What is A Better ME
Mission Statement
Equipping young people with Basic Skills for Life to guide them on their journey as they start to prepare their path to become well-rounded adults.
For the past 20 years, I have been working in After School Care. I started the job because I overheard they paid $10 hour and at the time I was making $8. I went in one year as a staff worker and that summer the President of the company promoted me to the head of my site. I had no idea what I was doing but quickly learned how to manage staff, over 100 children and in the process, I found my true calling.
Later in this journey probably midway, I saw an opportunity to compliment the school work with some life skills. With my little ones I taught them, simple cooking classes, things they could make at home with a little help, I also tried my best to empower the ones that always seemed to get in trouble with affirmations and tools to help them understand how to channel the energy they were dealing with. And while I may not have reached everyone I at least strived for planting a seed.
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I then wanted to do more, so I created a program for middle school students that gave them an overview of things they needed for life, practical things that they could use in life. Skills such as learning how to dress and perform during an interview, skills needed to get a job, how to maintain. How to eat when invited or part of a nice dinner, etiquette, chivalry, job skills.
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As years went on I wanted to offer more to these young people. I had such a joy doing mock interviews and watching them get dressed up to get the job they saw themselves doing when they got older. This created a turn in my career with my young people, I knew I was called to compliment the school and offer Life Skills.
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As years went on I added more things to this list, money management, graduation, and education after high school, or at least finding out the path they would like to take and helping them understand how to reach it no matter what it was.
When starting my master’s degree I had to do one session with one of my professors as to what we wanted to do with a Nonprofit Management Degree. I stated I wanted to take all those skills and start my program. My professor who is the President of a large non-profit in Houston asked me why I would limit this information to on brick and mortar. Why not put the information in a book so more people can have access to it.
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That was a mind-blowing moment and after some thought, I started writing. Everything that I was teaching my teens and pre-teens I wanted to put it all on paper. After two to three years of writing, I finally created a blueprint or manuscript of having Basic Skills that will help young people get prepared for their adult life. This book goes on a journey from dressing in proper settings to table and dinner etiquette, chivalry, and business and work etiquette. It covers job skills, pre during and even what it means to want to start your own. Then it goes into financial literacy, Credit, investments, major purchases, net worth. Then it moves to career readiness and ends in with understanding different types of relationships.
I want this book to be able to get picked up in a store and young adult or high school teen can self teach, or an After School Instructor, a teen youth group leader, a parent, or teens sharing with each their peers.
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My Ultimate Goal is to have this curriculum put as mandated in the school system as a mandatory class to take to graduate. I cringe every time I hear people say schools don't teach Basic Skills. If I can do my part to be a change in society it will be helping as many youths to get prepared for adult life as possible.