Express Your Voice

1. Express Your Voice Brett K. Smith, Ed. S. Education Director Division of Youth Services

2. Introduction • MOST POWERFUL IS HE WHO HAS HIMSELF IN HIS POWER • Lucius Amaeus Seneca • Great leaders have VISION, PASSION, DISCIPLINE, AND CONSCIENCE

3. Topics of Discussion • VISION • PASSION • DISCIPLINE • CONSCIENCE • He that would govern others first should be master of himself. Phillip Massinger

4. VISION • Seeing with the mind’s eye a future state • To vision the future remember the past…four lane highways, lack of cell phones, and running water. • Children today have hand held computers what is their vision? • Are we preparing them for their future or our past?

5. PASSION FOR THE AT-RISK • The fire that burns and the conviction to achieve. • Pieces of passion…hope, synergy, courage, empathy, fun to name a few. • As leaders how can we be passionate about our cause, what can we do to continue on?

6. DISCIPLINE FOR THE AT-RISK • Because of its unwieldy body and disproportionately small wing size, scientists studying aerodynamics once stated that, technically, the bumblebee should be incapable of flying. • And yet fly it does. • Our goal is to support educational stakeholders in helping at-risk children and youth develop their natural abilities and soar toward their highest dreams.

7. Real Life • We lock our children into 13 years of school. Thirteen of their most formative years are basically contracted with the public school system to do a quality job with our children. We certify teachers, the administrators, the guidance counselors, the school social workers, nurses, and psychologists, so the children will get a GOOD education. The children come to us for 13 years and, at this time, in many districts we have more dropping out than ever before. We have a failure to complete rate of over 25% nationally, and schools are beginning to hide their statistics because they are often embarrassing. This is a major problem. In his book, Shadow Children, Dr. Anthony Dallmann-Jones says it is "Education's #1 Issue".

8. What This Means • The school contracts with the parents (and society) and — we forget this part — the child — and says, in effect, "In the next 13 years, we will provide you with a good education so you can have a great life." Yet in this thirteen year process of educating our youth, a majority of our public schools complain they are overburdened, stretched to the breaking point in many ways, especially financially. We must make some significant changes. We are losing our youth! Sometimes it feels like we are in a war to save them. • What is the major goal of SCHOOL: Schooling is in the Success Business. A student, by attending school, should experience a better chance at success in life than one who does not attend school. If this can be accepted as a true statement, then the act of dropping out can be seen for the serious issue that it is. Students who drop out will experience diminishing chances of success in life. Everyone wants a successful life. The school's responsibility is to do its best at manifesting that in each student.

9. Make A Difference • Action Goals: • Disseminate Critical Information Regarding At-Risk Education; (Truth) • Provide Support for Educators Working With At-Risk Children; (Time) • Provide Networking Opportunities for At-Risk Education Stakeholders; (Technology-Communication) • Assist Communities in Planning, Developing & Implementing At-Risk Educational Programs; (Fleas) • Provide Staff Training for At-Risk School Personnel; • Research Prevention & Intervention Methods, and Best Practices & Programs for At-Risk Education; and • Provide opportunities for At-Risk Education Conferences. (Networking)

10. Youth At-Risk from a Bad Start Every day in America*: 4 children are killed by abuse or neglect 1 young person dies from HIV infection 5 children, or teens, commit suicide 8 children are killed by firearms 181 children are arrested for violent crimes 383 children are arrested for drug abuse 2,383 children are reported abused or neglected 1,153 babies are born to teen mothers 2,411 babies are born into poverty 2,261 children drop out of high school every school day (1 of every 4 high school freshmen fails to finish high school in four years in the USA — multiply that by 180, and the annual figure astounds!) 4,356 children are arrested This is every day! Multiply these figures (except for the dropout numbers) by 365 if you can bear it. Also: 9,200,000 children are without health insurance 12,423,000 children live in poverty

11. Education is the key!!! • All the children included in the above statistics (and more categories not listed) come to school carrying their burdens and issues with them. It is safe to assume that many of the children represented in the above figures are, indeed, at-risk of having decreased horizons of success. By default our schools have become the focus of efforts to address at-risk issues. Schools readily admit they are both inadequately informed and inadequately prepared for this immense task, but this has not stopped many of them from making the noble effort. • *These statistics are from Children's Defense Fund 2008.