Guest blog: Helping the groups society forgets about

Guest blogger Rick Mooneyham discusses his work with WhyTry as a volunteer:

I have been volunteering at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice for over 15 years. The purpose is to encourage juveniles to not reoffend by changing their path in life. This has led me to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, as at age 17 they are transferred there for the remainder of their juvenile term or come back after 17 as a reoffender. Now I serve as a volunteer chaplain at SCDC. At both agencies, I get to teach classes in spiritual development, anger management and lifestyle living. When I was introduced to WhyTry in 2007 by Erika Joye and Christian Moore, it fit like a glove!

I have been blessed to be able to go to many of the 29 SCDC facilities and at many I have been allowed to take my laptop in to the facility to use the WhyTry Program with all ages, individually and in classes.

In my desire to reduce the number of youth going into DJJ, we were given 70 used computers which we reconditioned and have put in churches across South Carolina for the purpose of tutoring elementary youth in reading and math. In the beginning I went to one and used WhyTry with second through fifth graders for 10 weeks. The next week I went back and asked if anyone could remember any of the pictures we talked about. Excitedly, they named every picture and explained how it gave them opportunity, freedom and self-respect!

“I…used WhyTry with 2nd through 5th graders… The next week I went back and asked if anyone could remember any of the pictures we talked about. Excitedly, they named every picture and explained how it gave them opportunity, freedom, and self-respect!”

I have used it with classes of men preparing to leave incarceration in the hopes of reducing recidivism and with classes of young women inmates in the hopes of reducing violence within the institution. I have introduced it to another young man who does afternoon programs to deter youth from activity putting them in jeopardy of incarceration.

The WhyTry Program has been received well by all ages, they have participated easily, given attention without prodding, and many of the men have responded with, “Why did I not see or realize this sooner?” I saw many of the class of elementary youth twelve months later and did the program again, but they told more of the program than I did. As for those in SCDC, I have no way of measuring, for many have left incarceration and I have no way of tracking. I do know most of the programs they use have been in place for many years with little or no change whether they are working or not. Each time I have used WhyTry, the participants are amazed at the simplicity, truth and how they see their own life as it was throughout the program.

Again I am thrilled at Christian’s ability in the midst of his disability to provide such a program that offers a real way to produce change in opportunity, freedom and self-respect to a group of people society many times has forgotten about.

Rick Mooneyham is a director at Barnabas Ministries and a dedicated volunteer in South Carolina’s justice system. Special thanks for his willingness to share his experiences with WhyTry.

If you have ideas or stories related to the WhyTry Program in your school or organization, contact us or leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.

Guest Blog: ‘Circle of Influence’ Learning Activity (Visualizing Support Systems)

Here’s a new activity to use the next time you teach (or re-teach) the Why Try lesson “Get Plugged In.” Simple and powerful, this visual and hands-on activity helps students grasp the importance of strong positive support systems.

Materials needed:
-Poster sized paper
-Markers
-String/yarn
-Tape
-Scissors
-White board & dry erase marker

Length of Activity:
-60-90 minutes

Step 1: INTRODUCTION

Analogy/Explanation

Carrie Johnson, school counselor at Jones Regional Education Center, introduces students to their “circle of influence.”

Circles of influence are like a stone thrown in a pond. The first ripples are close to the stone, deep, and powerful. As they expand away from the stone, they become more distant, shallower, and less powerful.

We are each like that stone. The people closest to us have the most power and influence in our lives. And just as ripples extend out from a stone, we have relationships that extend out from us that may still be important, but have less power and influence the farther out they extend.

At this point the facilitator should explain this analogy while drawing an example on the board. Draw a circle (stone) with your name in the middle surrounded by circles (ripples). Identify people who are a part of your life and put their names in the circles that represent their distance from you. Use specific names and avoid generic labels like “my family”.

After the “Circle of Influence” is explained, students can begin creating their own.

Step 2: CREATE POSTERS

Hand out posters and markers and have students create their own circles of influence. As they work, here are some questions to have them think about:

1)   Which family members are the most supportive of you?
2)   When you are hurting, who is there for you?
3)   Who knows the most about you?
4)   Who can you count on to help you in an emergency?
5)   Who do you say “Hi” to on a daily basis but you don’t really know anything about? (store clerks, the janitor at your school)

After creating their "circle," students use string to link their names to the positive influences in their lives.

After creating their “circle,” students use string to link their names to the positive relationships in their lives.

Step 3: MAKE CONNECTIONS

Hand out tape, scissors, and string to students. You will use one piece of string for each positive relationship, so some students will need more string than others. Have students tape a piece of string from their name to each name on the poster that represents a positive influence in their life.

When the poster is finished, students will have a visual depiction of their positive influences.

Step 4: CONCLUSION

Processing Posters
-What do you notice as you look at your poster?
-What would you like to see different about your poster?
-What are you willing to do to make that change?

The activity can be enhanced by comparing life to a high wire and pointing out the importance of a strong safety net.

Analogy
Life is like walking a high wire. You can do it without a safety net, with a very poor safety net, or a strong safety net. If the string on your poster represents your safety net, what would happen if you fall off your wire? (And we all fall off the wire).

Next steps/Challenge
-What small change can you make today that will make a big impact on your life tomorrow?
-What are you willing to do to improve the relationships in your life?
-Add questions from Why Try curriculum, such as:
-“What is one “conflict,” “argument,” or “power struggle” that I can give up today that won’t hurt me but will lower my parents anxiety about me?”

Alternative Program Instructor Hannah Byrne (guest blogger) and School Counselor Carrie Johnson work at Jones Regional Education Center at Kirkwoood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. If you have examples of learning activities that have helped students in your classroom, or to find out more about WhyTry’s 150 learning activities, contact us.

Guest blog: Four tips to improve your WhyTry research

"Students would come in...with frowns on their faces and leave with smiles."

This year, I conducted research about the impact that the WhyTry Program had on two 4th grade classes in the Southeastern region of the United States. I would like to share my experience with you, along with some information that I hope will be helpful if you are also conducting research on WhyTry. This turned out to be a very interesting, educational, as well as a frustrating process!

In my research project, I utilized pretest and posttest information from one class. Furthermore, I collected data regarding the students’ English, Math, and attendance in two classes. I conducted an analysis in which I compared the students’ data while they were in WhyTry to the grading quarter after they finished WhyTry. In the end, the results of my study were not significant, however this could be due to a multitude of reasons- the data was collected over a very short period of time, data was only collected from two classes in one school, the pretest/posttest was not validated, etc.

As a result of my experience with this research project, I have a few recommendations for those of you that plan on conducting Why Try research:

When using secondary data, ensure that you have access to all data in your research design. While I thought I had this access, it was not until I began collecting my data that I realized this was not the case. This resulted in having to make tremendous changes to my research design.
Ensure a large data set, especially when working with students, as parental consent greatly limits the final sample size of your study.
Research on the WhyTry Program should be mixed method. My study only utilized quantitative data and would have been much more valuable with a qualitative aspect.
Ensure that your assessments are validated materials, as it strengthens the significance of the results. It was not until after the pretest was distributed that I found out it was not the validated assessment offered by the WhyTry Program.

Although the results of my research were not significant, I see such significance in this program. In one of the schools where WhyTry was implemented, we did not see the same class for six consecutive weeks. Instead, sometimes weeks passed between the time we were able to see them. However, at the beginning of each class when we conducted a recap, we were always shocked to hear how much information these students retained! Furthermore, there were many times when students would come into the classroom with a frown on their faces and leave with smiles. Other students would come in with smiles because they were so happy to see us. Finally, there were times when we saw the students implementing the goals of WhyTry right there in our classroom. All of this evidence is proof of the impact this program has on the students we taught this year.

Thank you for reading this post- hope this information was beneficial! Good luck to any of you who are also conducting research on Why Try!

Marissa Emrich is a senior social work student, aspiring school counselor, fiancee, sister, friend, and daughter. To read more about research surrounding WhyTry, visit our website.

Guest blog: How “surrendering the one-up” can go a long way

Guest blogger John Larrison recently listened to a keynote address by WhyTry Founder Christian Moore. The following is John’s letter to Christian, responding to his speech and sharing his own personal story. Thanks John!

Christian,

I really enjoyed hearing you speak. When I compare your life story and my own, we are very similar in a lot of ways. I was raised in a family where my mom stayed by us and our dad was an alcoholic. It was just the way life was.

The year after I got out of high school, I was in a 70-mph head-on wreck with people who were way past legally drunk. Four people were killed and one was the girl I was dating. I couldn’t walk correctly for three years. During that time, I decided there was no way I’d be like them and drown my sorrows in alcohol, but I got deep into using and selling drugs. I can’t even count how many times I nearly got caught or saw my friends go to prison, get shot, or die. But somehow I made it through. I always tell myself that there was a reason, and it was the kids I work with. I made it through to help them make it through!

Thank you for addressing the importance of ASKING students to do something rather than TELLING them to do it. Many teachers teach how they were taught and not how they were taught to teach. Their behavior management practices in the classroom are those they have experienced as students and have come to accept as their own. I contend that these are parental and law enforcement tactics, and should not be employed in the classroom. I was one of these kids, and I am one of these adults. Ask me to do something, and I may comply. Tell me to do something, and I’ll likely refuse!

For the most part, students come to school every day willing to learn. If a student thinks you believe in them, they’ll pay attention and attend to task. When a teacher shares the power of his/her classroom, the student will work. Respect has to be earned, and this is not done through intimidation and punishment. Everyone in the classroom wins when a teacher will simply tell students, “I am going to do my best to NOT treat you like other adults treat you.” The other side of this is, “I expect you to NOT treat me like you may treat other adults.” Instead of saying something like, “Antonio, you NEED to get to work,” or “Heather, you NEED to sit down,” say, “Antonio, can you go ahead and start for me?” or, “Heather, can you come over and sit down?” When they do, thank them for what they did. “Hey, thanks, Antonio,” “I appreciate it, Heather,” “Thanks for helping me out today.”

As you use this approach, the classroom will become like a community with everyone working together. This isn’t a one-time thing. You have to live that life. Tell students, “If you ever hear me not treating you like this, please tell me, because I don’t want to be like that.” If you find yourself misspeaking, stop immediately and say, “I’m sorry, let me give that another try.” Students respect respect. They are mirrors of their environment. If you don’t like what you see, rather than looking at the student and finding something wrong, look at yourself and see what you can do or change in order to bring about a change in the student. Pay attention to that student’s learning style and teach that way.

Some administrators seem to believe that if they expel or discipline a student, that the student will “learn a lesson” from their punishment. They expect the student to start “fresh” with a new attitude. It’s the adults who hold grudges and who can’t let things go. They seem to stand ready to say, “Ah, see, they’re at it again.”

The very first premise of the Mandt System (a system for managing individuals who may be out of control) is that you cannot manage someone else’s behavior until your own is under control first. I wonder how many of us would like to be publicly called out and disciplined, and then be asked to return to work the next day and start fresh with a new attitude?

Thank you, Christian.

John

John is a counselor and teacher in Topeka, Kansas. To learn more about the principle of “surrendering the one-up,” visit our website.

Guest blog: Things I have learned from WhyTry

Typically when I blog, I have some sort of inspirational story or a call to action message. However, this time I’m going to try something new- tips that I’ve learned from personal experience while teaching WhyTry.
1. Many times, my coworkers and I have tried to remember what we did a few weeks ago during a WhyTry session and cannot remember. So, I began doing a “WhyTry Recap” each week after our sessions. This has been very helpful. I document who taught what lesson, particular things the students said, if any referrals were made to the guidance counselor, any items of concern, and if we were able to finish the lesson. Recording all this does not take long and your brain will thank you!
2. We have learned the hard way that there must be consequences for the students’ disruptive actions. We have always tried to keep everyone in the group, despite some acting out. After a student breaks one of our rules, we typically pull him or her to the side to discuss what happened and how we’re going to make it better. This sometimes results in moving the student to another group, or at the worst- moving the student to a table by him or herself. We have grappled with this, as we believe that some of the students that are acting out are the ones that need to learn these lessons the most, but still understand that one student’s actions can detract from the overall success of the rest of the group. Speaking one on one with the student who is acting out helps the student feel less threatened and keeps the other students on task.
3. At one of the two schools where we do WhyTry, all of the 4th grade classes have already finished the six-week lesson plan we developed. However, my supervisor and other co-workers thought we should take the opportunity to teach some additional lessons from the WhyTry curriculum. So far we have only done this once, but the students really seemed to love the lesson. This also gave us a great opportunity to know the students more on an individual level. Take the time to learn something new about your students whenever possible!
4. Our students absolutely love stories! Time and time again we have found that when we lose their attention, a story brings them right back in. My co-workers use props for some of these stories, like a shield and sword for our lesson on defense mechanisms. Every time I tell “Rachel’s Story” the students always ask questions like, “When did this happen?” or “Do you really know Rachel?” Although these questions don’t have any bearing on the moral of the story, it is an indication that the story caught their attention and they want to know more. Try using stories throughout your lessons, especially when you seem to have lost their attention.

I hope you find this list to be beneficial. Please add any other tips you have learned in the comments section!

Next month, I will write about my experience researching WhyTry. This has been a difficult to say the least! I have faced many obstacles in figuring out the logistics of my research, from obtaining permission slips to gathering and organizing data. While this has been frustrating, it has been worthwhile, as I hope this research is beneficial to the implementation of WhyTry for next school year. Be sure to watch my blog next month!

Marissa Emrich is a senior social work student, aspiring school counselor, fiancee, sister, friend, and daughter. To read more about research surrounding WhyTry, visit our website.

Guest blog: How to help EVERY student “jump back up”

“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.” - Mary Pickford

In Rachel’s story, she’s running in a relay race and falls not once, but twice. The second time she falls, she feels an overwhelming sense of failure that she’s let her team down. But as she’s lying there, she hears cheers from the crowd to get back up and finish the race. She does just that, and gets the one point her team needed to win.

In WhyTry, we teach our students to do the same – to get back up after they’ve fallen. “Jumping Hurdles” is one of my favorite lessons. It gives the students an opportunity to talk about a real-life situation they have encountered and tell the class how they handled it. For this lesson, my supervisor created an actual hurdle where the students first told their challenge, then jumped the hurdle and told their solution. We also made medals to give them after they jumped the hurdle. It was shocking to hear some of the challenges these young students face: peer pressure to steal from others, to disobey parents, or to hurt others.

Just last week, one student was upset that he had been placed at a table alone. He had chosen to call others names, which resulted in his removal from that group. He was not participating in the activity, so I attempted to help him realize that he was facing a challenge in that very moment. He just kept saying, “I don’t have any challenges.” Later, one of my co-workers was able to get him to write down one word that described that challenge. Still, he did not want to participate in jumping the hurdle with his classmates. At the end of the lesson, my co-worker and I spoke with him about what he had written down and gave him a medal. He tried to stifle his smile, but we saw his face light up when that medal was placed around his neck. In that instant, he had gotten back up and jumped his hurdle.

These seemingly small moments make such an impact in the lives of students.

As facilitators of these lessons, there will be hurdles that we must also jump. In this case, our hurdle was getting this student to participate in the lesson. We must always remember to celebrate and praise accomplishments regardless of their size. In social work, I have always been told to “meet the client where they are.” We must apply this same concept to WhyTry, realizing that not every student is going to participate on the level we hope. However, by praising the small steps they make in participating, we can encourage them to gradually take larger steps throughout the sessions.

Marissa Emrich is a senior social work student, aspiring school counselor, fiancee, sister, friend, and daughter. For more information on her research, leave a comment on her blog. To read more about research surrounding WhyTry, visit our website.

Guest blog: “On a personal note, I hate bullying.”

You probably wouldn’t think it to look at me now, but I was heavily bullied all through my educational career.

We’re not talking ‘normal’ kid-on-kid taunting, we’re talking actual physical violence as well. I had my hand broken, nose broken, black eyes, bloody noses, broken toes, was hit over the head with a wood working mallet, got tied to a tree in woods and tormented with threats of being beaten to death and on a particularly memorable occasion I was saved from losing my right hand to two bullies and a chop saw by a teacher walking into shop class at the right moment. Just 10 seconds later and it would have been too late.

Yes, I’ve experienced bullying. I’ve been so scared that I’ve been unable to speak, I’ve been so badly bruised that I couldn’t take part in sports lessons which resulted in more bullying from kids & teachers. I’ve been so low I considered suicide when I was 13. Things were so bad at 15 that I actually attempted it.

But it wasn’t just fellow students. From my first year at school, teachers and people in ‘responsible’ positions – either through frustration with their own lives or a genuine ill will towards me – either took part in the bullying or allowed it to happen by turning a blind eye.

I’ve been lucky. In the end I was able to get help from people who cared and understood and my family, who right up until they read this probably still don’t know the full extent of what went on.

Not everybody is so fortunate, but there is help. Bullying can be stopped.

For me things started to change after talking to my doctor, who listened and refered me to people that were able to give me the emotional & practical help and support I needed. I won’t pretend it instantly made everything better. It was a long process, but if I’d been able to talk sooner it may have prevented me going through some of the things I experienced.

Sadly, as I’ve grown up bullying hasn’t decreased in society. If anything, it’s worse now. Bullying really does happen everywhere. From schools to offices, on the streets to in ‘entertainment,’ in person and online. Bullying isn’t seen as the terrible, life destroying thing that it can be; it’s now become a source of material for comedians like Ricky Gervais. The bullied kid is still the butt of jokes in movies and TV shows.

I detest the act of bullying and those who do it, either directly, or by allowing it to continue through inaction. In my opinion and experience, if you’re aware of somebody being bullied but do nothing to stop it, you’re as bad as the bully yourself.

If you suspect somebody is being bullied, talk to them. Let them know they don’t have to get through this alone. If you see somebody being bullied, intervene. I’m not saying you have to put yourself at risk, but make the bully aware that you’re a witness to the events, and if there’s a risk of physical injury, either to the person being bullied or yourself, do not hesitate to call the police or even on people nearby for help.

And if you’re the victim of bullying, please believe me when I tell you I understand how overwhelming the fear can be. I know how hard it can be to talk about what you’re going through, and I completely understand how sometimes you can’t see any way out. But I promise you, there are people who care, there are people who will help and the bullying can be stopped. You have to be brave and take that first step speaking to somebody you trust, but it can and does get better.

No matter how bad things get, you’re not alone. There is always hope. Don’t let the bully take that from you, too.

For more information on how WhyTry can help you fight bullying in your organization, contact us at 866.949.8791 or visit our website.

Alex O. is a regular blogger at Velocentric. Special thanks for his willingness to share his story on our site.

Guest blog: How an intern fell in love with WhyTry

Why Try? To gain freedom, opportunity, and self-respect! This has been one of the most beneficial, positive, preventative programs I have been a part of. If you are involved in the school system or in working with students, I would encourage you to take a look into it!

This semester, I have been involved in a program called WhyTry where I, along with three other school social workers, have worked with 4th grade students in this social skills based class. These three social workers wrote a grant to have this program implemented in Hamilton County, Tennessee for the first time. They were given this grant and began working in two at-risk elementary schools during this school year. There are a total of ten lessons in WhyTry that include lessons like “Tearing off Labels,” where the instructors teach about replacing our negative labels with positive ones; and a lesson on “Jumping Hurdles” where life’s challenges are discussed along with solutions to those problems.

Since this program has been such an integral part of my internship, I decided to conduct my senior research project on the impact this program has on three different fourth grade classes. This semester, I collected background research on this and other similar programs and discovered what an incredible impact this program has already had on a very large number of students. Next semester, I will conduct the study by utilizing pre- and post- tests along with information from the school database.

WhyTry was started by Christian Moore, who recognized that traditional learning did not cover the social emotional aspects of learning. Already, this program is in over 16,000 schools both in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This program can be implemented in kindergarten all the way through 12th grade and has shown to be effective in a variety of settings including school, foster care, and alternative campuses. Results from this program have shown increases in attendance, behavior, and grades. One study saw a .62 increase in the students’ GPAs while another study saw a 33% increase in their students’ GPAs. Results from another study showed that students’ self-perception increased after this program and another saw a decrease in the students’ aggressive tendencies. Finally, one study saw an increase in the students’ attendance that attended WhyTry.

More than just these statistical results, I have seen students come in with frowns on their faces and leave with smiles. I have heard them remember valuable information that we taught them weeks before and already noticed improvements in students’ behavior. This program has already proven to be beneficial and I hope that the research I conduct next semester will educate the grant funders on the reasons why this program should be expanded.