Happy New Year to you from the ARK Family. Glenn, Jan, Omega, Quintina, and I wish you the wonders of opportunity and fulfillment in this coming year.

We are launching forward toward what promises to be an exciting New Year. Educationally, we are getting lots of interesting reports from across the world with the McKinsey Report published late last year, the Gates Foundation, and numerous articles in local papers, national publications and on TV.

In the midst of this complex environment of nature, politics, economics, and education, it would be appropriate to take pause as we step into this year of opportunities and reflect on the things that we know are lasting and bring meaning and significance to our lives.

Paraphrasing an article in the New York Sun, 1897: "Nobody sees faith, but that is no sign that there is no faith. The most real things in the world are those that neither children or adults can see...there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest person, not even the united strength of all the strongest peoples that ever lived, could tear apart.

Only faith, imagination, poetry, love, and relationships, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it real? Ah, everyone, in all the world there is nothing else more real and abiding."

This is the year for creating a world of creative, imaginative, and caring children. You are the difference and we at the ARKGroup can't wait to help.

Bill
William R. Duffy
National Executive Director

"Thanks to you, advancing the common good has become more than our mission statement -- it's become a reality. Your support has helped improve the lives of people across the country, enabling students to earn their high school diplomas, families to keep a roof over their heads and thousands of Americans to live healthy lives.

"Whether you volunteered as a reading tutor, gave a financial contribution, or advocated for legislation to ensure that more children are healthy, you've made a difference and shown what it really means to Live United.

"When we as individuals think outside ourselves, we have the power to facilitate change. When we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. We build the strength of our neighborhoods. We bolster the health of our communities. And we change the lives of those who walk by us every day.

"Thank you for inspiring hope and creating opportunities for a better tomorrow.

"Thank you for Living United!" Brian Gallagher President and CEO, United Way Worldwide

First, some good news: our school are safer now than they were a decade ago. An annual federal government study called Indicators of School Crime and Safety reveals the following:

• Statistically, school is the safest place for a child to be.
• Students are more likely to be victims of violence outside of school than inside.
• School-related violence in on the decline.

The specter of school violence does still exist, however. There are some early warning signs that a student may pose a threat to a school. A potentially violent student will usually exhibit more than one of the following behaviors:

• Abuse of animals
• Withdrawal from social interaction
• Feelings of rejection and/or persecution
• Unusually intense or frequent violent content in personal writings or artwork
• A pattern of bullying
• Intolerance or prejudice against certain groups of people
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Membership in a gang
  
  Imminent signs of a potentially violent student--which requires immediate intervention-- may include:
  
  
• Physical fighting with others
• Destruction of property
• Intense anger for minor reasons
• Detailed threats of violence
• Possession of weapons
• Threats of suicide

Dr. Robert Brooks, an imminent psychologist with Harvard Medical Schools says that, "The major difference between a resilient student (who handles the stresses of school) and a school shooter is that the resilient student has at least one person in his/her life who shows unconditional love." Violent kids feel unwanted and unloved.

School authorities are finding that school detention, suspensions, and expulsions are not productive responses to a child who is exhibiting overly aggressive behavior. Detention, where a child is made to sit in a room by himself for misbehavior, removes the student from the learning process and doesn't address the root causes of the misbehavior. A better approach is to have the child see a counselor.

Suspensions and expulsions put the student on the streets where society as a whole has to deal with him and contributes to what Lisa Bateman of the Center for the Prevention of School Violence calls "the school to prison pipeline." She says, "States with high numbers of suspensions and expulsions also have high numbers in the juvenile justice system. This is because students who are suspended from school and released to a parent who works often are not supervised."

What can parents do? According to Safe-guarding Our Children: An Action Guide, parents can insist upon three things that provide the foundation for a safe school:

• A school-wide foundation for the well-being of all students
• A system for identifying students with acute behavior problems
• A system for providing interventions and therapies for at-risk students

In addition, parents and teachers can be intentional about helping their children and students to feel loved and wanted both at home and school. Some isolated, angry children simply withdraw; others express their feelings through acts of rage. "Nobody knows who I am and cares about me. I'll make them all pay for how I feel!" is the mantra of a violence-prone child. The creation of a nurturing classroom environment and caring relationships with students are the primary antidote to the problem of violence in our schools.

Share with us your suggestions of hope and encouragement, and we will pass them on to others.

1. Build on your children's strengths by catching them doing something right.
2. Express appreciation when your children are cooperative and helpful.
3. Give positive support for each step along the way to achieving a goal or new behavior.
4. Show confidence in your children's ability to make good decisions.
5. Nurture success.

A memorial gift to ARK is a great way to remember a deceased friend or relative. A gift in honor of a co- worker, a grandchild, or a teacher is a gift that will "enrich the lives of children" as we use those monies to better the lives of children. A gift to ARK--offered simply because you believe in our mission-- will have a wonderfully significant impact.

If your gift is memory or in honor of a loved one, please include the address where we can send an acknowledgement of your gift.

Since the ARKGroup is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization, all of gifts are tax deductible. Checks can be made out to "The ARKGroup" and sent to our Houston office (2611 FM 1960 W., Suite H-201, Houston, TX 77068) or our Dallas office (2215 Canada Dr., Dallas, TX 75212).

Thank you for your generosity and for helping ARK to make a difference in the lives of countless children and students.

Is the Tooth Fairy real? How about the computer scientists or the ice cream person? These questions may seem trivial, but how young children answer them is an important indicator of cognitive development.

We thought for years that make- believe play was an escape from reality and once children reached a certain age, they would push aside fantasy and deal with the real world. Psychologists are increasingly changing their minds regarding those old beliefs. Imagination is necessary for learning about people and events we do not directly experience, such as history, mathematics and events on the other side of the world. For the young, it allows them to ponder the future, such as what they want to do when they grow up.
Psychologists like Drs. Paul Harris at Harvard and Jacqueline Wooley at the University of Texas at Austin are studying the power of magical thinking. They have found that kids as young as three understand the concept of what is real and what is not. Interestingly, it is those kids who are encouraged to imagine, dream, and be creative with their imagination that develop social and relationship skills more quickly, handle stress better, solve problems more quickly and begin to see themselves in a more contributing light. They do this with their imagination.

I suspect there is a bit of learning there for us adults to consider. If we but imagine, what opportunities might open up for us and our world? Let's create an "imagine time" today on behalf of our families, our neighbors and their kids, our students and for those we are lucky enough to meet this day.

Just musing...
Bill

We encourage you to commit to renewal and growth with education and networking facilitated by the ARK Program DVDs: ARK for Teachers, ARK for Parents (faith-based and secular), ARK Facilitator Training, The ARK Group Process and an Introduction to ARK hosted by Pat Summerall. Order today at www.thearkgroup.org. The ARK Program has excellent lessons, DVD's, manuals, workbooks, texts and materials. They will equip you to provide life-changing ARK programs including breakthrough parenting and teaching "skills courses." With your help, we can make ARKRelationships the norm for the 21st century family, church, school and community.

Check out Liveunited.org now for even more insights regarding what can become possible when we get serious about assuring a basic education to all.