“I am director of programs for Success 4 The Future. We do behavior intervention and character development and we are about to add a financial literacy component. We work with at risk kids and their parents and the goal is to ensure that they steer away from delinquency, social dependency and incarceration. We do what we can to help young people to have a different outlook on life and be contributing citizens. I started this out of college. I was a substitute teacher and band director and was exposed to different make ups of other school systems and saw difference is disparities between wealthy areas and ones that aren’t as fortunate. I started Success of the Future to help students be exposed to something positive and different. I want them to think differently. I started it in 2012 and developed it in in Huntsville. This is my first year back since I graduated. I grew up in Mobile and went to Murphy high school and want to make a difference here.”
“The first step is to identify the issues and talk with the schools, law enforcement officials and government agencies. We find out where the most disciplinary infractions are, the ones sent to detention halls, and where we see the most poverty. We find out the environment the kids are exposed to then we design the program. There are a lot of hurdles, but they aren’t enough to stop the process of what needs to happen. Most people are a product of their exposure. If they see something different, they will want to do something different. I was the one starting food fights and getting paddlings and doing the things teachers didn’t want me to. I started acting better in high school because I got tired of the beatings but I still put myself in situations I shouldn’t have been in. I don’t completely regret it because it has given me the path to understand these kids.
“My parents were divorced before I was in kindergarden, but they still had a strong root. I was fortunate but I understand the effects of living with one parent. I still had issues with behavior so I understand the mindset. I designed a thought diagram that is in all of our programs. Understanding is key. You have to understand the surroundings, what they have been through, and exactly what that moment is. The thoughts come from atmosphere, experience or situation. You can dismiss the thoughts, reserve them, save them for another time and share them or put them into action.”
“I tell teachers that the classroom environment starts once the bell rings to dismiss. It starts with the environment they go home to, the music they listen to, TV shows and media, That is going to be brought into the classroom. Understand their thoughts and where the come from and who or what influences them after school.”
“I want this to go nationally. I am in grad school now to get a masters in curriculum and instruction. When I majored in education, there were no courses that taught about students with economic hindrances. Teachers come out on fire, but they aren’t prepared to deal with it and they get burned out and that hurts the teacher and the student. I want to help universities better prepare teachers and evaluate programs. A lack of instruction time is the reason scores are so low. If 40% of time is on discipline, that takes a lot of time from learning.”
“I have a big vision, but I am trying to do it step by step, child by child, parent by parent. It takes a lot of prayer too. We are all minute pieces of the bigger puzzle life.”
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