~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
ARKGROUP (Adults Relating to Kids)
formerly The Children's
Center for Self-Esteem ARK 'N ACTION
September 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this
issue:
-- The Greatest Crisis Facing American Schools Today: The Rising
Dropout Rate
-- New Research Shows That Spanking May Affect IQ
-- A Salute to the United Way
-- ARK Updates And Contacts
-- Musings From Bill: Thinking About Safe and Respectful School
Climates
As I
was scanning some periodicals this morning, I ran across an excellent
article written by Alison Gopnik (University of California, Berkley) in
Time Magazine dated August 14, 2009, that was discussing "the
raising of children." (I strongly recommend you scan the internet to read
her work for yourself.) The article raised the question in my mind, "How
do we go about truly impacting the lives of our children?" I have witnessed many of you parents and teachers living your lives
each day filled with intentional actions and practices that make a
tremendous difference in the lives of your kids and students. You are
their best messenger for purposes of countering the false messages of our
culture and in enhancing our children's perception that "belong" in this
world. Your unconditional care has a greater impact on their self- concept
than all the performance measures ever to be thrown at them by our
community. I am especially thankful for your participation in our ARK Programs.
Your intentional belief and faith in young people--expressed through your
acts of unconditional love with your children, your neighborhood children,
and your students-- is helping to create a world of creative, imaginative,
and caring children. What a difference you are
making! "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead WE TRUST THAT YOU ENJOY READING ABOUT THE MANY WAYS ARK IS CHANGING LIVES FOR THE BETTER AND HOPE YOU CONTINUE YOUR VERY VITAL SUPPORT! | |
The Greatest Crisis Facing American Schools Today: The Rising Dropout Rate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  In most major school districts in America, the high
school dropout rate between the ninth and twelth grades is over 50%.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one high school
student drops out every nine seconds during the school year.This trend, unless reversed, will result in an economic disaster in our country fifteen years from now. A large block of our young adult population will be totally unprepared to make any sort of meaningful contribution to a world economy whose demands will include an educated workforce. Many of these young people will face unemployment, underemployment, or incarceration. Nearly 80% of people in prison do not have a high school degree (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Division). Students who do not complete high school cost taxpayers billions of dallars in crime prevention and prosecution, lost tax revenues, welfare, and unemployment. Of even greater concern is the tragic effect that the high dropout rate has upon the self-worth and the material and physical well-being of the individuals themselves. Only around 47% of high school dropouts are employed as compared to 64% of high school graduates who did not go on to college (National Center for Education Statistics). Also, students who did not graduate from high school earn $9,245 less per year than those who did complete school (National Center for Educational Statistics). We are seeing a human tragedy unfold before our very eyes. It's no wonder, then, that educators all over America are united in their desire to do all they can to help their students to earn a diploma. One thing that can and must be done is for our schools to start paying close attention to the quality of the teacher/student relationships on their campuses. Studies show that those relationships can play a major role in reducing the dropout rate. MindOh has done a study showing that, if a student has just one adult at school that he thinks cares about him, it reduces the chances of that child's dropping out by 97%! The ARKGroup participated in a similar study at Furr High School (in the Houston ISD) during the 2008-2009 school year. Before school began, Principal Bertie Simmons and four of her teachers contacted 100 students who had been identified as perennial dropouts and asked them to come back to school. Each student was placed in a class taught by either Birdie or one of the four teachers, and each teacher was instructed to be very intentional about showing every student that he or she was wanted and valued in the class. Bertie also asked ARKGroup leaders to facilitate an ARK for Teachers group with those five educators--meeting twice a month--to enable them in their efforts to give unconditional care and love to each child in their classes. And guess what? At the end of the school year, Dr. Simmons reported that not a single student had dropped out of school! Such is the power of caring, respectful relationships between teachers and their students. A necessary step we must take in reducing the dropout rate is to help teachers to create a nurturing classroom environment and a caring relationship with their students. The ARKGroup, with our ARK for Teachers Program, provides just such help! | |
New Research Shows That Spanking May Affect IQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Solid research over the past decade has shown a link
between spanking and a child's aggressive behavior. (Kids that are hit
tend to become hitters themselves.) Now, a new study involving hundreds of
children indicates that the more a child is spanked, the lower his or her
IQ compared with others.
The scientific journal LiveScience reports on the study conducted by Dr. Murray Straus (University of New Hampshire) and Dr. Mallie Paschall (Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland). The two researchers studied nationally representative samples of two age groups of children: 806 kids ages 2 to 4, and 704 children ages 5 to 9. The researchers tested the kids' IQ intially and then tested them again four years later. They found that both groups of kids got smarter after four years. However, the 2- to 4-year-olds who were spanked scored 5 points lower on the IQ test than those children who were not spanked. For the kids ages 5 to 9, those who were spanked scored 2.8 points lower than the unspanked kids. In trying to explain why spanking may have an adverse affect upon a
child's mental abilities, the researchers point to the fact that extreme
stess and trauma have a debilitating effect upon the brain. Also,
traumatic experiences can cause kids to not react well (or to perform as
well cognitively) when subjected to other traumatic situations (such as
taking an IQ test). "A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But, the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child." Author Unknown Share with us your suggestions of hope and encouragement, and we will pass them on to others. | |
A Salute to the United Way ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Education is the key to getting a good job, one with good income that
provides a person with the ability to provide for the material well-being
of his/her family. Education is also the key to our nation's productivity
and global competitiveness.
Check out one of our HeadStart Early HeadStart Collaboratives - Avance. You will be glad you did. | |
ARK Updates And Contacts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Our Faith-based Programs For our friends and followers, we have had outstanding, record-breaking participation through September, 2009, with hundreds of churches in the Dallas and Houston areas participating in our ARK for Parents faith-based church programs. The Facilitator training (which prepares churches to provide this outstanding program either to the entire congregation or to smaller groups, such as Sunday School classes) can be scheduled to fit the schedule of those who commit to serve as facilitators. Thanks to wonderful gifts by kind benefactors, we are able to provide ARK for Parents programs to many churches who require scholarship assistance. The program includes facilitator training, lessons on DVDs, books, and a host of supporting materials and services. We invite you to make sure that your church takes 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 these programs for your church. We know these programs will enable your church family to enrich the lives of the children under their care. Our School Programs: The ARKGroup is now providing training and materials nationwide for schools from preschool level through college in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. These booklets, materials and videos provide the tools and activities that enable administrators, counselors and teachers to relate to students with the love and care that is integral to building and reinforcing children's self-esteem. ARK is aware of many organizations who want to incorporate the ARK
experience in their programs but who need financial assistance to do so.
Even public schools frequently don't have the resources that will allow
them to offer their students the life-changing benefits of ARK. DID YOU
KNOW THAT ...your gift of $100. will introduce ARK to a school, a United
Way-supported agency, a neighborhood center or a church?... that your
donation of $1,000. will provide ARK programming for an entire
school?...that your contribution of $10,000. will allow the ARKGroup to
equip 10 schools within a school district to begin the ARK for Teachers
and ARK for Parents programs? GoodSearch - a way to support ARK while using the Internet. You can contribute to the ARKGroup so that we in turn might invest in your favorite community- service organization, church, juvenile justice program, or school--just by searching the Internet or shopping online with GoodSearch - www.goodsearch.com - powered by Yahoo! | |
Musings From Bill: Thinking About Safe and Respectful School Climates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  My thanks to the Chicago Public Schools, for their
study on "Safe and Respectful School Climates," in providing the following
insights.How physically safe and how emotionally safe students feel impacts their overall success. Students who attend safe schools are more likely to be academically engaged and are less likely to exhibit problem behaviors such as drug use or violence. Also, students are less likely to drop out of safe schools. As I pondered these facts accumulated by the Chicago schools, it occurred to me that all of this seems fairly self-evident based on our ARK (Adults Relating to Kids) research and programs and the feedback we have received from kids, parents and teachers. It really "fits" our overall view of what an "intentional" adult would seek to practice in insuring the safety of the children entrusted to her care. The question is, what must each of us do to provide an acceptably-safe physical and emotional environment for our kids? Dr. Robert Brooks, (be sure to check out his website) continually
provides guidance in this area in his books, newsletters and phone calls.
Dr. Brooks talks about "the importance of connectedness and our
possibilities for ties to others." He points out "that connectedness
promotes emotional and physical well-being and resilience throughout our
lives and in the lives of those children and students with whom we
connect." Just musing...
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: wduffyark@sbcglobal.net
phone: 281-537-1301
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