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FROM CHILDREN:

“It's when you use your power to control what you do.”

 

 



“If someone hit you, you would go somewhere and go and do self-control time.”

 

 

 

“We learn to use our self-control not to fight or use guns when someone is bothering you or teasing you.”







“The best part is learning how I use my self-control and empower myself to do my best and having self-confidence.”








“It's to help us do our best if somebody's mean to you, you can use your self-control to walk away and if you get mad you can go into self-control time to calm yourself down.”

 




FROM PARENTS:

“Many children we see in court lack self-discipline, and have no way to learn it. If skills like self-control are taught at the grade school level, children will have the foundation they need for success in life.”—Maya Fombelle, Lawyer and Parent

“It’s been very comforting for me as a parent to know that she has these tools, these skills... her self control and responsibility. These aren’t just terms that she learned that she’s going to forget. They are tools that she’s internalized that she can bring with her. She’ll have them when she goes off to college. They will stay with her for ever just like ABC’s. You don’t learn them one day and then forget them the next; you learn them and apply them to new situations. So, for me that was very comforting as a parent.” —Elaine Metropolis, Parent of Lesson One student


“Quick story about the skills our children have learned—one of our daughters developed a very large lump on her arm, almost overnight. Our pediatrician sent us immediately into Boston, to Children's Hospital, for tests. We were at the Hospital for the entire day, and our daughter endured many frightening tests. Her behavior was exemplary. Finally, when the doctors completed as many tests as they could, with no results, they wanted to perform a MRI. However, they would only perform an MRI on a child her age (5 years old at the time) under anesthesia. They wanted to do the test immediately, but the use of anesthesia would require a separate visit the next day and delay results that much longer. The staff asked if we thought our daughter could remain still for 45 minutes, in the MRI tube. We said "of course". We explained the process to her, and asked her to stay in self-control time during the test. She did just as we requested. The staff was amazed. They had never had anyone that young be able to remain motionless for three minutes, never mind 45! We told them about Lesson One, and they thought it was incredible. They saw first-hand the benefits of the ABCs of Life.”—Beverly Dunne, Parent


FROM EXPERTS IN THE FIELD:

“I have spent a fair amount of time over the last years reviewing what interventions are addressing youth violence and crime... One or two things stand out from all that review. ‘Lesson One’ is one of those.” —Philip B. Heymann, Harvard Law School and Former US Deputy Attorney General

“We need to look at programs such as this as a part of a much larger, much more comprehensive strategy that school districts employ, not only to prevent disorder and disruption, but violent behavior.” —Bill Modzeleski, Director, Safe and Drug Free Schools Programs, US Department of Education





“Lesson One is a model for violence prevention for the entire nation. I have always been particularly impressed that Lesson One concentrates on elementary school students before they reach the age of adolescence where interpersonal violence becomes much more common and lethal.” —Alvin F. Poussaint, MD, Harvard Medical School


FROM TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS, AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS:

“We are searching for ways to help our students deal with the new realities of the world they live in, especially living in the nation’s capitol. We see the philosophy of Lesson One as an important way of helping our students learn the skills for life that they must have.” —Pam Klobukowski, Principal, Washington, DC

“The kids have talked about their self-control, responsibility—that they have the power to make choices—I mean those are tremendous skills. Respecting other people's opinions, cooperation.  I mean those are skills that I have seen not only academically in the classroom, enabling them to do their best with those skills in the classroom, but also outside the classroom as well socially.” —Jonathan Heller, Teacher, Massachusetts

 

"In my 30 years of teaching, I had never seen anything that helps children internalize skills that relate to all aspects of their lives like Lesson One. Lesson One is what our society desperately needs."—Jeri Kortcamp, Teacher, Wisconsin

"Lesson One has given our staff and students the tools to transition from four small buildings into one large building. Our new culture of consistent, positive messages has given us a strong foundation for our new school that naturally flows into homes and community.” —June Logan & Betty Washington, Principals, Ohio

“Before, we used to spend a lot of time on discipline and now we spend less time on that and more time on educating.”—Helen Apostolides, Principal, Massachusetts

 

 


“One of the most exciting gifts that Lesson One brought to our classrooms was the gift of time. Every Lesson One evaluation that I have from the teaching staff talks about how he/she now has more time to teach due to the Lesson One skills being utilized in the classroom. I hope you understand what that means for our children: higher test scores, less academic frustration and drop outs, less conflicts, more students moving in the direction of higher education.” —Marie Alviz, Guidance Counselor, California

“I've benefited from Lesson One too...  It's helped me with self-confidence issues. It gives the kids self-confidence… but you learn also what your teaching.” —Carolyn Fisher, Teacher, Massachusetts

“Many students have shared stories where they have resolved conflicts more peacefully than they normally would have due to their capacity to take a moment and maintain their self-control. In a school with Lesson One, you can pick any aspect of the day and watch it in action.” —Steve Hamilton, Social Worker, Michigan

“We continue to use Lesson One with great success. Feedback from parents and others who have heard about Lesson One continues to sing its praises. Thank you for the true gift you have given our school.” —Sue Tyrie, Pre-School Director, New Hampshire

“Lesson One held the missing link to the problems in our school. Our students needed that structure of a culture-wide plan that emphasized academics as well as behavior and character development. After working with Lesson One, our students felt empowered and the staff felt successful.” —Janell Bovis, Principal, Florida

 

 


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