OH! News - Keeping Your Mind Over Your Matters
 
March 2003
 
"Remember that you are needed. There is at least one important work to be done that will not be done unless you do it." -- Charles Allen
 
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THIS MONTH'S FEATURES
  • Current World Events: Resources for Students During a Challenging Time
  • MindOH! Welcomes Paige Gutierrez, Education Relationship Management System Project Manager
  • Best Practices: April is "MindOH! Month" at Sharpstown Middle School
  • ConnocoPhillips Supports the Character's Cool Contest
  • Quick Stats About Our Nation's Youth From The Children's Defense Fund
  • Funding Corner: Southern Poverty Law Center Offers Youth Grants to Promote Tolerance
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CURRENT WORLD EVENTS: RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS DURING A CHALLENGING TIME

 

As more of our troops are being deployed and all of us are acutely aware of what is happening overseas, The MindOH! Foundation has provided resources to help youth deal with current world events. These lesson plans, activity worksheets and other materials were donated by MindOH! team members, and mental health and education professionals to serve as a springboard to:

  • Facilitate one-on-one relationships between adults and youth
  • Appreciate the importance of communication, respect and tolerance
  • Understand democratic principles in the context of current events
  • Contribute and find ways we can help
  • Develop meaningful dialogue to help with stress and anxiety
  • Provide inspirational broadcast messages

To access these resources, please visit the MindOH! Foundation Web site at http://www.mindohfoundation.org. To provide feedback, donate additional resources, or to ask questions, please email info@mindohfoundation.org.

 

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MINDOH! WELCOMES PAIGE GUTIERREZ, EDUCATION RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PROJECT MANAGER

 

Paige Gutierrez recently joined the MindOH! team as the ERMS Project Manager. Her primary focus will be in ramping up the new Education Relationship Management System for client schools to help students, teachers, and parents build and enhance relationships. Raised in Houston, Paige received her degree from Boston University in 1993 and found her way back home to Texas to begin her usability career at Usability Sciences Corporation, a third party usability testing company in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  She moved back to Houston in 1999 to work at Luminant Worldwide as a usability analyst and information architect.  She has been a member of the Usability Professionals Association and is proactive in educating both clients and coworkers on the value of usability testing to ensure user acceptance of all products. Paige joined MindOH! in February, 2003 and is looking forward to contributing to the development of the entire character education product line with all the great people here at MindOH!  For more information on Paige's experience, see her bio at http://www.mindoh.com/about_team.asp.  

 

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BEST PRACTICES: APRIL IS "MINDOH! MONTH" AT SHARPSTOWN

 

April will be "MindOH! Month" at Sharpstown Middle School in Houston. Students at Sharpstown have half days on Wednesdays which allows teachers and administrators to dedicate the second half of the day to professional development. For April, the teachers are going to alternate presenting MindOH! implementation models and best practices to each other. Some of the best practices that will be showcased include the "ticket" system developed by Amy Renton to help reduce instruction interruptions, utilizing MindOH!'s Life Skills Series as an after school program, and assigning student helpers to be MindOH! experts that can aid the administration of MindOH! in the classroom.

 

If you have a best practice to share, please email us at news@mindoh.com.

 

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CONOCOPHILLIPS SUPPORTS THE CHARACTER'S COOL CONTEST

 

ConocoPhillips provided a grant to help support the 2003 Character's Cool Contest, a national contest developed by the MindOH! Foundation to further character education and empower youth to practice ethical behavior. The grant was initiated by Ed Kirk through ConocoPhillip's Employee Volunteer Grant Initiative. In addition to volunteering time to the Foundation, Ed supports MindOH! on a number of financial and business analysis initiatives. If your organization offers similar matching grant programs for employees and you are interested in getting involved with the MindOH! Foundation, please contact Jennifer O'Brien at jennifer.obrien@mindoh.com.

 

The Character's Cool Contest ran during the month of January and received approximately 6,500 survey participants and 600 essay participants from 37 states. Judges continue to score the essays, and the Foundation expects to announce winners and results by the end of March. For more information about the Character's Cool Contest, visit http://www.mindohfoundation.org/contest/ or email contests@mindohfoundation.org.

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QUICK STATS ABOUT OUR NATIONS YOUTH FROM THE CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND

  • One in 8 children never graduate from high school.
  • Two in 5 children never complete a single year of college.
  • Every 9 seconds, a public high school student drops out.
  • The lifetime costs of allowing one child to drop out of high school and into a future of crime can total between $1.3 and $15 million.
  • States spend an average of three times more per prisoner than per public school pupil.
Source: The State of Children in America's Union 2002, Children's Defense Fund, (http://www.childrensdefense.org).
 

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FUNDING CORNER: SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER OFFERS YOUTH GRANTS TO PROMOTE TOLERANCE

Tolerance.org ( http://www.tolerance.org/ ) and Teaching Tolerance, educational programs of the Southern Poverty Law Center  http://www.splcenter.org/ ), have joined with the Study Circles Resource Center to launch the second phase of the national "Mix It Up" youth campaign. Launched last November, the "Mix it Up" campaign is designed to help young people understand and address the issue of social boundaries in their schools and communities. The campaign will continue in Spring 2003 with a series of activities, including a grants program for young people. The Spring 2003 Mix It Up Grants Program will fund youth-directed activist projects that focus on identifying, crossing, and challenging social boundaries in schools and communities. Non-renewable grants of $250 will be awarded to the winning project. Proposed projects should demonstrate youth leadership (i.e., projects envisioned and implemented by youth activists); involve collaborative efforts across social boundaries (i.e., different youth groups or clubs working together, or school-based clubs working with community-based organizations); and be part of continuing efforts to identify, cross, or challenge social boundaries. See the Mix It Up Web site for complete application guidelines and for further information on the program's components. RFP Link: http://www.mixitup.org/ For additional RFPs in Children and Youth, visit: http://www.fdncenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_children.jhtml.
 
For additional funding opportunities, visit our Funding Web page: http://www.mindoh.com/funding.asp.
 

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OH! News is a free monthly email newsletter distributed by MindOH!. MindOH! is dedicated to providing young people with the necessary tools to develop strong character traits and a healthy self-concept. MindOH! teaches students problem-solving techniques and communication skills, reinforcing universally held virtues such as respect and responsibility. www.mindoh.com
 
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