Fall Update from TEL.A.VISION

Posted on 16. Dec, 2010 by in All Posts, Story of TEL.A.VISION, TEL.A.VISION News

Up With People
In October I visited Washington DC to watch the Up With People show, then followed the cast to Harrisonburg,   Virginia to teach a select group of cast members and the management team about TEL.A.VISION. Up With People is a group of International students that travel the world bringing a message of peace, hope and possibility. They have been doing this since 1965.
In January I will be training their whole cast in TEL.A.VISION and beginning our vision of bringing vision videos to 6th grade students in communities they travel to. In addition to the 80 cast members we hope to work with the 20,000 alumni and have them bring TEL.A.VISION  to their communities.

Spark.A.Vision
In November I participated in the Big Tent Conference in Houston. We created a new product called Spark.A.Vision. It is a combination of Dr. Peter Benson’s work on Sparks and TEL.A.VISION. Dr. Benson’s research has shown that what every young person needs for a successful upbringing is to find his/her spark in life and have three adults support them. TEL.A.VISION  is a way to help a young person identify their spark and share it with the world. We had a fabulous response in Houston and look forward to collaborating to bring this to the world. W believe this work could be enhanced by proposed regulations to begin Career and College Preparedness with students in sixth grade.
Here is a video where students talk about their experience creating Spark.A.Vision videos.

TIES Conference
In December Bob Dockendorf, Gwen Toppe and I presented at the TIES Conference. Bob is the Principal of Big Lake High School. This fall Big Lake held “Transition Day” for all ninth graders on the first day of school. Every ninth grader began a TEL.A.VISION  video on that day. Teachers created videos that they shared with the students. They talked to the students about the importance of having a vision for their lives. At the conference Bob shared stories of the difference the program has made with individual students and initial results from the vision videos. These results included a 2.6% increase in attendance and a 30% drop in the number of write ups for disciplinary problems.

Foundation Grants
This fall we received a Community Grant from the Best Buy Foundation to fund expansion of TEL.A.VISION in Twin Cities Schools. In 2011 we will be funding research on TEL.A.VISION’s effectiveness and a number of pilot programs for At Risk youth. With a grant from the Rothmann Family Foundation we have funded programs including the use of TEL.A.VISION by youth at the Mercy Center in Bangkok, http://www.mercycentre.org. Mercy Center is a hospital for children with AIDS. They will be creating vision videos to send to their sponsors.
If you know of any foundations or organizations you think would be interested in helping fund TEL.A.VISION please let us know.

Quotes from Nebraska High School Students
This fall we received testimonials from High School Students in Nebraska who had completed vision videos. In this blog post we share some of the quotes. Here is one of our favorites: “Thank you soooo much I was really having a tough time in my life and wasnt really paying attention to anything. I drank and I was even considering joining a gang but now this has really just set me back an my path and I can actually see wer im going so thank you.”

Vision – Awakening Your Potential to Create a Better World

Posted on 27. May, 2009 by in All Posts, Power of Vision

vision-cover-finalIf you’ve found your way to the TEL.A.VISION blog you must be interested in vision. Our friend, Dr. Peter Benson, from the SEARCH Institute has just written a book called “Vision – Awakening Your Potential to Create a Better World”. It is available here from the Templeton Press.

I’ve read the book and believe it is the perfect compliment to creating a vision video. Our hope is to create a curriculum on vision that would include reading the book and creating a TEL.A.VISION video.

Here are the publishers comments from the book’s order page:
According to Peter L. Benson, the capacity to generate vision is among life’s most beautiful and unheralded gifts. To him, a vision is more than just a goal, more than just a dream of what could be—it is a summons, a pull towards the future, an inspired call to make real that which should be. In Vision: Awakening Your Potential to Create a Better World Benson takes readers on an uplifting exploration of this powerful concept.

Once I started the book I couldn’t put it down. I’m sure you will enjoy it also.

A Positive Vision and Its Impact

Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by in All Posts, Power of Vision


Jumping for Joy! (more…)

TEL.A.VISION IGNITES SPARKS

Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by in All Posts, Power of Vision, Vision Videos

sparksTEL.A.VISION helps youth ignite their sparks through creativity.  Sparks – Inner flames that breathe the passion of who we are into our lives.  Spark originates from inside you.  It is yours to claim, nourish and put into the world.  This is the theme to Peter Benson’s (Ph.D. and president of Search Institute) newest book, Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers.

Benson’s research identifies 32 Spark categories including Creative Arts as the number one category under which our youth’s sparks are ignited.  Surveying American teenagers, it was found that 100% of kids clearly believe in the idea of spark. 69% of teens say they have spark and 62% say they can name their spark.  Identifying and claiming each of our individual sparks is the key to human thriving, being truly alive with passion and purpose.

Support our youth, become a Spark Champion.  Every young person is more likely to thrive if they have three or more adults who see, affirm and nurture their spark.  We want to commend Crystal for sharing her creative spark.  After participating in the 2008 HCHY Search Conference she felt compelled to TEL.A.VISION about Sparks.  Check out Crystal’s Sparks Tel.A.Vision.

Now that you’ve watched Crystal’s sparks in action, LIGHT YOUR OWN & FUEL SOMEONE ELSE’S SPARK.  Check out IgniteSparks.