Extended Family Leadership Academy has excellent volunteer guest speakers from the community who share information with our groups on careers and job readiness, health and healthy relationships, and communication skills. Our speakers use creative ways to illustrate their messages, and it is so much fun to watch the kids when the message clicks.
Career Coaches Heather Money and Jennifer Bright present a lesson called, “What is the Path to Your Dream Career?” which teaches students to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely). To illustrate this lesson, they divide the group into two teams and give each a ball and a bucket. At the beginning, only two team members participate – the one throwing the ball is blindfolded and the one holding the bucket is not allowed to move the bucket to help catch the ball. In subsequent attempts, other team members are allowed to help get the ball into the bucket, until finally the team, working together, is able to easily move the ball down the line and reach the goal. This game is a simple and effective way to teach Our Kids that setting and achieving goals is easier with help.
Extended Family has had a lot of help in achieving our goals. We partner with the most amazing people and agencies to provide programs and services for families dealing with incarceration in an effort to prevent children from entering the juvenile justice system, reduce the rate of recidivism among adult and youth offenders, and break the cycle of incarceration in families. By reaching our goals, we are strengthening families and making our communities safer.
We are always grateful to all of you for supporting Extended Family and our programs. We can’t wait to see what the new year holds! Together, we are changing lives, one family at a time.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Extended Family!
