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Testimonials
"Thank you for providing such a high quality program for us in Jamestown.
Our dinner conversation with parents and students received many compliments
and provided an opportunity for further dialogue at home. The eighth grade
class members found the week long classes beneficial. The day at Camp Davis
was the highlight of our end of the year activities. We look forward to
working with you again next year."
Principal Kathy Almanzor, Jamestown Lawn Middle
School.
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John,
"Thank you for providing CODAC staff
with the valuable education needed to help us work with
the youth in our communities. Your ability to
communicate effective strategies to identify and prevent
bullying was very helpful. Your clear message of using
non-violent techniques was easy to absorb and I imagine
will be easy to teach and implement in the various
methods of counseling we employ in our agency."
John Feld
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Hi John,
I have finally had a chance to review the nursing
reviews from your presentation on Sept 25, and am happy
to share some comments with you. Overall, reviews
were very enthusiastic and include:
- great
video
- very
interesting
- grabs
your attention
- dynamic,
humorous, heart wrenching
- excellent
speaker, easily captivates audience
- great
presentation
- engaging
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing you speak
should you return to Bradley.
Sincerely,
Joanne Johnson
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Dear Lt. John Reis,
I would like to take this time to extend
my gratitude and appreciation for your
guidance in my exhibition. It was
a true honor to have you serve as my
mentor for these past few months.
After all of our work together, I hope
to make you proud in the completion of
this project.
First off, I wish to thank you for the
inspiration and enthusiasm you brought
to the question at hand. Your help
in developing my core question made for
a strong start to the flow of work that
followed. When I asked you
personally, "How do you think peer
pressure influences teen crimes?", your
answer was a very big help. Since
you put thought into your response, I
can quote you and your other anecdotes
throughout my reflective essay. I
am grateful to have had you as my mentor
because I feel that you're a highly
reputable source and have personal
experience in this topic. Secondly
I am grateful for all the knowledge I
acquired and the amount of insight about
my field of inquiry that I gained.
Mr. Reis, feel proud that I learned a
lot from your power point and assembly
at my school. I learned that it is
very important to stand up to violence
and bullying in any form. You
really set in this importance that I
dedicate my exhibition in teaching
others the negative affects of peer
pressure on crimes. Most of these
crimes involve violence and the gang
life you mentioned.
Lastly I wish to thank you for lending
me all those books and videos about gang
life, teen crimes, and peer pressure.
You made it very simple to find reliable
sources that met the required standards
for my exhibition. The video can
serve as my technology component and the
power point you showed me would be a
very cool addition. I hope that
this experience gave you as much joy as
it gave me and I wish you success on the
PAVE project for it is truly a wonderful
organization.
Sincerely,
Ami Shah
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In late February of 2008, the PAVE project began lesson
#1 at a middle school,( 6th grade classes),
in Lincoln, RI. Class #1 showed a DVD clip (Human
Relations Media, Teen Truth...Bullying and School
Violence)
The video, extremely
powerful focuses on how small sights can turn into
anxiety, fear, anger, and violence.
After one of the classes, a young girl named 'Valerie'
(not her real name) approached the class teacher, Mr.
Manzi, with tears welling in her eyes. She told him that
the video had really moved her and that she was ashamed
to admit that she had been teasing and taunting another
student, 'Michael' (real name not used) for quite some
time. She wanted to tell 'Michael' she was sorry! The
classroom teacher brought the two students together
where 'Valerie' was able to tell 'Michael' how she
felt, and apologized. It was, according to Mr. Manzi, an
extremely powerful moment!
Our children, certainly
the great majority of them, do not want to hurt others.
They just need some guidance. PAVE is
honored to give that to them!
Lt.
(retired) John Reis, PAVE founder and educator
"We've looked high and low for a program that delivers
the total package when it comes to bullying and student
mediation. Look no further then the "PAVE Project! The
beauty of this program is that they involve the entire
community; parents, teachers, and students working
together to solve the problems that affect our
adolescents today. Great communication and enthusiasm;
you couldn't ask for more!"
Bruce J. Macksoud
Principal
Lincoln Middle School
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John:
On behalf of
the Homestead Group, I would like to thank
you for last evening’s “bullying”
presentation at Homestead Gardens. It was
an excellent turnout of parents, children,
and staff—and everyone enjoyed it
immensely.
Going into the
evening, I had three concerns: the first was
turnout. But at 5:28 when people were
pouring into every door, I knew we were OK.
The second concern was if the kids could be
attentive for three hours. The children
that we support have varied disabilities,
and I wasn’t sure if some of them could
maintain interest. Well, thanks to the
enthusiasm that you displayed, that problem
never materialized. And the third concern
was if the kids would participate. Again,
not a problem. I was totally surprised about
how many of them volunteered to role
play—and even tell their personal bullying
stories in front of all those people. They
participated appropriately, and engaged with
you like they’d know you for years. You
have a unique talent to get kids to share,
and somehow you remembered all their names!
My coworkers were very impressed with the
interaction.
And finally,
the feedback from the families: There were a
few people who had told me prior to the
start, that they would have to leave around
7:30---those people ended up staying to the
end so they “wouldn’t miss anything”.
Several people commented to me as they
exited with genuine appreciation that this
evening took place. Again, the looks on
people’s faces reflected that the event was
a complete success.
Having said
all of this, I am extremely happy that it
all worked out, and thankful that we had
Homestead Gardens to facilitate it. I hope
we can continue to have similar events in
the future, and continue the ongoing task of
education people about this serious subject.
Thank you for what you do.
Michael
Shugrue, Coordinator, Home Based
Services
Homestead
Group, Child and Family Services
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