Hats Off to Pontiac LifeSkills’ Graduates

Just a few credits shy of graduating, Regina Williams turned to LifeSkills of Pontiac to complete her high school diploma. With personalized attention and motivation from her teachers, Regina was able finish her high school education and was asked to speak at her graduation ceremony.

One of her teachers said to the Oakland Press, “She came here a very shy young lady and was excited from previous learning experiences,” he said. “Now she goes out of her way to be helpful with the staff and wants to participate and make the school environment a positive one.”

Read more about Regina’s experience at LifeSkills in the Jan. 7 edition of the Oakland Press.

photo credit: carbonnyc

Hats Off to Middletown LifeSkills’ Graduates

Chelsea Manns, Daniel Bray and Steven Carpenter received their high school diplomas Thursday, January 14 with the help of their supportive teachers at LifeSkills Middletown.

With more than 680 students graduating from LifeSkills since the program started in 2002, these students are thankful for this program that worked around their schedules and pushed them to succeed.

Read more about their stories in the Jan. 13 edition of the Middletown Journal.

Hats Off to the HOPE Academy Broadway Be a CHAMP Program

HOPE Academy Broadway recently launched a school-wide behavioral expectation program during mid-January that allows students to learn personal responsibility while receiving positive reinforcement from teachers and staff. Be a CHAMP…Bulldogs ROCK, an acronym for Respect, Observe safety, Conflict resolution, and Know your responsibilities, will encourage students to treat each other and themselves with respect while receiving positive reinforcement from the teachers and staff.

This program incorporates and reinforces the C.H.A.M.P.s program, Character Development Program, and the Progressive Discipline Procedures which are currently in place at all HOPE Academies.

“This program is not only a plan for teaching students how to act in the classroom; it also educates them on how to act outside the classroom setting such as in the lunchroom, or on the school bus,” said Elizabeth Hibbs, Testing and Data coordinator at HOPE Academy Broadway. “More often than not, people tend to focus on the negative; the Be a CHAMP program allows us to focus on the good things, too,” she added.

Here is how the program works: when a student demonstrates one of the four characteristics, he/she receives a ticket. Once the school collects 100 tickets, they receive a homework pass and it is announced over the intercom system.  Their goal is to earn 1,000 tickets by the end of the year. If the students meet this goal, they can vote on their reward: ice cream party, pizza party, school dance, etc.

In addition to awarding the entire school, Broadway will also award individual prizes every week and month with the help of the community. Outback Steakhouse has generously donated 600 meal vouchers as rewards for students which include a meal, drink and dessert. In addition to Outback’s contributions, there are several local restaurants that have also chipped in toward this great cause.

“By positively aligning our choices and expectations, students should see improvements in daily school tasks and state testing as well,” said Hibbs.

Hats Off to LifeSkills of Cleveland and Demetrius Treadwell

Demetrius “Tree” Treadwell is now a senior at Euclid High School and a member of the school’s varsity basketball team, averaging an impressive 23.2 points, 16.8 rebounds and 5.8 blocks per game. But just a year ago, Treadwell made the tough decision to leave Euclid as a junior – and give up basketball for a year – to enroll in LifeSkills of Cleveland and get his academic life back on track.

“I needed a whole change of scenery,” Treadwell told the News-Herald in January 2010. “I needed a drastic change to help me get a lot of things back together in my life before I could concentrate on basketball. I feel like now I am on the right track.”

Said Euclid basketball coach, Andy Suttell, “He did a ton of work at Life Skills to get himself back in order off the court to get back playing. He’s come a long way, and it’s a good story.”

Read more about Treadwell’s story and his plans for the future in the Jan. 9 issue of the News-Herald.

photo credit: tcp909

Hats Off to Anthony Brown

As a graduate of The Great Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Anthony Brown developed a passion for helping students see the benefit of attending these unique types of universities. HBCU’s have significantly increased the percentage of African Americans who are able to attend college as well as create numerous leadership opportunities. With that, Brown has stepped into the field of education to help students find their passion and increase their knowledge of the many opportunities they have in front of them.

For twelve years, Brown was a high school teacher during which he played an active role in the district’s United Negro College Fund (UNCF) fundraising committee as well as forming his own consulting firm, A. B.etter Way Productions. During that time, he helped raise awareness of the funds available to students from the UNCF as well as helped educate students and their parents about HBCUs.

“I found that many students were not aware of the benefits of HBCUs or college in general,” said Brown. “I was able to take my experience and give them a glimpse of what they can accomplish.”

Brown has continued to develop his consulting endeavors while becoming fully entrenched with his responsibilities as the Assistant Principal at HOPE Academy Chapelside Campus. In his spare time, he continues to help students see how pursuing a higher education can take you places. This past January, he worked with students and their parents from Chapelside and surrounding schools to coordinate a trip to the Presidential Inauguration.

“It was a great experience for the kids,” said Brown.

Brown is truly passionate for helping kids succeed and has continued to work with students to educate them about all of their options through mentoring, advising and consulting about life preparation, college options and career choices. In addition to his efforts as Assistant Principal and a higher education consultant, Brown is also a co-host of Another Look Cable Television Show (Time Warner Cable-NEON).