Journey to Connect delivers an emotional, empathic, sensory immersion program designed to help students identify who they are and what they value most in life.
I created my model by first asking questions.

Questions like, Why can't we all transform challenge into triumph? Journey to Connect can't do anything about adversity. JtoC can't eliminate tragedy or failure. But by doing what we can - by delivering hope and opening the doors to new opportunity and the windows to new information - we can improve chances for kids to help themselves. We can be friends in the fight against adversity. And so the answer became - Lifetime results comes from great truth and even greater adversity.

And questions such as: What does it take to help them reach their dreams? Today's youth often face a fruitless choice - between the safety of conformance and the risks of independence. It's a choice that can mean the difference of life - and of a lifetime. The Journey to Connect program helps kids understand that choice. We help them do more than hope: We help them decide. So the answer became - It's not about planting hope... it's about teaching decision.

And, How did we first learn to connect with others? Education happens in the most unlikely places and with unlikely teachers. Kids who learn how and when to learn also learn how and when to trust, and dream, and to succeed. Journey to Connect helps young people find teachers in teammates, coaches in classrooms, and fellow students in their daily lives. So the answer became, Taught to love and dance, we are finally coached to live.

And, How do we nurture the integrity of our Youth? Truth and caring in youth grow into integrity we all seek as adults. Journey to Connect seeks to install this truth in kids. To nurture it into a way of life and a culture of honesty, and ultimately to see it prosper in young adults as the fundamental ethic of a new society. We care about our youth, about their issues and about their decisions, and we help coach them to be players on a team that wins in life. OS the answer became, Leadership that loves. Coaching that cares.

Finally, Who takes us back to the basics? Connect represents people who care and people who can see need. People who can sense despair, and people who can help others find ways to live lives that are fulfilled by achievement and enriched by service to others. We draw upon the strengths and wisdom of those who have lived - and to those who have achieved - to best assist those who are still trying. So the answer became, Taking our place in the circle of life.

With all the above realizations I went to work creating a curriculum designed to be delivered in the most effective method possible - sensory immersion.

Problema

We experience a disconnect in every area of our lives, i.e. school, home, work, and in most of our relationships yet we seldom stop to ask why. If we knew why would we even know how to resolve it? Today people, young and old, seem to have a disconnect to each other - the distance grows wider with every passing generation. The need is more empathy. All children everywhere ask, Who and I? Why am I here? What am I to become? And all kids deal with peer pressures and adversity on many levels that learning how to answer life's biggest questions are rarely taught - and the cycle goes on day after day. We have become so distant from who we are and who are destined to be that chaos rules many young peoples lives today as well as adults. Until we learn to give to others we cannot have an emotionally fulfilling life - and so everything else becomes less that what it could be. Empathy is taught. Unfortunately, it is not a right given to us to by birth. We must imagine what it is like to be another persons shoes and that takes engaging our imaginations. Engaging the imagination also needs to be taught. Journey To Connect helps students to tap their imaginations by immersing them through sensory immersion programs and workshops.

Solución

After asking my questions and identifying the answers, I sat back and realized - now the work really begins - the big question - How do we teach this to all students who all have different modalities of learning? Sensory immersion answers this challenge beautifully. My program is designed to address all modalities of learning. Engaging both sides of the human brain ensures a focus, and a retention that cannot be achieved any other way - because we add another level we engage all the senses. Using imagery and music while delivering a workbook driven program is perhaps the richest learning environment one could be in. If you "entertain" the right side of the brain it leaves the left side of the brain free to focus and learn new concepts. This method allows kids with ADD, ADHD and other learning challenges to remain focused and and engaged without distraction.

Ejemplo

We can all be nurtured and strengthened by the community that surrounds us. Journey To Connect intends to be a catalyst for bringing together individuals, agencies and businesses in the community to share their strengths, skills and resources. The partnerships and collaborations that are formed will enable the Journey To Connect program to offer accessible, hands-on workshops, programs and trainings as well as drop-in time and informal gatherings that will allow each student to move toward their personal goals. Together, we can build a community that enables each individual the opportunity to see how far they can go. So you know the background and how this program came into the light. Back in 1999 I was the VP of Corporate Communications for an online educational company. As head of communications it was my responsibility to keep communications flowing both externally and internally. One day I was put to a challenge. Two departments had spent weeks arguing and fighting over the upcoming advertising/marketing campaign. The Marketing department historically believes they have "control" over the creative and stand guard aggressively at the gate, forever watchful of anyone who tries to enter, especially if it is someone from the "outside." Meanwhile, the editorial department, full of creative writers and teachers, were just bursting to offer their creative input. After several fiery emails by each department and more than a couple passionate one-on-one meetings with each department it was clear that this dissention wasn't going away. So, I decided to take control of the situation. Monday morning I informed each department that we will be having a creative brainstorming session on the following Thursday. Over the next few days I transformed the conference room into a sensory immersion environment. I purchased a dozen black king sized bed sheets and with a half dozen bags full of glow-in-the-dark stars I proceeded to hot glue the stars to the sheets to the ceiling the walls and the floor of the conference room. All this was done in secrecy so that nobody knew what was in store for them. When Thursday morning came around the company was abuzz with curiosity about what was going on in the conference room. With furniture, paintings and the phone system now lining the halls of the second floor, the two departments started to line up outside the conference room door. Each employee was asked to remove their shoes, this immediately caused the employees to feel out of balance, after all work isn't the place where you typically walk around without shoes. I then blindfolded each employee, immediately removing the one sense most of us take for granted. With shoes off and blindfolds on, I led each one into the room and had them lay down on the floor. With intense instrumental music playing all around them they were asked to remove their blindfolds - at once the air was sucked out of the room with the surprise and awe of each employee gasping at the view of the universe. Once the music stopped a low light was brought up and the workbooks were handed out. Designed to last only an hour and half the program lasted for four hours. When the brainstorming session had ended we had a room full of human beings feeling tremendous empathy for one another - not marketers and editors at odds, feeling fearful and threatened or employees feeling ignored and not validated. People who reminded themselves that they were the same and that they all had the same needs. After the session each employee came up to me asking if we could do these sessions monthly, some were in tears at the realization that they got caught up in their own fears and failed to feel for one another and forgot that "it's not all about me." After everyone had gone, I sat in the middle of this simple room transformed into a small universe I had this sudden realization - what if I produced this in a planetarium? What if I brought people from all walks of life, backgrounds, professions, religious beliefs and various levels of education into one planetarium room and conducted this same program? And so 12 months later I did. Under the dome of the Boston Museum of Science Charles Hayden Planetarium 200 people were invited to come and experience the Journey to Connect, but not just to experience it to critique and offer their thoughts and opinions. What I believed could be a paradigm shift in education the guests confirmed. The guests were made up of lawyers, doctors, nurses, educators, business leaders, professionals, CEO's, parents and students. By the end of the evening the invited guests assured me that I was onto something huge, encouraging me to take this to all levels of education. I now had the additional information and the conviction that this is something larger. Now the work begins. This initial idea has blossomed and grown into a multi-faceted program that can help boys and girls, men and women of all ages. It can be used to help anyone in education, business, and community-based programs. It is blind to economic status, religious beliefs and cultural backgrounds. It is a program that finally answers the question, why can't we all transform challenge into triumph?

Mercado

I have delivered to high school students, youth groups, The Boys and Girls Club of America, Social Services organizations, individual families and to corporations looking to connect their employees and eliminate negative behavior, assumptions and division. There are several venues where this program can be delivered. First, any classroom (room) can be transformed into a multi-sensory immersion environment. With portable sound and a projector I have transformed the most basic of spaces into a sensory learning environment. Secondly, if budget allows - there are a portable planetarium domes that will hold up to 60 students at a time. All the equipment folds down to fit inside a hockey sized bag for easy transportation - one instructor can easily transport and set up the dome. Gymnasiums are ideal locations as are the assembly Finally, an idea I hope that one day will built in to schools curriculum, the ultimate environment a science planetarium. I have learned that essentially every city has a planetarium as do many colleges. I have found, as in the case of the Boston Museum of Science and Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, New Hampshire for example, they are very open and willing to accommodate educational programming. . Planetariums are typically nonprofit and serve most all communities both urban and suburban Planetariums are also ideal because to the inner city kids because they are easily accessible. I cannot address who my peers or competitors are. All of the community base programs and organizations love this program, schools have begged me to run this program for their at risk kids as well as those who cannot decide which college to attend and are looking for direction. I have yet to encounter any program doing what I am doing.