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Sharing a product that works
How do you convince a school district that you
really have a program that helps teens succeed?
 What if you've taken the challenge that
parents, students and the media have extended to the field of
education? What if as a 28 year veteran of the teaching
profession, you took all your experience, all of your training in
the field of self-help, motivation and success and created a
workable program for teens that changed their lives? How do
you get anyone to notice, to care, to take a chance?
This has been one of my biggest challenges
over the past few years. While no program is perfect, the one
I created has brought about great changes in the lives of the
students who have taken it. But getting other schools to take
a chance on the program is not easy.
I do understand that if I were a school
administrator, I might be skeptical of a curriculum that was self
published. In a day and age where anyone can claim anything on
a website, why would someone believe the words proclaimed by the
person who not only created the program in question but also the
website extolling its virtues.
We live in an age where each of us is
inundated daily with products who claim to solve all the problems of
the world if we just call the designated 800 number or click on
their dot com. We are justifiable cautious about where we put
our money and who to believe. To be honest, we want that
scrutiny for programs that we're offering our students.
But how do we let people know that what we
have truly answers most of the questions that people pose about
education today? Why not be open to the possibility that
someone (and probably many people) have taken the challenge to
create workable solutions to the problems that plague education?
I can't begin to count how many times
people have asked me to contact Oprah Winfrey to tell her about my
program because they feel it meshes perfectly with the importance
she places on education and the skills and values she espouses.
I have written. In fact I've written monthly for several years
and so have my students. I've also written to every other
major television venue - even those who constantly broadcast their
search for solutions for the problems that beset our teen. But
no response, no interest.
What has been done to date:
- Letters to all the principals
of the schools in my home state followed by a letter to all
school superintendents
- Postcards to all the
principals in Massachusetts
- A visit to the annual
conference of Superintendents in San Diego
- An email to all the listed
superintendents in the country
- A letter/visit to the
principals in Lee and Collier counties in Florida
- Speaking at the annual
national NAF conference for the past 6 years
- Letter to the commissioners
of education from all 50 states
I will keep on trying. My
former students who I run into on a fairly regular basis still tell
me how important this mission is and how much they were positively
affected by their 90 day journey in the
Strategies of Success
environment. So if you know anyone who might be interested....
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