Eat This Not That by Andy Berndt Program Director, Catalyst

Andy Berndt will be presenting "Eat This Not That" at the THRIVE! Conference for All Youth, October 27th-28th in Saint Paul.

Did you know that a Big Mac at McDonalds is healthier than their salad?

Unbelievable right? It's true. When you add up all of the fat from the fried chicken they throw on top, and the high calorie dressing and cheese. You are actually saving yourself calories by eating the Big Mac! There are so many hidden food facts just like that, that we have no idea about. Something you might make at home like fish and rice, would be only a few hundred calories and very low in fat and sodium, if you get the same thing at Macaroni Grill (Their Parmesan-Crusted Sole dish) you will consume 2,190 calories, 141 grams of fat, 2,980 mg of sodium! That's as much saturated fat as you should consume in four days and more than one days calorie limit in one meal. All this info is in David Zincezenko's book "Eat This, Not That," that Catalyst is going to be presenting on in October. We are presenting an interactive session for students where they are quizzed on which meal they would eat, then we'll reveal each decision in a game show style program. It's interactive, educational, AND FUN! Can you believe it???

Catalyst is a statewide network for youth advocates across Minnesota. The movement is committed to taking action to support positive public health change across the state. We are getting the message out through creative youth activism. Our current focus is

aimed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity. We are beginning a campaign this fall in schools all over the state. The campaign aims to inform and empower youth--to get youth involved in things like changing school food, gaining better access to physical activity through after school games and biking to school, more access to gym facilities, using your voice to make a video or talk to the press, and much more.

Obesity is quickly becoming the nation biggest health problem. One in four adults in Minnesota is obese, and one in three is overweight. We know that preventing all of this means encouraging physical activity and healthy eating early on in life. These are just a few of the reasons why we are fighting back and involving high school students across the state. We hope you join us!

For more information: Check our website www.bethecatalyst.org or contact Andy Berndt at andy@bethecatalyst.org or 651-270-6589

Get Involved! By Mysee Chang, HmoobTeen Editor, 17, Buffalo, MN

You’ve probably heard this many times before from your parents, friends, role models and adults in your life to volunteer, join a club, or get involve in your communities. Today colleges, scholarship committees and employers look at your extra-curricular involvement before considering if they will accept your application.

Besides the fact that it “looks good” on your resume, getting involved is important for several reasons. Such as, personal development, enhancing educational and career opportunities learn socializing skills and becoming a well-rounded human being.

Personal Development

Getting involved—participating in extracurricular activities or donating your time to your community—is one of the best ways to learn about yourself and society at large. When you get involved, all the things you do- whether it is tutoring, fundraising, playing in a sport team, delivering a speech, writing an article, or shelving books—helps you discover your passions, strengths and weaknesses. Along the way you’ll uncover many hidden skills and talents too. Whatever it is that you choose to do, your experience will help you to develop a stronger sense of self and direction. It’ll help you answer those mind-boggling questions like: where do I see myself in the next ten years? What are my goals? And of course, what am I going to do after college?

Enhance Educational and Career Opportunities

Getting involved is a great way not only to learn about yourself but also to learn more about different communities, society and social issues, government, and the world. The knowledge and skills you gain from your involvement can be used to enhance your educational and career opportunities. Take for example that you’re really into science. You’ve taken all the biology classes offered at your school and think you want to go into nursing but you’re a little unsure. You can volunteer at a hospital or a nursing home to see if that’s really something you want to do. The best thing about getting involved is that there are a variety of choices. Thus, getting involved is a great way to explore educational and career possibilities. Another way participating in an activity enhances your opportunities is the relationships that you build. From being on the swimming team to being in Girl Scouts, you get the chance to meet many people. The relationships you build can open doors for you in the future. The professionals you come in contact with will gladly write your letters of recommendation for college, scholarships, refer you for a job or offer you advice and resources.

Positive Development: A Well-rounded Human Being

Last of all, studies show that adolescents who are involved are more likely to become people their families and community can be proud of. They are more likely to do well in high school and continue on into college. Therefore, more likely to become active in their communities, have better jobs, in stable personal relationships and happy with their lives. Think about this: the future is in your hands. When you decide to get involve, you have the ability to change someone’s life and your own at the same time. You may think you’re just one person but to another person, you are the world.

Barriers and Solutions

Now you know getting involved is so good for you but you still don’t do it. What’s getting in your way? Are you too cool? Maybe sports and clubs in school aren’t just for you. Or maybe you’re just really scared. Whatever your reason is, here are some ways to work around that barrier.

#1: Your parents don’t understand

For some Hmong parents, the idea of staying after school for a yearbook meeting or attending weekly meetings at a local organization on leadership development is a brand new idea, something they’ve never heard of before. So for some teens, getting your parents to understand that you’re really trying to do something useful instead of just wasting time is hard. If this is your situation, be patient. Try to explain as clearly and respectfully as possible to your parents that you are doing something good. Explain to them the mission and goals of the program, invite them to a gathering with you, and set up a meeting with the program coordinator and your parents. The more they are connected to your life, the less they are worried about you. And continue to keep them posted on what you’re doing.

Once you show that you’re doing positive things (by giving them a copy of that yearbook or inviting them to the program graduation ceremony) they’ll get it and continue to support you.

#2: Transportation

The major reason why teens don’t get involved is because they don’t drive so they can’t get to the event in the first place or their parents are working and can’t drop them off. Possible solutions include finding a buddy who is also involved in that activity or program and catching a ride with them. You could talk to the person in charge of that activity and tell them you’re really passionate about it but have a transportation issue. In most cases, they’d be happy to pick you up or find a ride for you. Or plan your schedule accordingly. If you’re mom shops near an organization you volunteer for, have her drop you off there. Timing is everything.

#3: No time. You have other commitments.

On average, a Hmong high school student has to balance school, homework, family responsibilities and a job. With the schedule that you have how can you possibly find the time to participate in school and outside of school programs? If you want to volunteer, most organizations understand that you are donating your time so they’re very flexibly. You can volunteer as little as two hours a week, every other week or if you really don’t have time, you can volunteer at random events that fit your schedule. If you want to get involved at school but don’t have the time, choose an activity that isn’t time consuming.

#4: I’m way too cool, besides there’s nothing interesting.

Hey, getting involved is not only for smart, good-two-shoes people. It is for everyone. Anyone can get involved. There are LOTS of opportunities out there. If you’re not into what the “nerds” are doing, find your own opportunity. You can be a summer camp coach or a tutor for a student struggling with his guitar lessons. Heck, you could start your own manga club! You can still be involved and be cool.

Besides exploring other things is a good thing. You might just discover that you have hidden talents you never knew before.

#5: You’re shy or just don’t know where to start

Don’t be shy! Try talking to people you know who volunteer. If you have friends who are involved, tag along once or twice and ask them questions. Once you get familiar with how it works, you won’t be shy anymore. By being familiar with unfamiliar surroundings, you’ll become more comfortable.

Or if you’re shy in the way that you want to volunteer but you don’t want to do the “dealing with people” type of jobs, there are lots of opportunities around where you work on your own. You can volunteer at a library by putting books, picking up trash, etc. The possibilities are endless.

How to get started

Now you absolutely have no excuses to get involved! There is so many ways you can make a difference! Just try once. Here’s how to get started.

First, think about what you like to do. What are your interests? Do you like pets? Do you like working with younger kids? What do you want to do? Always keep in mind that you can kill two birds with one stone when getting involved. I mean, if you want to become a journalist or a designer and really passionate about reaching out to other teens, volunteer for HmoobTeen!

Next, start searching for those opportunities. Try talking to any knowledgeable person, a teacher or a counselor. Or you could do an internet search. The websites below are great places to start!

Last, go MAD (Make a Difference)! Get involved and see what difference it makes to you. Below are some websites where you can start!

www. volunteermatch.org

www.redcross.org/donate/volunteer/

www.1-800volunteer.org

“Getting involved in my community has impacted me a lot! It’s one of the most inspiring and motivational things that changed my life. It has shown me that I can make a difference in the world.”

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References:

“Why Volunteer?” (2008) Lifespan. Retrieved from http://lifespan.org/services/volunteer/why.htm on 12 January 2009.

Youth Community Connections. Retrieved from

www.youthcommunityconnections.org during the month of January 2009.

Published in the spring 2009 issue of HmoobTeen Magazine. Go to www.hmong.org for more information about HmoobTeen or to obtain a copy.

KidsChange 2009 Youth Intervention Conference

KidsChange is an amazing network of members doing valuable youth intervention work across the State of Minnesota. The purpose of this blog is not only to highlight the array of expertise and experience that we find in KidsChange’s members and presenters, but also to show what our members do day-to-day. What does youth intervention look like? What does a quality program look like? What resources are out there for troubled youth and the people who serve them? I would like to begin a discussion around these questions by highlighting different youth intervention programs.

To start us off, I would like to put out a call to our readers. Know of amazing work being done around youth intervention in your community? It doesn’t need to be in Minnesota, it just needs to provide services for youth who are heading toward a path of destructive and criminal behavior. If you want to highlight an organization, event or initiative, please contact us!

This week I am going to focus on the KidsChange 2009 Youth Intervention Conference that will be happening on October 27^th-28^th at the University of Minnesota’s Continuing Education Center in Saint Paul. Over at YIPA, we are getting so excited about this conference! We have over 40 different presentations on topics from “Wilderness Writing for Wild Youth” to “Promoting & Impacting Healthier Lives for African-American Boys & Their Families” to “No Second Chance - Helping Protect Non-Citizen Youth Against Deportation.” We are delighted that many of our presenters will also be contributing articles to this blog. Spots are filling up, but we still have many more openings for one or two day attendees. YIPA members still have scholarship opportunities available as well!

We are also thrilled about the THRIVE! Conference for all Youth, which will be happening at the same time and place as out Youth Intervention Conference. This conference will bring together young people from across Minnesota to explore issues like leadership, violence prevention, Internet safety, and healthy choices. Spaces are still available for youth attendees as well.

This conference would be a wonderful way to introduce your organization to KidsChange or deepen an existing bond. We know that budgets are tight this year, but there are very few conferences providing as much breadth and depth as the 2009 Youth Intervention Conference. Consider it your one-stop for the year’s training needs.

Welcome to KidsChange by J.Scott Beaty Executive Director of MN Youth Intervention Programs Association

I’m often asked, “What is KidsChange?” KidsChange is a central hub of information and resources of over 70 early youth intervention programs throughout the State of Minnesota. We offer families in crisis, law enforcement, youth service professionals and kids a simple way to find information and services that are most appropriate for their situation through the resources at our website, www.kidschange.org. With this blog, we intend to bring the experience and expertise of youth service professionals right to your door, as they share their insight, research, best practices and thoughts about working with and parenting youth.

A goal of the KidsChange initiative is to provide clarity about what youth intervention is and what intervention programs are all about. In addition to our nationally and internationally known experts in the youth field, guest bloggers will include youth service providers, parents, law enforcement, and youth.

What is Youth Intervention? The field of early intervention represents a variety of programs that give youth better decision making skills and help keep them from going down the wrong path in life. Services such as: mentoring, counseling, conflict resolution, anger management, diversion, and education are all forms of early intervention. Although the strategies may be diverse, they all share the ultimate goal of reaching kids when they are just showing signs of troublesome behaviors, keep them in school, living with a supportive family and out of the costly juvenile justice system.

Currently, over 85 YIPA member organizations from across the state of Minnesota serve over 50,000 at-risk youth per year. These KidsChange agencies work with youth ages 6-18 precisely when they are beginning to engage in problematic behaviors (e.g. truancy, petty crimes, alcohol/drug use, etc.). Instead of simply being punished for their actions, youth benefit from early intervention programs by receiving the help and resources they need to make positive life choices leading to a brighter future.

The Hostile Society by Dr. Michael Obsatz

Dr. Obsatz will be presenting "The Boy Crisis in America: Possible Solutions" at the 2009 Youth Intervention Conference on October 27th-28th in Saint Paul.

Children learn how to become nasty, dependent adults when they are very young. They see hundreds of unhealthy, immature adults all around them.

We live in a culture that focuses on gaining one’s sense of well-being from externals – caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, sugar, marijuana, cocaine, shopping, gambling, money, possessions, winning teams. Anne Wilson Shaef’s book, “When Society Becomes an Addict,” discussed this four decades ago. Drugs are rampant among middle and high school kids – where sex with benefits has replaced sex with commitment, sex with love, or sex with marriage. Internally, people feel empty.

Americans are taught to seek approval, pleasure, recognition and fame. We idolize and honor those who are famous, and then we watch them fall down as they can’t meet our incredibly high expectations. We live vicariously through the Hollywood and musical stars. Some song lyrics are sexist, demeaning, and death-focused. Videogames provide young children with destructive tools at their command.

We have become superficial, narcissistic addicts. We are encouraged to conform by wearing the latest fashions, and driving the newest Sports Utility Vehicles. Three-car garages are common, as the garage now equals the size of the 1950’s rambler in square feet. As self-absorbed, impulsive beings, we want immediate gratification; feeling entitled to receive whatever we want. This entitlement comes out in whining and lawsuits.

Children are taught from an early age to live up to gender role stereotypes – thinness and attractiveness for girls, and macho, stoic toughness for boys. The result of this is that many males see females as objects to be had and used. The abuse rate for women is 25% in America.

Eating disorders and steroid use are rampant. The average model is 5 foot 11 inches tall, and weighs 115 pounds. The average woman in America is 5 foot 3 inches tall, and weighs 144 pounds. The discrepancy between the real and the ideal results in shame, self-loathing and resentment. Fifth grade girls go on diets to lose weight. And yet, as a culture, we have a severe obesity problem. Supersize the fries, please.

Fathers leave their children because they lack nurturing and emotional communication skills. In custody issues, courts still favor mothers, because they assume fathers are incapable of caring for their children. Men don’t learn skills as boys, and are later punished for their ignorance. They take “anger management” classes 40 years too late.

Americans are angry because they have lost their center and their integrity. Political and religious leaders lie. Priests abuse children. Telemarketers act as if you are their personal friend. Advertising fills the airwaves, newspapers, and internet.

People are rushed, hurried, and angry about it. They have too much to accomplish in too little time. Many adults do not have time for their children who are raised by strangers.

As a result, some children experience feelings of abandonment, loneliness, and isolation. Many children are on medication for hyperactivity or depression. We try to medicate pain rather than face the real causes of it.

David Walsh calls America a “culture of disrespect.” Kids do not respect teachers, parents and other authority figures. Some police abuse their power. We see regular doses of fighting, cursing, whining, and screaming in the media Television and video games are about destroying others physically and emotionally.

Cell phones are everywhere. They interrupt lectures, sermons, conversations. People double and triple task, and try to focus in more than one direction at a time. So, many are distracted and not really present. So people continue to not get their needs met from others. They leave one relationship for another.

The social problems relate to trust, commitment, integrity, honesty, and compassion. A culture that is driven such as ours, has little empathy for the weak, the ill, the elderly, the powerless. Road rage is ten times what it was twenty years ago.

We still segregate and marginalize people. We suffer from sexism, heterosexism, racism, and social class domination We laugh at nerds unless they turn out to be Bill Gates.

To sum up, there is not enough – time, maturity, generosity, love, commitment, decency, politeness, honesty and patience. And there is too much money to be made off people who try to “fix” their lives by consuming something outside of themselves.

What can we do about this? First, we must take a real look at where we are, and how we got here. Second, we must commit to doing something about it. And third, we need to reclaim our individual wholeness and our sense of community. We need to stop waging war on ourselves and each other, and start healing the tremendous wounds we have suffered both individually and collectively.

Wake up, America. It is not going to get better until everyone feels safe, cared about, and has an opportunity for growth.

For more information, call Mike Obsatz at 651-696-6963.

Visit www.mirrormanfilms.org to learn about the film “Journeyman”, the producers, the directors, the Boys to Men mentoring program. Visit www.angeresources.com for more about Dr. Obsatz.

The Movie Making Process©: An Educational Prevention Program For 21st Century Learning by Linda Flanders, Taproot, Inc.

Linda Flanders will be presenting "The Movie Making Process: An Education Prevention Program for 21st Century Learning" at the at the 2009 Youth Intervention Conference on Oct. 27-28 in St. Paul.

The demands of living in a fast-paced and rapidly evolving 21^st Century are staggering. Communities are dealing with global issues at the local level. Technological skills, creative thinking and innovation are areas that the United States used to excel in; now we are falling dangerously behind. The national high school drop out rate is 35% and the 50 largest cities in the U.S. show a staggering 48% high school dropout rate. (Cities in Crisis, 2008) We are the most addicted country in the world and hold the record for the most incarcerations per capita of any other country. (2008 Pew Center Report)

What happened and what are we going to do about it?

The entertainment industry and the gaming designers are increasingly aware of games’ power to influence neural pathway formation. (Scientific American, February 2009) Now, communities can compete for their kids’ attention through the process of making a community movie; fusing together human development, education, activism and future job skills. We plan to show you how during a presentation at this year’s YIPA conference. First by showing the kids the excitement, creativity and positive attention they can get from being part of the process and then we’ll show the adults how a community can put an entire production together quickly and inexpensively; then use the finished product as a continuous learning tool.

Our most complete replicable community movie project that’s designed as a complete education and prevention program is The Northern Lights; Shining The Light on the Meth-edemic. While it educates about Meth specifically, it also covers addiction in general. It offers skill building and alternative activities; both are needed for any prevention program to work. And, it teaches creative and technological skills needed for the future. We’ll show clips of this production as part of the presentation.

Why It Works:

We’re all born with some level of natural intelligence, yet we may or not come into a safe and nurturing environment, or we might suffer from an early childhood trauma, but we ALL must navigate through the core processes of “human” development to emotionally mature. (Greenspan, S. 1997)

• We must attach to another human being
• We must learn to communicate our wants and needs
• We need to experience a range of emotions and “express” those emotions
• We must learn limits and boundaries

The window for learning these things is birth to five. What happens when we miss these developmental levels? We can end up apathetic or rage filled, treating others as things. We don’t communicate our wants and needs to others; not even knowing them ourselves. We can feel feelings of anger and fear, but they don’t get balanced out with feelings of love, peace and happiness. We don’t learn boundaries of basic common decency; we don’t learn self-control and the brain wires us up in a way that prevents learning from cause and effect. That is human development, and it has global implications. We can also end up with learning disabilities that create havoc for us in traditional public education. This has national implications on all the above statistics.

We designed “The Movie Making Process” to help fill this gap. Come visit our presentation and we’ll show you how. We use Multiple Intelligence Theory, experiential learning and the latest in neuroscience: The Power of Paying Attention.

The Movie Making Process Youtube Clip

More information on the website at www.taprootinc.com

Or, Linda Flanders at taproot@redwing.net

The Ability to Reason by Linda Flanders/Taproot, Inc.

Linda Flanders will be presenting " The Ability to Reason: From the Abstract to the Concrete" at the 2009 2009 Youth Intervention Conference on Oct. 27-28 in St. Paul.

For young people to be independent, mature emotionally and live freely outside of the Criminal Justice System, the ability to reason is essential. The Ability to Reason is literally, “the use of the cognitive mental powers needed to think, reflect, make decisions, work and apply choice”. It’s now an art-based cognitive skills class currently taught for Court Services in Goodhue County, MN as an innovative approach for early offenders. After three years, we have a 91% non-recidivism rate. This class has been adapted for use by school Social Workers and Special Ed teachers, plus another adaptation for 12 Steppers in recovery. It is also excellent for parents with pre-teen children in “Surviving Middle School”. The process is based on developmental and experiential learning.

Many of the young people we teach are smart, some gifted and yet some learning disabled. No assessment is needed because we all do the same art-based lessons together.

In class we use clay (or Play-doh) and colored pencils (or crayons) as the learning tools. The class is divided into two segments during which these 5 abstract concepts are learned.

To THINK means use our body and brain together. The brain thinks, but doesn’t feel or move. The body can move and feel, but it doesn’t think. Thinking is literally “to use one’s mind rationally in evaluating any given situation; recognizing that situations are always changing”. To think requires self-control and allowing a few seconds from idea to action.

To REFLECT means to look back upon something that already happened. This allows us to learn from our mistakes or from our successes, and gives us the ability to think backwards and learn from experience.

To MAKE DECISIONS means the act of making up one’s mind. This is an action word: Think-Evaluate-Do. To make decisions we have to have options to choose from, or be able to imagine different possibilities and their potential outcomes. When we act only on our emotions; we are not making decisions, we’re re-acting. Imagining different possibilities, and their possible outcomes is the gateway to expand our horizons through creative thinking.

To WORK is literally the amount of energy one has to put out to do something. It’s important to understand the amount of work, or energy, we need to pursue a dream or a goal. We all must determine how much work we’re willing to put into a goal, and whether we have the skills necessary to achieve it. This requires an honest self-assessment. The bigger the dream or the goal, the more work it will be.

CHOICE is the act of making a selection. We have to have a minimum of three options before we truly have choice. When we can see only “one way” to do, experience or think, we are acting on habit. Habits become in-grained, can turn compulsive, possibly addictive. When it’s “this” or “that”, we’re thinking concretely, going back and forth. True choice must involve a third possibility. The importance of three options is that they can evolve us up and out of that box. Three options can be mixed and matched; we’ll show you how. This is the overview of the class that we will present at the conference.

This class teaches the concepts in a way that all kids can understand. But they are “skills” and must now be actively practiced in real life.

Youtube Clip

We’ll also have an exhibit table at the conference where the lesson plans can be purchased for use with your own kids or classes. Linda Flanders: www.taprootinc.com