Service Lesson- Open Eyes, Open Hearts and Make a Difference

Wow it has been awhile since my last blog and to be honest, it has been a crazy few months. I have been spending tons of time with my family and helping support as my step-dad and family. My step-dad Frank was fighting bone cancer for almost a year and the fight is finally over. This Sunday we are having a memorial for him and he will forever be loved.

During this time, I took a week break from speaking and teaching, but I know the first service lesson that we will do when I go back to my 7th graders on Monday. If you are looking for a simple and meaningful community service project that you want to do from school to help others and remind your students to be grateful for their heath….here is one of my favorites.

Cards for Kids With Cancer
As a class you can create greeting cards for kids who are battling cancer and whom live in the local children’s hospital. The cards are simple construction paper cards, handmade with sweet messages and hand drawn pictures. I have done this in the past and my students are ALWAYS excited for this project. I set up the project by sharing the reality, (but not in a way that my students are depressed or can’t handle it)— I share that some kids live in a hospital and instead of going to school each day, they are getting treatment in hopes to get better. I remind my students that the children in the hospital are just like them, but fighting for their life. They play, laugh, have friends, but live in a different way. Each meal they go to—they get a greeting card---if there are cards to be given. I tell my students exactly what the hospital volunteer coordinator shares with me—that the kids get excited for the cards, share with each other and smile as they put them in their room. The lesson in the project: We can give and share our love and also be grateful for our heath and our lives.

You can do this anywhere nationwide, simply call your local hospital.

If you live in Southern California I often go through Loma Linda.

Volunteer Services
(909) 558-4654
Loma Linda University Medical Center
11234 Anderson Street, Room 1191
P.O. Box 2000
Loma Linda, California 92354

Enjoy and if you have any questions about this, please email me at Jill@leadingforlife.com

Break Through To Sucess--Check it Out--Great Learnings

This last weekend I attend a wonderful leadership conference put on by Chris Howard. He is one of the top 5 speakers speaker in Australia and is now breaking into the US market. I found this event on line a few moths ago and decided to check it out!

I am grateful that I did. It was a wonderful three days, with leanings that will last forever! I met new friends, explored new ways of thinking and re-focused on my passions and goals in life. I even saw a CADA friend and Activities Director (John Sawya) from Santiago HS in Corona.

If you are interested in going to this event in May--check out this site and you can get TWO FREE tickets. Wonderful for you and friend or loved one! Just register here and if they asked who referred you-just say me!

I can't wait to hear about your experience! Great information to share with your students and apply to your life!

Smiles,
Jill

I just found out that I am going to OPRAH! Ok I am not going to be ON Oprah, but I am going to be in the studio audience. Less than a month away and I am counting days!

As you might or might not know, I am one of those Oprah crazed people. For example, one of my friends gave me the Oprah DVD with 17 hours of shows and footage and yes I watched it within no time.

Truly, I think Oprah is an incredible leader and role model in our society. She has an incredible ability to shed light on issues that many others close their eyes to. Her reach is to millions and the message she shares about Living Your Best Life, is one that is universal to EVERYONE!

If you too are an Oprah fan or a fan of making a HUGE difference for others check out her new O Ambassador Program! AMAZING!!!! If you are doing this, please let me know how I can help!?

The site is: http://www.oambassadors.org/
More to come….

2008 Will Be Great! A way to kick off Dreams and Goals....

Happy 2008—it will be great!!! Back to school and back from a wonderful holiday vacation. I hope everyone had a chance to relax, spend time with family/ friends and just get ready for a new year. Over the past month I have I have been spending tons of time with family from out of town, getting ready for 2008 and the launch of Dream Leader!

That is right, Dream Leader, an interactive leadership game for a class of 36 students is finally out--shipping today (see pic. above)! I have been working on this for the past year with my game partner Sue Beachler, who is a game designer. This last weekend we launched Dream Leader at the Herff Jones convention in Tuscon, AZ and had a positive response from their ring reps who are excited to bring it to schools across the nation. You can find out more by checking out,

As for a new leadership lesson, as I know many educators are always on the lookout for new ways to teach leadership, here is an activity that you might want to try with your students and it is a great “start of the year” type of activity.

GOAL BOARDS
I like to challenge my students to think of the future and what they want it to look like, the future of their school and their personal lives. An ideal way to set up this project is to lead your students though a visualization.

Have them imagine what they want their life to look like in the next 6 months to a year.
How they want to feel?
What they want to accomplish?

Then have them think about their school and the current culture.
What needs to change?
What goals do they still want to accomplish?
Who do they want to reach out to?

As a class, we talk about our vision for our class/school and then do a pair share about personal goals. The next day we create picture boards!

Picture boards are a cardboard piece of paper (the size of a fast food tray). One side represents personal goals and the other side has pictures (from magazines, online images, personal or hand drawn) that represent goals for their class/school. They can do this at home or in class (a nice way for them to re-connect after a break and get them re-focused). After they are done with their boards, a handful of students present to the class and then they hang them at home or in their lockers as a visual reminder of their goals throughout the year.

A great way to practice short and long term gaol setting is to have them update their goal boards as a dream or goal changes or they accomplish it. Enjoy and please let me know how it works for you and your kids?!

NAWD Was a Blizzard Blast!

Wow what a weekend. I just got back from NAWD and had a great time sharing new ideas in my workshop, meeting new friends and hearing from top speakers like Keith Hawkins and Steve Spangler (the picture is Steve and I during his show). One of the best parts of NAWD was being Minneapolis, MN and being there for the first snow storm of the season. What fun to be in the snow and freeze! Ok really…it was wonderful to see people and learn more about student activities. If you have never been and you are in charge of workshops for your state…check it out! I will be back next year for sure!

A Conference To Remember

Yesterday was the CADA Area F Conference and it was one amazing day. The theme was, "Put Me In Coach, I am Ready To Lead" and yes, the 2,500 high school students were ready to lead. The morning opened with Micha Jacobson and his message about leaving your mark and asking empowering questions. Then I presented 3 workshops on communication and the students rotated to a variety of workshop to build their leadership skills. After lunch, Tyler Durman delivered his message on "Life is For Love" and inspired everyone to think about the "big picture." It was a wonderful day and it was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

Above is a picture of my friend Briana (who is also a speaker and amzing woman) and Patricia (the conference planner and dear friend).

AASC ROCKS--Ice Breaker to Share- "Share Wear"

I just got back from Arizona where I had the opportunity to speak to 300 Student body Presidents and Exec. Officers. AASC http://www.stucoaz.org/is a wonderful organization and the student leaders of Arizona are doing amazing things for their schools!!! A cool ice breaker they played is called "Share Wear" I wanted to share the activity with you!

Share Wear
Each person walks around the room and introduces themselves to as many people as they can. When the facilitator says freeze or blows a whistle, each person finds a partner and begins to share about something they are wearing. It can be true or made up. For example, someone can say, “I got this shirt off Ebay and it was the shirt Brittney Spears wore during her Pepsi Commercial.” OR you can share something truthful, “This is a ring my mom gave me for my birthday and I have worn it for the past 4 years.” The other partner shares and rotations begin again. Fun, quick and easy way to mix of a group and break the ice—Thanks Dan and Jeff for the idea.