May has arrived. It seems just yesterday that our children and their neighbors were walking to September School bells. This month many will graduate and summer days of reflection, warm sun and lazy clouds await us all. The pride reflected in my grandson as he participates in the ceremony of accomplishment puts a small tear in my eyes and honestly I get this way every year when I visit the local Elementary and High Schools to share the joys of parents in their children's new opportunities. Thank you to teachers, everyone, for your wonderful contribution to the future of our world. Thank you to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and everyone who shared their lives with our nations children this past school year. We are better, healthier, happier and more enriched because of your models and individual teachings to our young people. I can't wait until the next school and church bells sound. We at the ARKGroup salute you for your service.

As a continuing Reminder: New Training DVDs are available: ARK Facilitator Training, The ARK Group Process and an Introduction to the Course hosted by Pat Summerall. Order yours today at www.thearkgroup.org. This excellent training guide will supplement the ARK lessons DVD's, manuals, workbooks, texts and advertising materials -- equipping you to begin ARK programs today. ARK programs provide breakthrough parenting and teaching "skills courses." With your help, we can make ARKRelationships the norm for the 21st century family, church, school and community".

For our Friends and Followers in the Dallas area, we are thrilled to offer our new ARK for Churches Programs. Thanks to a wonderful gift by a local benefactor, we are able to provide ARK for Parents Programs to local churches. The program includes facilitator training, lessons on DVDs, books, and a host of supporting materials and services. We invite you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Contact us today by e-mail, letter or by telephone in Dallas at 817- 268-2100 or Houston at 281-537-1301 to reserve a spot for your church. We will be hosting a numbers of seminars, the next one on Saturday, June 30, at a central location in the 1800 block of North Washington Ave thanks to the generosity of Dr. Curtis Wallace and the Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church. Commit now, to enable your church family to become the parents and intentional adults in the lives of children that will change the world by your care.

• Act today as if the past is gone and is irrelevant. Your heart and your faith without emotion offers good direction for actions.
• Daily competition in our lives often clashes with compassion.
• We need to work on our mood of compassion everyday.
• We need to focus on a positive mood with items like calmness, openness, self-confidence, and warm heartiness.
• Before every day, and before every class, a time focused on positive emotions better prepares us for opportunities.
• Fear is very destructive and comes from a narrow sense of self.
• We are born of ignorance, and education and training open our life to love and compassion.
• This "learned compassion" is the basis for happiness and services in evryday life.
• Our challenge is to develop human harmony and cultivate human goodness.
• How do we overcome intolerance? Study and modeling the "good" in service to others.

As I reflect on just a few thoughts of this respected man, I am reminded of the wisdom I see every visit I make to the classrooms of our public schools, I am always enlightened by our teachers who see each child as a "light" of goodness and a source of love for our communities. Their teaching models of compassion, care and encouragement creates wonder, questioning and tolerance in their students. These teaching environments of separating the person from their behavior and creating nurturing learning centers grow our scientists, teachers and musicians of tomorrow.

We at the ARKGroup are convinced that adults can begin today to nurture the life of a single child (their own, a neighbor's, one in our classes or in our neighborhoods) and with each tomorrow, the world will be changed, opportunities will develop, and life will be more fulfilled. We encourage you to get involved. We suspect that you have been waiting for someone to ask. Call us. We will be happy to help.

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• How clean is our neighborhood? Should we organize a little group of friends to pick-up the unwanted items from our sidewalks and vacant lots?
• Have we noticed anyone in our area who would enjoy a good story and a cool glass of lemonade? What day should we visit their house to share our summer adventures?
• Did we see anyone sitting by themselves at church this past week? Would it be possible for us to take them out for an ice-cream cone?
• Is there a new kid on the block that we might invite over for a snack and a DVD movie?
• Are there some old toys in the playroom that might be happier with a new family? Try selecting a few and brightening someone's day.

What equals 100% in life? A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then: HARDWORK is 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%.

KNOWLEDGE is 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5= = 96%

ATTITUDE, however, is 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100% . Therefore, we can conclude mathematically with certainity that Hardwork and Knowledge will get you close. Attitude will get you all the way there. Our attitude of Unconditional Love ad Care will get us over the top to a 100% life.

In all these situations , I am struck by our human ability to take the simplest of things and make others lives better. We all can live a life of service to others. Children love to know that they have made a difference to someone else. At ARK, we are about opportunities of care and relationships. We believe the principles which are found in our world's great faith traditions are also very simple. We believe that children are our hope and will be the future of the world. We know that adults who are intentional about nurturing young people in an environment of "unconditional love and care, providing opportunities for service to others and enabling them to recognize their lives as persons of worth" will grow a better world.

We want to know what you think. What are your ideas? What are your suggestions to share with this very large community of thinkers and doers? What ways can you share to make tomorrow an even greater opportunity for our children's futures?

Please share your ideas and read on...

• When you are sad - I will help you smile.
• When you are blue - I will teach you the joy of getting involved in mentoring children.
• When you smile - I will smile with you.
• When you are scared - I will listen to your story.
• When you are worried - I will seek to understand.
• When you are confused - I will talk the situation through with you and get others to help us both understand.
• When you are sick - I will bring you some soup and ice- cream.
• This is my oath - I will pledge to the end to be your friend.
• For my friend, I choose to be in a good mood, I choose to learn from my mistakes and to try again to be supportive, and I choose to live as a person of encouragement.

At the ARKGroup, we are dedicated to education and processes that create networks of support and the opportunity for creativity through "new ideas" shared from the experiences of others that will keep our children healthy. Our programs can make available a number of strategies in your parenting or teaching toolsets that will result in resilient and loved children whose lifestyles are full and are characterized by feelings of compassion, satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment.

Thank you for your commitment to the safe environments of our children.

Check out this websit for ideas

• Become a program sponsor by funding an ARK for Teachers Program in School Districts: Electronic Packages for $950.
• Funding an ARK for Parents Program in Schools, Community Centers, Churches, Neighborhood Centers, Sunday Schools, Youth Centers: Facilitator Training Programs for $500.
• Purchasing individual manuals for $30 each to support organizations who need materials.
• Purchasing ARK for Kids or Teens workbooks for $30 each for deserving kids' networks.

Your support of The ARKGroup, Inc. creates possibilities in our churches, community centers, and public schools. If you have an opportunity, idea, challenge, or destiny to fulfill through helping children to grow into their full potential, please contact us. Together we can improve the quality of life in our communities--one child, one family, one classroom, one school at a time. Helping other people lifts one's spirits and gives hope for the future.

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