"I'm smarter than the average bear." Yogi Bear is an outstanding movie for the holidays. Youth from LIGHTHOUSE 2911 enjoyed the movie and great hamburgers from Ganado Cafe afterward on a Social Skills Outing today. As one youth said, "I've never spent a day like this before." What a way to spend one of the last days of the year, enjoying a great movie, burgers, and the fun and laughter of youth. All who participated had a great time, even the adults.
Oh, the last day of the year, a great day to make a tax-deductible donation to LIGHTHOUSE 2911. I'm thinking that the first ten people who go to http://www.lighthouse2911.org/, click on the donations button, and donate $25 or more, we will send you a LIGHTHOUSE 2911 cap or t-shirt. Remember - year-end donations are tax deductible and remember LIGHTHOUSE 2911 continues to build a better future for all.
Please repost on Facebook and Twitter so others might hear about LIGHTHOUSE 2911.
Thanks,
The LIGHTHOUSEKEEPER
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
What have I learned from LIGHTHOUSE 2911 and how will I apply it to my life and my community?
I have learned how to get along with others that there is a better way of life like instead of getting into a fight, try to make friends and there is a CD playing in your head and you decide whether to change your CD. I have also learned manners and respect for others.
I will erase the bad CD in my head and start over clean with a new CD. I will be a leader instead of a follower. I will be more kind to others. I will help a friend in need.
I will encourage people to be leaders instead of followers. I will show people how to treat others and how to be respectful and responsible and I will tell them there is a better way of life. I will pass on what I have learned to others. KC – 12
This young man is becoming a lighthouse for change in his community. If you would like to help, go to http://www.lighthouse2911.org/ and make a year-end donation. This donation is tax-deductible and it doesn't matter how large or small. Every donation is needed. Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I will erase the bad CD in my head and start over clean with a new CD. I will be a leader instead of a follower. I will be more kind to others. I will help a friend in need.
I will encourage people to be leaders instead of followers. I will show people how to treat others and how to be respectful and responsible and I will tell them there is a better way of life. I will pass on what I have learned to others. KC – 12
This young man is becoming a lighthouse for change in his community. If you would like to help, go to http://www.lighthouse2911.org/ and make a year-end donation. This donation is tax-deductible and it doesn't matter how large or small. Every donation is needed. Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Transforming Church in Rural America
I just finished a great book called, "Transforming Church in Rural America" by Shannon O'Dell. I have read many books on transforming the church, but this one is far and above the best I have ever read. I hope that every pastor will read this book. It holds encouragement, hope, and vision for the rural church.
Shannon weaves his personal story into a step-by-step roadmap for transforming the church, from growth and how to generate that growth, to evangelism. He gives you steps for transformation and ways to implement those steps, but more than that, he gives you the encouragement that you can do it if you are persistent and can stand in the gap with God and endure the arrows of change that will fly your way. One of my favorite lines in the book is, "Small doesn't have to mean boring." This is a five star book, a must read for every pastor who follows Biblical principals for the church.
Shannon weaves his personal story into a step-by-step roadmap for transforming the church, from growth and how to generate that growth, to evangelism. He gives you steps for transformation and ways to implement those steps, but more than that, he gives you the encouragement that you can do it if you are persistent and can stand in the gap with God and endure the arrows of change that will fly your way. One of my favorite lines in the book is, "Small doesn't have to mean boring." This is a five star book, a must read for every pastor who follows Biblical principals for the church.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Key Facts
Key Facts
Geographic areas served: Golden Crescent - Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria Counties, Texas
Target demographics: Youth ages ten to seventeen. Other specifics vary by program.
Results to date: Very low rescidivism rates in justice programs, lower referrals, better student body moral in other programs.
Direct beneficiaries per year: Varies with program, total of all programs: 2500 Indirect beneficiaries per year: 8800
Obstacles: Funding for general operations
With 3 hours a volunteer can: Help with databasing; sell tickets; distribute materials; assist a caseworker (once trained)
What your donation will allow us to do: Offer our highly successful programs to more youth.
Your donation of $35 enables us to: Teach our Positive Attitude and Life Skills (PALS) class to one student for one month.
Your donation of $500 enables us to: Send one child, living below the federal poverty level, to camp during the summer.
Your donation of $1200 enables us to: produce one “Be the Change” session (all day) for a group of students.
Board Members and Affiliation: Rev. Paul Smith, President; Ron Langford; Ricki McKinney, Rev. Dr. Paul Beard, Executive Director; one vacancy
Past and Current Funders: Robinson Foundation, MG & Lillie Johnson Foundation, Trull Foundation; Rachel Foundation; WalMart, Texas CJD grants
Key Staff
Paul Beard, Executive Director
Randy Layh, Program Director
Vernon Gresham, Communications Director
Mary Beard, Administrative Assistant
DescriptionLighthouse 2911 is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit that for the past five years has provided tangible services to youth in a seven county area. We provide a large multi-faceted weekly program for at-risk juveniles currently dealing with juvenile justice issues, as well as multiple one day training programs dealing with teen and pre-teen issues. Many of the youth in our weekly PALS program are living below the federal poverty level.
ProgramsLighthouse 2911 offers different programs for youth in the Golden Crescent area. Our "PALS" program tangibly assists 10-17 year old youth at risk of or currently dealing with the juvenile justice system. Our "Be The Change" program provides an intense one day program for high school freshmen, dealing head on with teen issues like suicide, bullying, eating disorders, labeling, etc. Our "SafeDate" program provides an open discussion on teen dating issues from the perspective of both sexes, gives guidance on what is appropriate, excepted, and expected. "Beautiful You" addresses self-esteem issues for young ladies.
Geographic areas served: Golden Crescent - Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria Counties, Texas
Target demographics: Youth ages ten to seventeen. Other specifics vary by program.
Results to date: Very low rescidivism rates in justice programs, lower referrals, better student body moral in other programs.
Direct beneficiaries per year: Varies with program, total of all programs: 2500 Indirect beneficiaries per year: 8800
Obstacles: Funding for general operations
With 3 hours a volunteer can: Help with databasing; sell tickets; distribute materials; assist a caseworker (once trained)
What your donation will allow us to do: Offer our highly successful programs to more youth.
Your donation of $35 enables us to: Teach our Positive Attitude and Life Skills (PALS) class to one student for one month.
Your donation of $500 enables us to: Send one child, living below the federal poverty level, to camp during the summer.
Your donation of $1200 enables us to: produce one “Be the Change” session (all day) for a group of students.
Board Members and Affiliation: Rev. Paul Smith, President; Ron Langford; Ricki McKinney, Rev. Dr. Paul Beard, Executive Director; one vacancy
Past and Current Funders: Robinson Foundation, MG & Lillie Johnson Foundation, Trull Foundation; Rachel Foundation; WalMart, Texas CJD grants
Key Staff
Paul Beard, Executive Director
Randy Layh, Program Director
Vernon Gresham, Communications Director
Mary Beard, Administrative Assistant
DescriptionLighthouse 2911 is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit that for the past five years has provided tangible services to youth in a seven county area. We provide a large multi-faceted weekly program for at-risk juveniles currently dealing with juvenile justice issues, as well as multiple one day training programs dealing with teen and pre-teen issues. Many of the youth in our weekly PALS program are living below the federal poverty level.
ProgramsLighthouse 2911 offers different programs for youth in the Golden Crescent area. Our "PALS" program tangibly assists 10-17 year old youth at risk of or currently dealing with the juvenile justice system. Our "Be The Change" program provides an intense one day program for high school freshmen, dealing head on with teen issues like suicide, bullying, eating disorders, labeling, etc. Our "SafeDate" program provides an open discussion on teen dating issues from the perspective of both sexes, gives guidance on what is appropriate, excepted, and expected. "Beautiful You" addresses self-esteem issues for young ladies.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Life Rules for Teenagers
Life Rules for Teenagers
This week I thought I’d pass on some classic words of wisdom from Charles J. Sykes, author of the 1996 book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can’t Read, Write, Or Add. These rules have been incorrectly attributed to a number of other people over the years. Most recently, emails have been circulating stating that they were a part of a high school graduation ceremony speech by Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft, but that attribution is false.
In any event, these rules are timeless, humorous, and so very true. They caught my attention, so I think they will catch yours as well. Feel free to pass them on, but be sure not to attribute them to me.
Life Rules for Teenagers
Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase “It’s not fair” 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.
Rule No. 2: The real world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. It’ll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it’s not fair. (See Rule No. 1)
Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won’t make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn’t have a Gap label.
Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait ’til you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he’s not going to ask you how you feel about it.
Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren’t embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
Rule No. 6: It’s not your parents’ fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of “It’s my life,” and “You’re not the boss of me,” and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it’s on your dime. Don’t whine about it, or you’ll sound like a baby boomer.
Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn’t. In some schools, they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone’s feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)
Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don’t get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don’t get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we’re at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)
Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs.
Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you’re out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That’s what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for “expressing yourself” with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven’t seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school’s a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you’ll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You’re welcome.
These Life Rules for Teens were first written by Charles J. Sykes.
This week I thought I’d pass on some classic words of wisdom from Charles J. Sykes, author of the 1996 book Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can’t Read, Write, Or Add. These rules have been incorrectly attributed to a number of other people over the years. Most recently, emails have been circulating stating that they were a part of a high school graduation ceremony speech by Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft, but that attribution is false.
In any event, these rules are timeless, humorous, and so very true. They caught my attention, so I think they will catch yours as well. Feel free to pass them on, but be sure not to attribute them to me.
Life Rules for Teenagers
Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase “It’s not fair” 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.
Rule No. 2: The real world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. It’ll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it’s not fair. (See Rule No. 1)
Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won’t make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn’t have a Gap label.
Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait ’til you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he’s not going to ask you how you feel about it.
Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren’t embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
Rule No. 6: It’s not your parents’ fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of “It’s my life,” and “You’re not the boss of me,” and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it’s on your dime. Don’t whine about it, or you’ll sound like a baby boomer.
Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn’t. In some schools, they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone’s feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)
Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don’t get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don’t get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we’re at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)
Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs.
Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you’re out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That’s what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for “expressing yourself” with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven’t seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school’s a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you’ll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You’re welcome.
These Life Rules for Teens were first written by Charles J. Sykes.
Monday, April 5, 2010
2nd Big Announcement from LIGHTHOUSE 2911
Our second big announcement from LIGHTHOUSE 2911 is that we will be implementing a new program called "Tough Choices". It deals with building character, healing self esteem, and managing anger. This comprehensive video-driven cognitive-emotional-behavioral program goes beyond managing anger to deleting the negative and programming the positive thoughts of youth and adults. You could say it's rewriting the mind.
This four step program consists of:
- Awareness and willingness
- Deleting negative thoughts
- The physical piece
- Building new personal power life skills
We will be implimenting this program in the near future to help youth in Edna, Goliad, Cuero, Waelder, Yoakum and Hallettsville.
Tune in soon for our third announcment.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Three big changes coming to LIGHTHOUSE 2911 (well, maybe more than three)
Today I received notification that we will be able to initiate our GED and pre-GED program. This program has been three years in the works. It's not complete the way we need it to be, but with help from you and other volunteers, we can be ready to offer this in the locations which we serve. We don't have everything we need in place today, but we are 10,000 miles down the road from where we were three years ago when we first began to dream of this program opportunity. I would like to thank Mr. John for his generous donation.
And now for the other two announcements. Check back in a few days.
Paul
And now for the other two announcements. Check back in a few days.
Paul
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