Introduction to the 'Strategies for Success' Leadership/Success Curriculum

This course was written to address some of the elements missing in the education of teens in the twenty-first century.  Parents, business owners, teachers and teens themselves have expressed concern that students are not exposed to as many positive influences as they were in years past.  With fragmented families and both parents working, teens often find themselves with an overabundance of time on their hands and a scarcity of empowering resources at their disposal.  For many, advice comes in the form of the omnipresent media or a fellow teen.  They need and want assistance in creating a good life for themselves but often don’t know where to turn for reliable information and tools.

Schools have ramped up their academic curricula to address new laws and national testing. Teachers have been asked to rise to the ranks of ‘high performing.’  Parents have struggled to find solutions to help their children.  But students still seek a cohesive framework to link their educational and social issues in a meaningful, engaging and inviting manner.

Strategies for Success provides students with multi-intelligence, whole - brain based, and team building sets of lessons that allow students to learn strategies for coping with issues both in and out of school.  The energizing classroom environment created in this course allows students to actively participate in building strategies that will last a lifetime.   Students who have taken the course have shown marked improvement in the following areas:  grades; relationships with school staff, family members, employers and friends; ability to handle the stress of life in and out of school; financial literacy and leadership qualities.  Students are exposed to some of the top authors of the era in the fields of self-improvement and financial education.

This is not the traditional textbook in that it was written specifically for the teens in a public high school and has been personalized with their stories and those of the author.  It was written to make the job of the instructor as easy as possible so that more time can be devoted to creating the type of classroom and building the connections between students that allow everyone to thrive, grow, and learn to the best of their ability.