Young members bring more service to youth

We hear too many stories about how people, especially young, millennial generation individuals, are not joining service clubs. I'm happy to report that is not the case in the Optimist Clubs of Jamaica.

This picture, contributed by the Optimist Club of Mammee Bay in St. Ann, Jamaica shows a youthful surge in membership. All were inducted at their recent installation banquet where they also heard from  Debbian Livingstone-Edwards, legal and policy officer at the Office of the Children's Advocate. Ms. Livingstone-Edwards explained the importance of positive role models in the development of youth.

"As parents and guardians and teachers and community leaders we cannot sew peas and expect to reap corn. Our children are likely to reproduce the values we teach them by our own interaction, conduct and philosophies," she explained.

The Optimist Club of Mammee Bay has identified a school in the community that it will work more closely with in the coming year as it continues to serve the youth. 

Photo courtesy of the Optimist Club of Mammee Bay. 

NC Optimist Club creates memorial scholarship

There are many ways to recognized outstanding members of your Optimist Club or others who demonstrate the values in your community set forth by the Optimist Creed. The Balls Creek Optimist Club decided that a memorial scholarship was the best way to honor one of theirs.

This week, the Balls Creek Optimist Club announced the Larry Teague Memorial Scholarship has been established for any graduating student who has participated in an activity of the Optimist Club.

Mr. Teague was a charter member of the Optimist Club established in 1971. Over the years he served in many capacities including club president and he coached baseball and basketball in the Optimist Club sports programs. With this scholarship, the Optimist Club recognizes his service as a mentor and community leader as well as an outstanding Optimist. His memory will live on.

If you live in the Balls Creek, North Carolina area contact De Batchelor at the Bandys High School for more information.

Thanks to the Balls Creek Optimist Club for the photo. 

Playing for Change: Daylight

Adam Levine and Maroon 5 share the spotlight and the profits with "Daylight (Playing for Change)."

Playing for Change is a music project that brings musicians together from across the globe. All profits from their work go to a nonprofit foundation that builds music schools for children around the world.




I became an Adam Levine fan as I watched him on The Voice, but I'm genuinely impressed with all that he does to share his talents to make the world better for others. I wouldn't have known about this project without his involvement and it so fits with the Optimist International mission of helping children reach their full potential that I wanted to share it with you.

Currently, there are 8 programs that are funded by the foundation. It serves communities in Ghana, Nepal, Rwanda, Mali and South Africa. Its mission is to create positive social change through music education. In addition to providing a "creative alternative to the struggles that many of these children face daily," Playing for Change creates jobs. Each school belongs to the community and they use local teachers and labor for the buildings. Community members are the administrators. Whenever possible, the instruments are made by local artisans with local materials.

Some say it takes a village to raise a child. I say it takes a village to accept change. Playing for Change shares the universal language of music in an effort to affect change, bring peace to communities, and peace to the world.

Technology and optimism

Technology - we take it for granted, but two years ago Optimist International's Oratorical Contest asked students to consider "High speed internet: is it a right or a privilege?" It was a tough topic and although I don't know accurate numbers, from my experience in Idaho, the participation declined.

Shirley Zurfluh (R) of the W. Tacoma Optimist Club
presents Emily Stevenson with a Braille Notetaker.

However, one segment of students found the topic intriguing. Deaf students and students with hearing impairments knew exactly how to respond to the question. For them, technology, such as smartphones and computers, becomes their voice as it connects them not only to those without hearing deficits, but also to each other. Quite a compelling case can be made why high speed internet is essential to their full integration into school, work and society and it is therefore a right, not a privilege.

Since that time, I have become especially interested in how technology is used by all and this note caught my eye today: "West Tacoma Optimist Club presents braille computer to high school student."  Awesome, I thought, but what is a braille computer?

Well it turns out it isn't exactly a braille computer. This young lady received a braille note-taking device (approximately $6,500) that allows her to take notes in class and then connect to her home PC to continue complete her homework. Have you ever thought about what it would be like for a blind student to take notes?

The PC itself can be equipped with different devices including braille keyboards and braille display for reading. Of course there are also read/write programs that allow the user to hear and speak to the computer and a number of magnifying options for those who have not completely lost their vision.

I love learning new and different things, don't you? Many thanks to the West Tacoma Optimist Club for your donation. According to the full news report in the club's bulletin:

"Emily Stevenson, a blind student at Curtis High School was presented with her new Braille Computer/Calculator last week. Her classmates applauded and their were smiles all around. Emily is an outstanding student who works hard and plans to go to college and get an engineering degree. She was very happy and grateful since her 7 year old computer was on its last legs."

Knowing how fast technology changes, this was a special donation indeed.

Thanks to Dick Disney, W. Tacoma Optimist Club for the photo and story idea.  

Are you training or teaching?

I recently heard a charter school principal talk about what makes her high-performing school different from other schools, public and private. The word she used repeatedly was train. We train our students to perform community service. We train our students to be respectful. We train our students to do well on tests.

I asked, "But I thought the role of education was to teach, to give students the knowledge and ability to make wise choices of their own volition?" She responded, "How do they tell a wise choice from a poor choice if they haven't been trained to identify the difference?"

And so goes the continuing dialogue that I have with myself regarding the difference between training and teaching. Months ago, before I heard this passionate school administrator speak, I asked Quora, "How does training differ from teaching?"

The answer that was voted up came from Stacy Howe-Lott, M.Ed., Instructional Technology:

"Training is focused content to get people to perform a specific task, in a specific environment, under specific conditions to achieve a specific outcome. Teaching is content given to people in which they use it to create outcomes - expected and otherwise - in all sorts of different conditions and environments."

Using this definition, it is easy to imagine the charter school in question is training its students to perform well in school-based situations. What happens when the environment changes? We won't really know how well these students do in world situations until they are grown; but I can tell you based on the scores she shared with us, and the involvement that I see the students have in the community, they are outstanding young citizens today.

Over the last ten years, Optimist International has focused on training members. They have even gone so far as to create an elite group of Certified International Trainers. In order to become a Certified International Trainer, one must first pass through series of workshops, lead sessions at the club and district level, and then be invited to train with another at the International Convention or other setting that the group feels appropriate.

I usually don't mind such a program, but for some reason this one kind of irks me. You see, I don't believe we can train people to be leaders. I also don't believe we can train people to be entrepreneurs, but I have always believed that we can train people to be good managers. We can train people how to complete and file paperwork, when to hold a meeting, and what the steps are to complete a task.

When we are children, or apprentices, perhaps the training model works. I fear, however, that training falls very short of empowering others to lead. Training is not a succession plan.

Therefore, every organization, school and business needs a team of trainers, a team of teachers, and a team of champions. We need people to inspire us:

• To want to be trained in the ways of our community's culture and society
• To complete tasks that are required and still do more to help advance our cause
• To reach out and help others succeed
• To adapt to changing environments
• To think for ourselves and be stewards of our cause 
• To take our mission to the next level
• To deliver exceptional service and outcomes

And we need a team to champions - or to use the social media vernacular - fans to promote the up-and-coming leader. An influential person has to recognize and support that the new leader is ready to take control.

I do hope that the training mission of Optimist International will evolve. It's a good start, but it is not a continuum. Training does not inspire me to ask a new member to join my club or to start a new Optimist Club in a neighboring community. Training is not the reason I attend a meeting.

I do all of the above because I feel that when I engage with others, together we can make a difference in our communities that is greater than any of us can do alone. That is a feeling, an emotion, a desire, that cannot be delivered through training.

Optimist Club helps to save the Arlington Planetarium

The Planetarium in Arlington, Virginia was scheduled to be closed. It had a momentary reprieve when the School District took over funding the operational costs, but that was short-lived as it fell victim to the budget ax, losing more than 60% of the needed funding. Enter the Optimist Club.

When the Arlington Optimist Club's president-elect heard about the plight, he and his fellow members became champions of the cause. According to Brig Pari, they need to raise $402,000 by June 2011. There is no assurance of their success, raising money is always a challenge, but the good news is they have already raised $130,000.

The money will be used for more than operational costs. It will help the planetarium install new equipment to enhance the entertainment and educational value. To read more about the project and the Arlington Planetarium, please visit the website at http://saveplanetarium.org/.

Please consider making a donation while you are there. The Optimist Club thanks you; and so do the children in Arlington, VA.

Students change their lives with The Options Program

The Optimist Club of Gresham, Oregon sponsors a student of the month program that is slightly different from most.  Called The Options Program, it has been running in the Gresham High School for 21 years. The Optimist Club helps teachers and counselors work with at-risk-youths to keep them in school, help them avoid being tardy, and raise their grades. The Optimist Club helps especially with motivation and attitude by providing positive reinforcement. 

Daphney Adams was recently recognized by the club for changing her attendance habits and bringing up her grades from Ds and Fs to As and Bs. Daphney, now a senior, is looking forward to attending college and majoring in graphic design.  She thanked her mom and a mentor from Big Brothers Big Sisters for helping her change her habits.

Find out more about The Options Program at the Gresham Optimist Club website.

Photo courtesy of the Gresham Optimist Club.  Shown with Daphney Adams is Ed DeSantis.