Tips On How To Fund A Youth Speaker

Share the speaker with another school in your area on the same day. The speaker's fee is cut nearly in HALF for your school if you share them with another school. They can speak at your school in the morning and a neighboring school in the afternoon. The speaker speaks to more students, and you save money. Check with your school administration for funding from the Associated Student Body fund. For teacher in-service programs, ask about Staff Development. Plan to integrate and highlight the speaker into a major theme such as cultural awareness week, peace programs, etc... Depending on your theme, federal grant money might be available. For example, Agencies might approve a funding request for a speaker who addresses alcohol and drug prevention, sexual abstinence, tobacco use, teen pregnancy, gangs, crime and violence prevention. Check with your school district or federal government office to find out who has available funds in your state. Request an application form. Apply for other grant monies from your state by contacting your State Department of Human Services and State Department of Education. They can direct you to the correct office. Contact other local agencies in your county that already have grant monies from state agencies. For example, the Criminal Justice Department or Department of Public Safety might have distributed funds into mental health agencies or programs for mentoring youth. Contact your school's PTO or PTA. Share your plans with them. They are more likely to contribute funds for a well thought out plan. Have student leaders contact local business organizations: Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Lions Club, Elks, Chamber of Commerce. Present your plan and request their sponsorship. Contact several of your larger local businesses, especially those related to services for teens and their families. Ask for the owner, CEO or Community Services Department. If they are willing to help sponsor the speaker, you can exchange the favor by announcing their support to your students and parents.

"Are You Not Crazy Enough?"

"Are you crazy?"  It's a question that we have all heard before.  Some of us may have been asked this question and some may have asked others this question.

It's a question, when asked, that is usually followed by a stern warning, or some other kind of discouragement of the action being questioned.

You see, people normally don't like change.   Most thoughts, actions, and ideas that are outside of the "norm" aren't normally well received.  

Well, first of all, who said that "normal" was a good thing?  In fact, if you look at most successful people, you will find that most of them were crazy.  The "world as we know it" was molded and shaped by crazy people with crazy ideas.

It is my suggestion that in order to be successful you have to be a little crazy.  Crazy thoughts, plus crazy ideas, plus crazy actions, equals crazy results!

You would have to be crazy to drop out of Harvard University to start a company that sells a product for a device that most American families didn't have, but Bill Gates did it.

You would have to be crazy to pack up your family, jump on a boat, and move to a foreign land that you have never been to before.  But that is exactly what some of the most influential and famous immigrants who have shaped our country did.

You would have to be absolutely bonkers to move across the country, sleep in your car, and not know where your next meal was coming from.  But Jim Carrey did it. Tyler Perry did it.   And so did many of the actors, singers, and artists the we enjoy today.

For the most part, everybody wants to "make it".  We all want to be successful, accomplish our goals, and see our dreams.  Whether it is being rich and famous or simply being happy.  So what's stopping us?  Are our ideas too crazy?  Are our dreams too far fetched?  What goal seems far from ever being reached?

What I am suggesting is that many of us are not crazy enough!  Not crazy enough to leave.  Not crazy enough to start that business.  Not crazy enough to just do "it"!

The problem may not be that you are crazy. The problem may be that you are not crazy enough!

"Michael Vick Perseverance"

Michael Vick

Perseverance- It means to persist; to keep moving forward in a course of action, in spite of difficulties, discouragements, or obstacles.

I don't know about you, but I love a good comeback story.  Something or someone that you can relate to, that is inspiring.  In my quest to encourage and inspire others myself, I am able to make some wonderful discoveries of people and events that are life changing, to say the very least.

In the midst of all the doom and gloom in the media about how bad the economy is, the crimes and scandals, and other sad news, we desperately need some good news sometime.  A quiet (or loud) reminder that it is not all bad, and motivation to keep moving forward.

There is no stronger motivator, or what I call "the source of motives", than love and passion.  We all need what I call,"Michael Vick Perseverance".

The story of an NFL quarterback, who had the drive and determination to make one of the biggest comebacks in American history.

Michael Vick is an NFL football player for the Philadelphia Eagles football team.  He is one of the most talented players to ever play the game.  Vick played college football at Virginia Tech, where as a freshman he placed third in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He left after his sophomore year to enter the NFL and was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2001 NFL Draft. He became the first African-American quarterback to be selected first overall in an NFL Draft. In six seasons with the Falcons, he gained wide popularity for his performance on the field, and led the Falcons to the playoffs twice. Vick ranks second among quarterbacks in career rushing yards.

But in August 2007, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegal dog fighting, and served 21 months in prison, followed by two months in home confinement. He lost his NFL salary, he lost product endorsement deals, and combined with previous financial mismanagement, Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2008. Falcons owner Arthur Blank did not want Vick on the Falcons, and after attempts to trade him failed, Vick was released.

But Vick had perseverance and drive.  He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and was reinstated in Week 3 of the 2009 season.  


<sup>This season, Vick is on track to be the most valuable player, make it to the pro bowl, and lead his team to the playoffs.  He regularly speaks to youth about making good choices in life. 

Despite of difficulties, obstacles, and discouragements,  he kept moving forward.  With a love and passion, (and God given talent) for the game of football as his motive, the world now has a story of one of the greatest comebacks and examples of perseverance ever told.

And that is what we need to have.  We need to have "Michael Vick Perseverance".  I'm sure that their were times where Vick wanted to give up.  Times where he threw up his hands and said, "what else can go wrong"? But he persisted and kept moving forward.  

So what's your difficulty?  A breakup or divorce? What's your discouragement? A failed business? What's your obstacle? Foreclosure? A bankruptcy?  Keep moving forward! Use "Michael Vick Perseverance"!</sup>