) with her team, ICandy, during a pre-breakfast cheer.

Runners-Up

Two-time SuperCamp grad Kaela Palmer

Prize: $50 Visa gift card

Kaela, middle, with her team.

-and-

Three-time SuperCamp grad Philip “King Phil” Stone

Prize: $50 Visa gift card

Phil, 2nd in from the right.

 

Here is Olivia’s “rave”:

Before SuperCamp, part of me was other people’s opinions and actions. Through SuperCamp, I learned how to make the most out of every moment and be myself, not what I thought others wanted me to be. The summer of 2010, I attended Senior Forum at Stanford University, and it changed my life in more ways than I could have ever hoped for.  Lifelong friendships were created, and academic skills were learned that will forever stick with me. I learned life skills that will forever change the way I live. SuperCamp was truly a life-changing event, and it has impacted and will continue to impact my life in a variety of ways.

The best part about SuperCamp was sharing the experience with so many other people. I realized I could be myself and still have people behind me to support me in anything I would choose to do. The support and love created in each camp is… indescribable.  To walk into a room and know 100 people have got your back and understand you more than anyone else is one of the best feelings in the world. The trust I built with my team is one of the strongest bonds I’ve ever felt, and it was easy sharing my feelings with my team members. I knew they were there for me and would support me in whatever I wanted to do. Throughout the course of the camp, I realized I had known these people for less than ten days and I was closer to some than people I had known for years back home. I really carried this feeling of trust home with me, and my relationships with my friends and family have never been stronger. I realized how important the people in my life are and have grown closer to them ever since.

Another part of SuperCamp I took home with me is the 8 Keys of Excellence. I’m on a swim team, and before SuperCamp, in school and swimming, I tried to reach my goals but sometimes they fell through. I kept blaming this on other people or things I couldn’t control. But at camp, I realized that it wasn’t other people, but me all along. The choices I make directly impact my life, and if I follow through with those choices I can do anything I set my mind to. I used the “This Is It” key for the drive to pursue my goals, and the “Ownership” key to own up to what mistakes I have made in the past. I’m striving hard and committing to my choices at home, and living the 8 Keys everyday in every possible situation.  Since camp, my grades have skyrocketed and I have seen success in and out of the pool. Through SuperCamp, I realized I can make life changing decisions. Everything I do, speaks. Everything is a choice.

SuperCamp skills will continue to be something I apply in my daily life. SuperCamp has given me the motivation, determination, and self-will to power through everything and create strong healthy relationships. My self-confidence has increased, and I am living life based on my choices to succeed. The skills I learned this summer will forever stay with me, as will my camp friends, and my SuperCamp Memories. THIS IS IT.

 

Congrats to our contest winners and thanks to all who participated – you are all winners in our book!

 

Just because the contest is over doesn’t mean you can’t still share your awesome SuperCamp stories with us! Feel free to comment below or send to cpollock@qln.com.

 

Posted in 8 keys of excellence, summer camp, testimonials. Tags: , , , . Comments Off »

The Value of Time

October 13, 2010 — Courtney Pollock

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkMwzUS0DVA]

 

THIS IS IT!

 

Posted in 8 keys of excellence, camper support, life skills. Tags: , , . Comments Off »

Team Time Across the World

October 7, 2010 — Jake Smith

Back in the 1980s, there used to be a super cheesy saying that was passed around a lot, mostly by middle-school science teachers.  It goes basically like this:

The earth is traveling through the Universe and around the sun at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour.  If you think about it, we’re all astronauts aboard Spaceship Earth!

Sweet! I’ve always wanted to be on a spaceship!

As corny as it sounds, I kind of like the idea.  Maybe the modern-day version is High School Musical’s “We’re All in this Together.”  It’s true.  What one country puts into the atmosphere drastically affects the rest of us.  An earthquake hits Haiti and generosity from America to Europe to Australia pours forth.  One person starting a “Free Hugs” campaign among their friends can echo across the globe.

The coolest thing about all 6 ½ billion of us chillin’ on Spaceship Earth together is that we are similar, yet so wildly different.  It all comes down to culture.  The way people celebrate the New Year differs drastically from country to country, city to city, even household to household.  The common theme is that we are all celebrating, right? (I’m not sure if there are any cultures that cry all day for New Years but if you find one let me know).  Culture is what unites and divides us.  It’s what gives us context for the ways in which we live our lives.

Oftentimes, we refer to the SuperCamp culture.  This culture includes how we speak, the type of music we play, our styles of learning, and especially our traditions (traditions!).  If you’ve only ever been to one SuperCamp session, it may be hard to imagine that camp could look any differently than the one you experienced.  If you have been to more than one session, you know that camps can look incredibly different from one session to another.  This past summer, I had the awesome opportunity to facilitate at four different sessions – in four different locations: Singapore, Wake Forest, Loyola Marymount, and San Marcos.  It was also my eighth summer working at SuperCamp.

Keeping that in mind, one of my favorite aspects of camp is Team Time.  I love the music, the energy, the dancing, the cheers, the screaming and madness that we Facilitators get to enjoy when we say those three magic words:

“Who Wants It?!”

Team Time is one of those things in camp that, in theory, seems like it should be the same from campus to campus, but in reality can be the most different.  Some camps like to applaud real hard after a cheer, while some prefer to go right to the team representative.  Some dance circles break it down to Vanilla Ice, while others like to “bust a move.”  We all know that power acknowledgements can be all over the place.

I think the best part about Team Time though, is how it defines so much of what we do at SuperCamp.  It’s about supporting each other and celebrating the common experience, while also completely loving all of the things that make us so different.  It doesn’t matter if the team on stage has to start their cheer over three times before they get it, we still cheer for them for so awesomely using Failure Leads to Success.

From my perspective this past summer, Team Time helped define how different each camp was from the next.  The way the kids in Singapore got funky on their dance circle was pretty different from Wake Forest, where half the time it was hard to figure out where the circle actually was because so many people were dancing at once.  The Junior Forum homies at Loyola Marymount loved to “mix it up” at the end of the daily dance-off, while San Marcos couldn’t get enough of the “hand-clap dance” (what what!).

Brown, Stanford, Seattle, Chi-town, and Colorado – everyone had their own amazing Team Time traditions.  It’s what made each camp its own.

Then again, we all have so much in common.  Being up on stage, repping your team – that’s something that every single person who went to camp this summer got to do.  Everyone had a chance to hop in a dance circle, to introduce a crazy new power whoosh, or to yell your team letter until the Facilitator chose you.  These are experiences we all shared whether camp was in Toyon Hall (Stanford) or Hagget Hall (Seattle).  It’s the kind of thing that makes someone stop you in the airport because you’re wearing an “I Feel Good” shirt (actually happened to me).  We may have gone to different camps and shared different experiences, but we have all been impacted by SuperCamp and Quantum Learning.

Knowing that SuperCamp 2011 is still a ways away, what can you do at home to create shared experiences among your friends?  They may have not gone to camp, but it’s very possible that they’d be interested in learning how to “mix it up.”  Or maybe you can create your own new traditions with your friends – most of you probably already have (hint: they’re called inside jokes).  These are the kinds of things that bring us closer to one another.  Shared experiences equal closer friendships.  Closer friendships equal fulfillment.  Fulfillment equals motivation.  And motivation equals getting what you want out of life.

Take a look at this video.  What do you notice about these Team Times?  What similarities and differences do you notice?  Comment below about what you see.

Your task, if you choose to accept it: Post on the SuperCamp Facebook page about one of your favorite traditions at camp.  It could be pretty cool to see how many “strangers” respond with stories similar to yours.  As crazy as life outside of SuperCamp seems sometimes, it’s good to remember that we’re all in this together.

Posted in academic summer camp, camp videos, camper support. Tags: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Florida Father’s Boarding of Daughter’s School Bus is Wrong on Every Level

September 21, 2010 — Quantum Learning Education

The actions of the father in Seminole County, Florida who boarded his daughter’s school bus to confront a boy who was bullying her is a shocking example of a parent exercising a primal need to protect instinctually as an animal would do with no rational thought.

Too many people today believe it’s acceptable to react to their emotions, regardless of the consequences. They’re wrong. Not only can an emotional reaction to a situation lead to devastating results, it teaches young people that this type of automatic response is justifiable.

While the Florida father’s actions are, on a very base level, understandable, they are not excusable. Just as a person doesn’t have to say everything they think, they don’t have to act irrationally on every impulse. Humans have the ability to reason and make choices in every situation, even emotionally charged ones.

There’s even less justification for this father’s actions, which clearly were premeditated, given that he was there waiting for the bus to pull up to the stop.

Bullying is reaching epidemic proportions. Kids bully other kids. Parents bully their own kids. And, now, parents are bullying other kids. So how can we stop this ugly animalistic kind of behavior?

First, adults with anger issues need anger management counseling. Fundamentally, they need to understand the difference between “I am angry.” and “I have anger.” When a person thinks “I am angry…” their brain completes the thought with … “so I have the right to react however I want.” A person who understands that they are feeling anger learns to deal with this emotion rationally, without acting out inappropriately.

Second, we need to teach our children so that they learn appropriate behavior at a young age. Schools must instill a set of values in young people that becomes so habitual over time – literally creating a solid, positive core – that when confronted with an emotionally explosive situation as a teen or an adult, their automatic response will be value driven. Every school needs to have yearlong character programs that are integrated into the daily curriculum. Research on the character development program I created last year, Communities of Excellence, which teaches students the 8 Keys of Excellence in the classroom, has shown significantly positive results in student behavior.

Third, these same core character principles must be integrated into families. Parents are role models for their children and they have a responsibility to model positive behavior and values – it’s the powerful teaching they can do.  Combine this with conversations about their family’s values, it can make real change. It’s easy for parents to think that their kids know what values the family stands for. After all, they’re part of the family. But it’s best not to assume and be focused, clear and specific about your family’s values.

Fourth, parents should help their children deal with incidents of bullying by building a close connection with their child with good communication. It’s a piece in creating what we like to call a “home court advantage.” There are three key ways to build your connection and communication with your child:

1.  Listen More/Talk Less

If there is a lack of communication in your home, the situation won’t improve by trying to force it. In general, be ready with your ears when your son or daughter does decide to open up, where you may find early clues if your child is being bullied.

2.  Build Confidence

Make sure that you are acknowledging the effort your child puts into projects and homework. Your child may not be able to guarantee an “A” grade, but they can guarantee that they are giving their best effort. It empowers them to know that they have complete control over the effort they put into something. It builds their pride and confidence. This confidence carries over into other areas of their life. When a student carries themselves with confidence, they are less likely to be bullied, and if they are, have the confidence to speak up.

3.  Build Authentic Bridges to Your Kids

Parents can begin to build a bridge by showing a sincere interest in each child’s hobby or passion. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sport, in the arts, or creating video game software; if there is interest on the parents’ part, the child feels good. Parents can further strengthen this bridge by participating in the hobby/activity with the child, as appropriate, and letting the child become the “teacher.”

The Florida man’s actions are yet another example of the excellence deficit that is rampant in our society today. People have the attitude that “anything goes” and that they’re somehow entitled to do or say anything. We need to end this downward spiral and begin living lives of excellence founded in core principles that make each of us, and the world, better.

Posted in 8 keys of excellence, parent support. Tags: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Small Sacrifices for Big Benefits: The Art of Long-Term Thinking

September 8, 2010 — Courtney Pollock

[tweetmeme source="SuperCamp" only_single=false]

This guest post was written by the lovely and talented Kelly Pozzoli, SuperCamp lead facilitator and snowboarding enthusiast.

“Is this in line with what I believe?”

“Are my priorities straight?”

“Is it worth it?”

For some reason, obvious and logical questions like these tend to escape our radar from time to time. We do things that might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but ended up proverbially kicking ourselves in the faces.

We give in to temptation because it feels right in the moment. We get caught up in short-sighted thinking. We momentarily forget to consider the consequences, or we find a way to rationalize them.  We give in to our impulses, focusing on the now instead of panning out to look at the big picture.  We make seemingly valid excuses for our actions so that we can have what we want in the meantime.

Short Term Gain, Long Term Pain

The concept is simple. Think about any test you’ve ever had looming on the horizon.  You know you need to do well on this test, and in order for that to happen, you need to study.  You make a study plan and schedule in breaks.  It starts off innocently enough until you find yourself spending most of your nights checking in on the latest and greatest of Jersey Shore, not to mention the entire series of Breaking Bad (after all, it just won all those Emmy’s and you have a lot of catching up to do).  Suddenly it’s a few days before the test, and you haven’t so much as cracked a book.  Call off Snooki, now you have a real Situation on your hands.  The test is here, and you’re unprepared.  Cueing up Breaking Bad on Netflix was intended to be for your down time from studying and somehow turned into the main event.  It seemed all right at the time, but now you’re going to bomb the test.  You chose to indulge in TV instead of studying (short term gain), and as a result, you failed the test (long term pain).

Short Term Pain, Long Term Gain

Now think about saving money to buy a car.  You set up a savings plan and budget your cash accordingly…on paper (that’s the easy part).  However, you tend to be an impulse shopper- buying that oh-so-cute-and-trending-now sweater in the window that you just have to have, or being seduced by the samples at the grocery store and scooping up several boxes of whatever’s being dished out.  But, not this time.  You see that sweater, maybe even go so far as to try it on, but upon inspecting the price tag, decide that a car is much more important to you than having new gear.  And instead of purchasing several boxes of what you’ve sampled, you make note of what the product was and try to work it into next week’s carefully constructed grocery list.  You’re on a budget, which is kind of horrible, but you want that car, so the tears shed during your sweater heartache (short term pain) are quickly forgotten the day you hand over that sweet, sweet down payment on your first new car (long term gain).

Imagine looking in the mirror and knowing you are better than the vices that gobble up so many others in society–that you are stronger, smarter, and more in line with your values. That image looks even better from the rear-view mirror of that beastly car you worked hard to buy. That image looks better seeing those old temptations shrink behind you as you drive your life forward. That image is integrity.

What are some things that you could give up/forgo now in order to receive even bigger benefits in the future? Please share in the comments below!

Posted in 8 keys of excellence, camper support, life skills. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »
« Older posts «
»