TEL.A.VISION | It's Your Story

Junior Achievement

Posted on 05. Jan, 2009 by Sue Hanson in All Posts, Supporters

We had a fabulous meeting with Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, Inc. and they are piloting TEL.A.VISION in their JA BizTown in White Bear Lake, MN.  JA BizTown helps prepare students for a lifetime of learning and academic achievement.

We also learned that through daily lessons, hands-on activities, and active participation in a simulated community designed to support differentiated learning styles, students develop a strong understanding of the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a local economy. What a perfect place for Tel.a.vision to be implemented!

Once the pilot is complete Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, Inc. hopes to bring TEL.A.VISION to the entire state of Minnesota! The next goal will be to bring TEL.A.VISION to the entire world!

SEARCH INSTITUTE supports TEL.A.VISION

Posted on 05. Jan, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Supporters

When we started out on this adventure, one of the first organizations with whom we met was the Search Institute, headed by CEO Dr. Peter Benson. We are believers in the message contained within Dr. Benson’s new book “Sparks” — which describes a simple yet powerful plan for awakening the spark that lives inside each and every young person and what happens when those sparks are illuminated and nurtured, giving young people joy, energy, and direction — and it was clear that our directions are quite similar.

We both believe the key to healthy youth is for them to find their unique gift(s) and have support for them to grow. We were honored to be able to present at their annual conference as well as have many of their youth presenters create TEL.A.VISION videos for their presentations.

Here are a few quotes from their letter of endorsement.

“We believe TEL.A.VISION and the empowering process of creating visions of hope for the future will be widely embraced.“

“Our current culture is filled with negativity, cynicism, and hopelessness. Our young people are the vulnerable recipients. We know from our work in positive youth and community development that it is not only possible to bring hope into the mix, it is a key to sustainable change.”

“We are delighted and energized by the potential we see in supporting and collaborating with George Johnson and TEL.A.VISION.”

We look forward to working with SEARCH in the future. Click “Continue Reading” below to read the SEARCH Institute endorsement letter sent to us by Dr. Peter Benson. (more…)

Organization Connections

Posted on 14. Dec, 2008 by Sue Hanson in All Posts, Supporters

National Youth Leadership Council
We are partnering with the National Youth Leadership Council for their 20th Annual National Service-Learning Conference: Growing Hope Cultivating Change, Mar. 18-21, 2009 in Nashville. The National Service-Learning Conference is the largest gathering of youth and practitioners involved in service-learning, drawing nearly 3,000 attendees from across the United States and many other counties each year.

George will be doing a TEL.A.VISION presentation at the conference and we will also be an exhibitor.

Tel.a.vision Day, a new vision of hope, peace and possibility premiers March 20, 2009….and we will be at the NYLC Conference!

Stay tuned to see what we will have planned for the festivities in Nashville!

Youthrive/Peace Jam
We met with Donna Gillan, Executive Director and some of her youth…what outstanding young people! We are planning on working with them for their Peace Jam festival in the Latino area of West St. Paul this summer. Noble Peace Prize Laureate, Adolfo Perez of Argentina is the guest at Peace Jam this year…what an honor for us to be involved with this fabulous organization!

George has a presentation on TEL.A.VISION at the NYLC Service Conference this March in Nashville and two Youthrive youth, Taylor and Frederick, are going to join him in his presentation. These two youth spoke at the UN last year…so look out NYLC Conference…they are dynamite!

Some of the Youthrive youth will also help Wind Eagle and Rainbow Hawk write curriculum for the First Peace movement.

Urban Ventures
We met with Mark-Peter Linguist of Urban Ventures and learned a lot about their mission to “build successful community in the city.” Urban Ventures is reweaving their neighborhood to once again become healthy, sustainable and safe. We are going to work with Mark-Peter and his staff to help the youth that they serve build vision videos.

We also learned about their fabulous CityKid Java program. CityKid Java sprang forth as a creative business venture to help Urban Ventures’ social programs become more self-sustaining. CityKid Java sells local, roasted-to order coffee from 100% Arabican beans purchased at fair trade prices or higher. Every dollar earned by CityKid Java goes to proven curricula that support disadvantaged children in the Twin Cities. CityKid Java fuels mentoring and educational programs, athletic teams, camps and youth leadership experiences. Each year more than 1,500 inner-city kids get connected to the role models, mentors and life skills they need to succeed – thanks in part to CityKid Java. To learn more about CityKid Java or to order its products, visit www.citykidjava.com.