Day In the Life of a German! Discoving German School....

During the month of May I did an exchange program through Rotary International- Group Study Exchange www.rotary.org . I had the opportunity to spend one month in Germany looking at their educational system and learning about the German culture. It was one of the most interesting and amazing months. I lived with 8 different host families around Bavaria and visited 5 German Schools.

I learned how different their system is to the USA system. They focus only on academics and do not offer clubs or extracurricular sports! There are 3 different schools types, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany

When I told the German kids about detention and that school goes till 3:00 pm (German school is till 12:30-1:00 on most days) they were shocked. They did not understand why we had dress codes or why kids had to change classes and walk to the teachers (it is the opposite there).

They asked me questions like, "Is America school like High School Musical?" "Are the cops mean?" Very fun and funny. A big difference...teens in Germany are not addicted to Ipods and text messaging. One night I was at a carnival and only saw 4 teens on their phones and 1 with an Ipod...NO WAY! Overall, the teens were the same, they just spoke German and wished to visit America and ours want to visit Europe:)

Dream Leader Goes to Asia

We had our first international Dream Leader event. This last weekend we held a teen/parent Dream Leader event in Manila, Philippines. We had 27 teens and 35 parents attend the Saturday retreat. The parents and teens were split apart for the day and had their own special sessions. The teens focused on their personal goals/dreams and learned skills to help empower them to reach their goals. The parents learned more about the teenage brain and ways to best support their teen during these formidable years.

The day concluded with a special teen and parent session where they came together to share their thoughts and leanings with each other. Dream Leader was a hit in Asia!

Minnesota Student Council Conference

I just got back from BRRRR Minnesota. I had the opportunity to spend 2 days leading the Minnesota MS State Student Conference. About 200 MS students from all over the state of MN came together for “Round Up Leadership” and focused on developing their personal leadership skills. We looked at communication, personal leadership styles and focused on making a different back in our schools. Here are few snippets of our time together!

This is the largest group I have ever done Team Towers with-amazing!

South Carolina Student Council Conference

I LOVE the South! Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong part of the nation. This past Friday night I was the Keynote speaker for the South Carolina Student Council conference. The opening session was amazing! They had a neat glow stick dance, a step team perform and an ending like no other! The theme was G'Vegas and the students did a wonderful job of playing up the theme. After I spoke, there was a surprise visit...from none other than Elvis himself! It was wonderful! Thank you for having me as your speaker!

Girl Scouts Birthday in Orange County

Today was the Girl Scouts birthday and I was the guest speaker for the girls at the Richard Nixon Library, (www.gsbirthday.org). There were over 1,500 young women focusing on the Girl Scout Law and building their leadership skills. It was a wonderful day!

8th Annual MS Conference-Elk Grove

Yesterday I was in Northern California for "Take A Stand, Stand Up, Stand Out and Stand Together" student run leadership conference. The local HS students presented over 15 different workshops to MS students and I was the keynote speaker and 1workshop presenter.

The HS students were remarkable presenters and had the ability to teach, inspire and get the MS students to think about teen issues and ways to be leaders on their campuses. It was a wonderful conference and I am certain those MS kids are making a difference in their schools!

Back Pocket Leadership Meets CADA 2009

I can't believe I have been going to CADA www.cada1.org for 5 years. Each year gets better and better and it is always a joy to see old friends and make new friends.

This year I presented twice during Meet The Pros and Curriculum Round Tables.

I shared my new product "Back Pocket Leadership" (launching the end of April) and 5 different activities with advisor. The activities focused on team building , communication skills, public speaking, problem solving and character building.

I will share more about the cards in the next month...if you want the CADA handout or a sneak peak of 6 free cards, email me at Jill@leadingforlife.com and I will send your way!