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September 11th Conversation Tools
In December 2001, the MindOH! Foundation offered Thinking
it Through worksheets to provide parents, caregivers and administrators
a springboard to create meaningful conversation with youth about
the events surrounding the September 11th attacks and the ongoing
war on terrorism. These tools presented young people with an opportunity
to think through the emotions that they may be experiencing, including
fear, anger, racial slurs and bullying. The worksheets were donated
by professionals were developed by mental health and education professionals
with appropriate expertise.
January 2002: Character's
Cool Contest
The Foundation kicked off the first
annual Character's Cool Contest in January 2002 where U.S. middle
school students were invited to participate to help stop school
violence by practicing ethical behavior. The Contest was actually
three contests in one: (1) Students filled out an online survey
to be entered in a drawing for a Nintendo Gamecube and other prizes.
(2) The school with the most students participating won a new computer
and the MindOH! Discipline and Life Skills Series, and the runner
up won Project Wisdom's Character Education Series. (3) Students
could enter a separate essay contest to win cash prizes of $500
for first place, $250 for second place and $175 for third place.
The Contest yielded positive results with 1,899 student entries,
130 school entries, and 303 essay entries from 35 states. Abington
Middle School in Pennsylvania won the Character's Cool Contest grand
prize, a new computer and a one-year license to MindOH!'s Discipline
and Life Skills School Series, and Cleveland Middle School in Tennessee
won the second-place prize, Project Wisdom's Character Education
Series. Students in Kentucky, New Jersey and Missouri won the essay
contest, and a student from Kentucky won the individual drawing.
February 2002: FotoFest
In February 2002, the MindOH! Foundation donated in-kind support
to FotoFest's fifth international fine print auction, with proceeds
benefiting youth through the organization's Literacy Through Photography
program. MindOH! Foundation volunteers designed and organized the
Fotofest print catalog and promotional materials.
October 2002: Red Ribbon Week
National Red Ribbon Week was October 23 - 30. It is a time set aside
to make the prevention and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse a
national priority by bringing awareness to this pressing issue among
our nation's youth. In his National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug-Free
America Proclamation, President George W. Bush states that "currently
three million young people between the ages of 14 and 17 have an
alcohol problem and more than half of America's school-age children
have tried illegal drugs by the time they have finished high school."
The MindOH! Foundation provided a number of Red
Ribbon resources including activity worksheets, lesson plans
and Project Wisdom messages for schools to use during Red Ribbon
Week.
October 2002: Kim Perrot
Benefit
The MindOH! Foundation volunteered support for the inaugural Kim
Perrot leadership awards and auction with proceeds benefiting the
Houston Can! Academy, an organization where youth who have dropped
out of school can drop back in to complete their degree.
October 2002: Resources to
help youth deal with random violence
In recent years our nation's youth have been forced to deal with
the hard reality of cruel and random violence: the shootings at
Columbine and other schools, the terrorist attacks on New York and
our nation's capital, and now a sniper who's rifle has taken aim
at a middle schooler. Some young people may be dealing with a sense
of powerlessness or hopelessness. In October, the MindOH! Foundation
posted a number of nonviolences resources,
including a three-part MindOH! lesson plan about nonviolence, and
Project Wisdom messages that have been designed to be read over
a school's PA or in-house television system.
November 2002: Mix it Up At
Lunch
In November, the MindOH! Foundation supported Mix it Up Day. Mix
It Up is a network for teen activists who want to challenge social
boundaries in their schools and communities. At many schools around
the country, the cafeteria at lunchtime is a social map of the whole
school. A map criss-crossed with boundaries.
These boundaries exist for many reasons -- habit, friendship, status,
fear, prejudice. The simple space of a cafeteria table is, for many
of us, a comfort zone where we can be ourselves with those who know
us best. Touch base. Regroup. Let down the guard that classroom
pressures often require of us. For others, the lunchroom with all
its boundaries is a world with its own pressures -- a world of familiar
strangers and rigid expectations.
But, on November 21, students across the country are going to stir
things up in their school cafeterias. And you can do it, too. Join
more than 200,000 students across the country in breaking down social
boundaries -- take a new seat in your cafeteria on November 21st
for Mix It Up at Lunch Day! Visit
the Mix It Up Web site to receive posters, stickers, an activity
booklet and tips for press coverage to promote the day within your
school. Teachers can visit the site to download lesson plans and
ways to be an effective adult ally for students wishing to participate.
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