From the desk of ... Mary Robinson Reynolds,
Principal tries new approach to school discipline - suspensions drop 85%

Dear Difference Maker,

I've been writing to you about old-school methods of force and control for years now; about how crucial it is to deal with the social-emotional issues that are speaking through behaviors and negative results for today's youth - rather than sending kids to the Principal's office and/or kicking them out of school.

I will admit to you, I've had a heck of a time getting a large percentage of the decision makers I reach to take my message to heart and believe what I have to say about the phenomenal success I had with at-risk youth - all students for that matter - by NOT using old-worn out methods of 'old-school' teaching and discipline.

Why? Because it's hard for people to believe that you don't have to coerce, force and control behaviorally unskilled kids to behave and stay-have by using shame, guilt, humiliation and "I'm so disappointed in you" tactics!

I've written outstanding Educational programs and books - that work when people use them. The testimonials roll in when difference makers step up and invest in the BIGGER PICTURE.

I've been reaching out like crazy - I've been reporting my results - and the results of others - not to toot my own horn but to educate you and everyone on exactly what IS possible - school wide.

While I don't know if the Principal in the article below used my material, it is almost word for word - the starting point - of all that I provide for you step-by-step in my Academic Success 101 program and companion book. And everything he did certainly embodies what is possible for your entire school - including faculty and staff - with my Make A Difference with the Power of Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment UTrain Program.

REASONS OR RESULTS?

New approach to school discipline: suspensions drop 85%
by jestevens

In ACE Study Documentation that a NEW Humane, structured way of approaching our student actually works.

THE FIRST TIME THAT principal Jim Sporleder tried the New Approach to Student Discipline at Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, he was blown away. Because it worked. In fact, it worked so well that he never went back to the Old Approach to Student Discipline. This is how it went down:

A student blows up at a teacher, drops the F-bomb. The usual approach at Lincoln - and, safe to say, at most high schools in this country - is automatic suspension. Instead, Sporleder sits the kid down and says quietly:

"Wow. Are you OK? This doesn't sound like you. What's going on?" He gets even more specific:"You really looked stressed. On a scale of 1-10, where are you with your anger?"

The kid was ready. Ready, man! For an anger blast to his face...."How could you do that?"  "What's wrong with you?"...and for the big boot out of school. But he was NOT ready for kindness. The armor-plated defenses melt like ice under a blowtorch and the words pour out:"My dad's an alcoholic. He's promised me things my whole life and never keeps those promises." The waterfall of words that go deep into his home life, which is no piece of breeze, end with this sentence:"I shouldn't have blown up at the teacher."

Whoa.

And then he goes back to the teacher and apologizes. Without prompting from Sporleder.

"The kid still got a consequence," explains Sporleder - but he wasn't sent home, a place where there wasn't anyone who cares much about what he does or doesn't do. He went to ISS - in-school suspension, a quiet, comforting room where he can talk about anything with the attending teacher, catch up on his homework, or just sit and think about how maybe he could do things differently next time.

Before the words"namby-pamby","weenie", or"not the way they did things in my day" start flowing across your lips, take a look at these numbers:

(Before new approach)
798 suspensions (days students were out of school)
50 expulsions
600 written referrals

(After new approach - 1 year later)
135 suspensions (days students were out of school)
30 expulsions
320 written referrals

"It sounds simple," says Sporleder about the new approach."Just by asking kids what's going on with them, they just started talking. It made a believer out of me right away."

Don't wait another school year to get these kind of results for your school!

Watch this movie: Lost Cause Kid Movie - lostcausekid.makeadifference.com

Reaching out to make a world of difference NOW!

PS ...For more information about how YOU can DROP SUSPENSIONS with a NEW APPROACH - start preparing NOW to bring Make A Difference with the Power of Acknowledgment UTrain Program into your school go to: makeadifference.com/Project

MDPA UTrain Program is specifically designed to:

==> create social connectedness
==> provide concrete support in times of need
==> teach social and emotional competence

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