OH!
News: Keeping Your Mind Over Your Matters
When I was a boy of
fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to be around him. But,
when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in
seven years." - Mark
Twain
THIS
MONTH'S FEATURES:
·
MindOH!
Featured on ABC Channel 13, Ten Other ABC Affiliates Around the Country, and
TechTV
·
I Have a Dream
Houston Incorporates MindOH! Into Their After School
Program
·
Character's Cool
Contest Winners Announced
·
First
Place Essay Winner: Annie Reed, Powell County Middle School, Stanton,
Kentucky
·
Second
Place Essay Winner: Amanda Schott, Howard M. Phifer Middle School, Pennsauken,
New Jersey
·
Third
Place Essay Winner: Chase Mabry, Morgan Selvidge Middle School, Ballwin,
Missouri
·
Featured
Character Education Links for March
***********************************************************************
On
Friday, March 1, 2002, MindOH! was featured on the 6 p.m. news on KTRK-TV (ABC)
Houston. The segment was filmed at Edison Middle School, one of MindOH!'s Pilot
schools, and Morning News Anchor Cheryle Keck interviewed Leslie Matula, MindOH!
co-founder and character education subject matter expert, Allan Ayala, eighth
grade student, Vanessa Zenteno, seventh grade student, Troy Bennatte, seventh
grade student, and Dan DeLeon, Edison Middle School principal.
The KTRK
segment was picked up by ABC affiliate stations in ten other states: Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Connecticut, South Carolina, North Carolina, Oklahoma, California, Vermont, and
Indiana. In addition to the eleven segments, MindOH! was also featured on
TechTV, a national cable television channel
covering technology information, news, and entertainment. To view the MindOH!
segment, email us at info@mindoh.com.
***********************************************************************
I HAVE A
DREAM HOUSTON INCORPORATES MINDOH! INTO THEIR AFTER SCHOOL
PROGRAM
I Have a Dream-Houston, a non-profit
organization that helps at-risk, inner city children finish high school and
attend college or vocational school, recently purchased MindOH! to incorporate
into their after-school program. Students will access MindOH!'s Discipline
and Life Skills Series to learn more about respect, responsibility, good
communication, setting goals, conflict resolution and making better choices.
MindOH! will assist students in keeping their minds over their matters
while IHAD strives to help students graduate high school and attend
college. IHAD is the first community-based organization to incorporate
MindOH!'s character education lessons into their current
programming.
To learn more about I Have a Dream
Houston, visit www.ihaveadreamhouston.org.
***********************************************************************
CHARACTER'S
COOL CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The
Character's Cool Contest Web site has been updated to announce the individual
student winners from the contest. To read about these cool students, go to www.mindohfoundation.org/contest
and click "Winners". Following are introductions to the three essay contest
winners.
***********************************************************************
FIRST
PLACE ESSAY WINNER: ANNIE REED, POWELL COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL, STANTON
KENTUCKY
The following excerpt is from the Character's
Cool Contest first place essay winner, "America the Beautiful" by Annie Reed, a
student at Powell County Middle School in Stanton, Kentucky. Click the link
below to read the entire essay.
"In this modern day and age, movies are filled
with obscenities and brutal murders. Our school corridors echo with curse words
and insults. Kids spend their time glued to a television, their hands gripping a
controller that instructs Nintendo characters to carry out inhumane brutalities.
Today's "role models" are super models who appear to have eating disorders and
WWF macho men. These icons aren't sending out a positive message to adolescents.
Instead we should be teaching young children value and ethical precepts, they
should be taught not to be a character, but to have character."
http://www.mindoh.com/docs/AmericaTheBeautiful_AnnieReed.pdf
***********************************************************************
The
following excerpt is from the Character's Cool Contest second place essay
winner, "Stopping School Violence through Ethical Behavior" by Amanda Schott, a
student at Howard M. Phifer Middle School in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Click the
link below to read the entire essay.
"'Darkness
cannot drive out darkness; only love can do that,' are words immortalized by
Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe that my parents have nurtured me in a way that
allows me to feel remorse for when I do wrong, and happiness when I have done
well; which makes my suggestions on ways, through core ethical education, you
can stop school violence are valid."
http://www.mindoh.com/docs/StoppingSchoolViolence_AmandaSchott.pdf
***********************************************************************
The
following excerpt is from the Character's
Cool Contest second place essay winner, "Stopping
School Violence through Ethical Behavior" by
Chase Mabry, a student at Morgan Selvidge Middle School in Ballwin,
Missouri. Click
the link below to read the entire essay.
"According
to Webster's New World Student Dictionary, ethical behavior means rules of right
and wrong behavior. To me, ethics means the same thing -- a moral code of
conduct. Ethical behavior is very important in life, which is why students, as
well as adults should be aware of the meaning and reason to understand this
manner. Violence is very plentiful in schools across the nation, and even the
globe right now, especially with the recent crisis that people feel so strongly
towards. This violence needs to be stopped."
http://www.mindoh.com/docs/StoppingSchoolViolence_ChaseMabry.pdf
***********************************************************************
Check out the following Web sites to
learn more about character education:
·
Athletes for a
Better World: http://www.aforbw.org
·
Students
Against Violence Everywhere: http://www.saveusa.org
·
Institute
for Global Ethics: http://www.globalethics.org/
OH! News is a free monthly email
newsletter distributed by MindOH! (www.mindoh.com). MindOH!
is dedicated to providing young people with the necessary tools to develop
strong character traits and a healthy self-concept. The first company to deliver
Web-based character education combining Flash and Real Media to create
interactive computer modules, MindOH! teaches students problem-solving
techniques and communication skills, reinforcing universally held virtues such
as respect and responsibility.
Approximately 520 people currently
subscribe to OH! News. Please pass this email along to anyone interested in
character education and empowering our nation's youth to practice ethical
behavior. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email to news@mindoh.com.
OH! News welcomes contributions and feedback. For more information, visit MindOH! at www.mindoh.com, the MindOH! Foundation at www.mindohfoundation.org, or email news@mindoh.com.