Achiever McBeaver Character Education Launches New Grant Program for Title 1 Schools

In the fall of 2008, the educator design team at Achiever McBeaver radically changed how elementary schools are able to present quality Character Education Programs material to their K-6 students. In an economic climate where many school districts are unable to afford full time counselors for each individual campus - the unique Achiever Radio program allows a school to implement a simple, time friendly, wide reaching, and effective character values program without draining staff manpower or taking much time from the school day. Because the easy to use “cartoon radio” program utilizes the school wide reach of the PA system, a building principal can easily reach an entire campus in 8 minutes or less per week.

Achieving great program success - within just one year - many tens of thousands of elementary students are hearing the Achiever Radio program weekly. However, the educator design team at Achiever McBeaver is set to announce a new grant program geared specifically for Title 1 campuses. With a desire to positively impact children at some of our nation’s neediest schools, the Achiever Radio Character Education grant program will partner Achiever McBeaver and his College Crew friends with up to 12 Title 1 schools per calendar year in order to provide free radio kit materials. The Title 1 program is set to begin in the fall of 2010 – for more information regarding the grant or to apply for your campus – please contact the Achiever Radio team at info@achievermcbeaver.com.

Character Education Must Be Squeezed Back Into The School Day

In a modern era where our young children are learning their core values from TV, rap music, Britney Spears, video games, and SpongeBob Squarepants … it is becoming more important than ever that elementary schools spend a small portion of their week focused on the development of character education skills. Frankly, I refuse to believe that pop culture can do a better job of educating and training our kids than our parents and teachers. For better or worse, those kiddos sitting in classrooms across this country are the leaders and tax payers of tomorrow … and I would much rather that they didn’t reference “Bakugan the Battle Brawlers” for their core ethics training!
But many elementary schools don’t have time to spare for character education programs because of the increased pressures and demands of standardized testing. Testing standards and accountability are important aspects of creating healthy public school systems, but schools are struggling to keep up with the new rigorous academic testing standards. As a direct result, character education often gets squeezed from the weekly schedule.

Character Education Programs That Require Little Time Investment

Instead of squeezing character education out of the school week, schools must find creative and innovative ways to squeeze it right back in! Honestly, I’d much rather have our kids build core values from our teachers and public schools than from Nickelodeon’s iCarly! In fact, there are many character education programs readily available that require little time investment by the school staff – and these programs do a very nice job of reaching an entire campus.

Among the simple, time-friendly, and highly effective ways of reaching a campus with high quality character education programming includes Project Wisdom. This program has been around since 1992 and it focuses on brief vignettes that are read daily during morning announcements over the school PA system. The nice thing about this character program is that it only takes a few minutes per day to implement and requires no additional instruction from the classroom teachers.

Another great way of inserting character education programming into your school week is by playing short cartoon radio shows over the school PA system. Utilized one day a week during morning announcements, teachers aren’t asked to bear the burden of preparing additional lessons or having to sacrifice time from their academic schedules. Furthermore, character education programs like Achiever Radio allow for a school wide reach with the investment of only a few total minutes per week. The Achiever Radio program also helps build weak student listening skills…which is a skill that has been horribly lost in this video rich day and age!

If We Don’t Answer The Character Call … Pop Culture Will

Increased standardized testing and academic accountability are necessary steps for improving our nation’s schools and shaping this country into a global leader in education. But, we simply cannot allow these increased measures to come at the expense of developing students with great moral and ethical character. And if we fail to answer the call and make time in the school day to build character … pop culture will gladly continue to shape those students for us.

Achiever McBeaver Character Education Announces Industry Leading 90 Day Money Back Guarantee!

In the fall of 2008, the educator design team at Achiever McBeaver radically changed the way elementary schools present character education material to students. Designing the program based on the needs of time crunched counselors and educators, Achiever Radio has become a fun, low cost, simple to use, and wide reaching method of creating behavior change in less than 8 total minutes per week. Because the “cartoon radio” program utilizes the school wide reach of the PA system and requires little time investment from staff members - within just one year - tens of thousands of elementary students are hearing the Achiever Radio program weekly.

Now, the educators at Achiever McBeaver are taking the character education radio program one step further … offering an unheard of 90 day money back guarantee. The educator design team is so confident that the program will be enjoyed by your students, that schools can use Achiever Radio risk free for up to 3 months … and then return if for a full refund if it doesn’t meet expectations. No other character education program offers anything close!

Achiever McBeaver is radically changing the way schools present character education material to their students. More importantly, Achiever McBeaver is radically changing the lives of many students around the country … and that is the true goal of any educator.

Character Education Must Include A Focus On College Promotion

CHARACTER EDUCATION

In order to be successful in school and life, students MUST have goals, dreams, and plans for the future. Honestly, most children have no idea why they are in school - they simply think that they have to go because adults make them go! Yet, even from a very young age, kids need to "want" to go to school and they must enjoy the process of learning because it meets their own academic and emotional needs.

When young students go to school each day only because adults make them go … their education will lack personal relevance or meaning. These students without an innate desire or passion to learn will always grossly underperform and take the path of academic least resistance. However, when kids have a connection to the real world and to personal career goals and dreams (no matter whether they want to attend trade, vocational, junior, community, or 4 year college) – students will then:

• do better academically
• behave better in school
• make better life related choices
• choose healthier friendships
• have healthier self-esteems
• become life-long independent learners
• and be more passionate about the future

Definition of College, Any form of Higher Learning Beyond High School.
A four year degree from a major college or university isn’t for everyone ... and that is OK. But, everyone needs to have a dream. Dreams of higher learning can include trade or vocational schools where kids can have careers that use their hands as well as their minds! Careers like these can include craft or skill jobs like plumbers, computer or software designers, carpenters, mechanics, electricians, chefs, and a host of other neat positions.

It doesn’t matter what your child wants to be when he or she leaves high school - but what does matter - is that they want to be the best at what they do. They need to desire to be the most trained, most educated, and most knowledgeable at their chosen craft. With more skill and more training, comes more opportunity!

Dreams come in different shapes, colors, and sizes - but the important thing is that we have personal dreams from a young age. Without a desire or passion to reach out into the future, school becomes a chore instead of a mission or quest for success. When kids have a purpose in school, they will out perform your wildest imagination!

College Goals are Essential for Success
Our kids need goals to shoot for - without them they will always choose the path of academic least resistance. Challenges will go unmet, opportunities will be squandered, and kids will all too often refuse to push themselves beyond the expectation of the classroom teacher. In an attempt to provide fuel for dreaming about college and careers, the Achiever McBeaver character education program & character education resources encourages children to focus on the future, reach for the stars, gain a vested interest in school, and develop obtainable career goals. Most kids that under perform in the classroom are those that find little relevance to school, but when children have thought about career goals and hold a desire for the future - school becomes meaningful. And, when something you are doing is meaningful … of course you will do better at it!

Furthermore, with a weakened economy and rising college tuition costs, so many parents think that college for their children is an unreachable dream … but it isn’t! College goals (including trade, technical, 2 year, junior, and community college) should be a primary focus for each and every child - no matter your income level. Websites like http://www.iamgoingtocollege.com offer information and access to over $80 billion in free college funding. The money is there, you just need to know where to look!

Dare your kids to dream about the future and help them reach for it … you will be amazed at the results!