INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Jazmine Wiseman joined us today from Colorado. She is the daughter of one of our guest speakers. Good to have you Jazmine.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES: Erika Kirtdoll, Don Boyer, Paul Crouch and Jack Frost will all celebrate their birthdays in the month of January. Happy Birthday to all the older Optimists.

BRAGS: Jon Martin bragged that his wife’s pregnancy is proceeding along well and that the baby is doing just fine. They are right on target and will have a little one to share Christmas with next year. Erika Kirtdoll bragged that her mother dog is doing well after delivering 11 healthy puppies. We need a home of all the puppies! Right now the puppies are at Bittersweet Dog Shelter. Please go by and see them and take a puppy home to your family. Osceola Skinner bragged on all the Optimists who came out to help ring the Salvation Army bell during the holiday season. He said that he hoped all would pitch in again next year.

50/50 RAFFLE DRAWING: Erika Kirtdoll conducted the 50/50 raffle. Diane Bass took home the $19 pot! Congratulations Diane!

GUEST SPEAKER: Optimists welcomed three guest speakers today. First, Craig Krassow introduced two speakers to tell us about Project Graduation. Alan Hunt spoke to us about the program at Niles High School and Penny Dickinson spoke to us about the Brandywine High School program.

Alan Hunt told us that he has volunteered for many years at the high school. He says that Project Graduation came about in the 1980s as a direct result of a senior fatality that took place during after graduation celebrations in the 1980s. The purpose of the program is to keep kids safe and to show them that you can have a good time without drugs and alcohol. He said that Project Graduation gets no funding through the school systems. It is made possible by donations from clubs like the Optimists, the Elks, the Moose and many, many others. At Niles High School, immediately after graduation ceremonies the seniors are loaded onto buses and taken for a night of fun. They do all sorts of things including: bowling, skating, swimming, miniature golf, comedy clubs, dinner, and lots of other activities. Graduates are kept busy from the end of graduation until about 7 am the next morning. They can then sleep peacefully the day after graduation instead of being in jail or dead. Lots of volunteers (mostly parents) help to organize things and help out on that night. Students love the fun that they have after graduation and parents don’t have to be afraid that something will happen to their son or daughter on graduation night.

Penny Dickinson told us that she is the co-chair of Project Graduation at Brandywine High School. She said that she does a lot of volunteering at the school, has children that attend Brandywine and also is a school bus driver. Penny said that she almost lives at the school. She said that the Brandywine program has the same goals as the Niles High program and that both events run in a similar fashion. One difference is that Brandywine’s graduation ceremonies are much earlier in the day, about 2pm. Therefore students are allowed to go home first and then meet up later to load the bus. It is also an all night program and the students have done many of the same activities that Niles’ school does. They very much also like to go to The Funny Bone Comedy Shop. The trip to the hypnotist also seems to be a favorite. No one gets paid to help with Project Graduation. It is all volunteers and parents. This activity is very safe for the young folks and parents love it. There is a 95% participation rate among the students. Students do buy a ticket for the event, but they get that money back sometime during the night. Students who can not afford the ticket are given a ticket because all seniors are invited to attend. Project Graduation expenses run between $15,000 and $19,000 each year.

Jon Martin introduced our other guest, Yvonne Wiseman from Oak Manor School. Yvonne talked to us about the Love and Logic program. She works as a behavioral specialist at the school and has been implementing the Love & Logic program because she saw a great need for it. It is helping the parents and thus helping the students tremendously. Love and Logic works with at-risk students who are mostly from single-parent and/or low income homes. Problems in the home are what often affect a child’s behavior in school. Sometimes young, inexperienced parents need help in learning parenting skills that help to improve the well being of the child and ultimately that child’s interaction with others. It is absolutely critical to have parental involvement when trying to help these at-risk kids. Yvonne said that the type of environment a child has usually dictates how well the child gets along with others and how well that child can learn in a classroom setting. The Love and Logic program teaches parents essential parenting and positive reinforcing techniques such as: Never discipline a child in anger, anger management, how to change bad habits that parents may have learned from their own parents, how to be consistent with children, how to communicate better with your child, taking an interest in their school and making them feel loved. Love and Logic works primarily with the parent to help bring about a change in the child and increase that child’s chances of doing better in school and in life. It helps teach parents how to cope with the every day stresses of raising children. Yvonne asked for the Optimists help in raising money to help her attend a Love and Logic course being taught out of state. The school does not fund this program at all. However, Yvonne has committed some personal money and $400 out of her behavioral specialist budget to fly to the class. She does however need to pay for the class and hotel. She truly wants to be certified to run this program correctly. She wants desperately to help more students improve their behavior and become motivated to learn. This can only be done by helping the parent also.

We give our thanks to Yvonne, Penny and Alan for being our guest speakers today. Please visit us often.

CLOSING CREED: Diane Bass led the group in reciting the Closing Creed at the end of the meeting.

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. – Martin Luther King Jr.

What you get by achieving your goals is to as important as what you become by achieving your goals. – Zig Ziglar

A goal properly set is halfway reached. – Zig Ziglar

TODAY IN HISTORY: January 6^th

1535: The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro founds Los Reyes de Lima (Lima) on the desert Pacific coast of South America.

1898: In Maryland's Patapsco River, the first telephone calls from a submerged submarine to shore are placed.

1912: New Mexico is admitted into the United States as the 47th state.

1941: Franklin Roosevelt makes his Four Freedoms speech.

1942: Pan American Airlines completes the first around-the-world commercial flight.

Nancy Lopez, American golfer (1957)

President George W. Bush decides it is time to do some public relations at a local Washington DC nursing home.

The President begins his "tour" down the main hallway and passes by a little old man who doesn't seem to notice him.

Sensing this, President Bush backtracks to the resident and asks, "Do you know who I am?"

The little old man looks up from his walker and says, "No, but if you go to the front desk, they will tell you your name."

I was born on this day in 1412. Called the Maid of Orleans, I was burned at the stake in 1431.

At the age of 13, Joan of Arc convinced a board of theologians that she had a divine mission to save France during the 100 Years’ War with England. She led the French in several military victories over the English in 1429. When she led an unauthorized campaign the following year, she was tried and convicted of heresy for answering to God before the Roman Catholic Church. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431, but after 25 years the church overturned the conviction and later canonized her.