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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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