ARISE Programs Help Struggling Juvenile Justice Facility Achieve “Deemed Status.”

MEDIA RELEASE
ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021

Fax: (561) 630-2790
 
Contact: Edmund Benson
Office 561-630-2021

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE programs help struggling juvenile justice facility achieve “deemed status.”

Eleven months ago, ARISE began training the staff of Thompson Academy in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The staff’s hard work and dedication have resulted in the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice awarding Thompson with an 86% “commendable” rating, qualifying them for “deemed status,” a title that only four other facilities in Florida earned this year.

Nearly a year ago, ARISE Foundation began an intensive series of training programs at Thompson Academy, a 154-bed residential facility for moderate-risk juvenile offenders. Before ARISE came to Thompson, the facility struggled with low staff morale and below-average quality assurance ratings.

ARISE launched a comprehensive approach at Thompson, not only training the staff to conduct lively ARISE group discussions and activities with the incarcerated youth, but to work with the staff themselves to help them better cope with their stress. ARISE trained 111 staff members in its one-of-a-kind ARISE Drop it at the Door workshop. They certified 49 staff members as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators, giving those individuals the knowledge and confidence to engage the youth and lead them through the ARISE life skills curricula. ARISE also put one staff member through its comprehensive Master Life Skills Training. Having a Master Trainer on staff at Thompson allows that person to continue to train additional staff members as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators, keeping the program going indefinitely and helping thousands of young men learn vital life skills.

The extensive ARISE training programs at Thompson Academy, along with the enthusiasm and determination of the staff itself, led to widespread change throughout the facility. The staff is better able to handle their emotions, leading to less stress and higher job satisfaction. Morale improved and the facility achieved “deemed status” after years of below-average ratings.

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has functioned as a developer and publisher of unique life-management skills curricula and staff training programs. Created to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth. ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for at-risk teenagers and young adults and the people who care for them.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and capture the attention of even the most introverted participants. ARISE gives structure to well-meaning but disorganized programs, moving away from lectures and into dynamic group conversations where the youth are involved and talking about their own experiences.

For more information, please call Edmund Benson at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org.

ARISE Master Trainers Bring One-of-a-Kind Life Skills Lessons to Detention Facilities across Florida.

MEDIA RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

 
Contact: Edmund Benson
Office 561-630-2021

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE Master Trainers Bring One-of-a-Kind Life Skills Lessons to Detention Facilities across Florida.

ARISE Master Trainers contribute knowledge and leadership to detention centers in Florida.

There are 25 detention facilities in the state of Florida. As of November 2009, ARISE life skills training programs are being utilized in 22 of those facilities. The Master Trainer program plays a big part in the continuation of the ARISE interactive group lessons. The newly-certified ARISE Master Trainers return to their sites and teach other staff members how to engage the youth and effectively use the innovative ARISE curricula as ARISE Life Skills Facilitators.

The five-day ARISE Master Trainer workshop is an intense experience for juvenile justice staff. In just a week, these dedicated individuals are transformed into powerhouses of knowledge and expertise. They take their new skill set and use it to educate and motivate the rest of the staff. ARISE Master Trainers certify and mentor their new Life Skills Facilitators and show them how doing the life skills lessons gives incarcerated youth the tools they need to stay out of the adult prison system and lead productive, successful lives.

The Master Training workshop takes commitment and dedication, but the results are often dramatic.

“The Master Training helped me expand my thinking,” said Joe Bellamy of the Osceola Detention Center in Kissimmee, Florida said. “I was able to share my personal experiences. It was very informative and helpful.”

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has functioned as a developer and publisher of life-management skills curricula and staff training programs. Created to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth. ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and capture the attention of even the most introverted participants.

ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training workshop, mentioned above, certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities. The ARISE Drop It at the Door training shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa.

ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is not for profit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at rock-bottom prices. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than three million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, please call Edmund Benson at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org.

ARISE to conduct its Renowned Master Training Workshop in Marianna with a Select Group of Florida Juvenile Justice Staff.

MEDIA RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790
 
Contact: Edmund Benson
Office 561-630-2021

 
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE to conduct its Renowned Master Training Workshop in Marianna with a Select Group of Florida Juvenile Justice Staff.

ARISE Master Life Skills Certification gives juvenile justice staff the understanding and assurance they need to assume leadership roles and teach others how to facilitate ARISE life skills groups.

ARISE Foundation will conduct its Master Life Skills Training workshop October 5^th through 9^th at Chipola College, 3094 Indian Circle. This groundbreaking five-day course will run from 9:00 to 4:30 each day.

Participants in this remarkable workshop will be able to take what they have learned and effectively train others at their organization to lead lively group discussions and activities with the troubled youth and young adults in their charge. The “Big 10” interactive group activities are designed to draw troubled youth out of their shells, get them talking and make them feel listened to and respected. ARISE life-skills lessons are tailor-made for learners with reading and learning deficiencies and severe behavioral issues. The Master Life Skills trainers will teach others how to steer youth in the right direction by providing new facilitators with the know-how to use the breakthrough ARISE curricula to help disadvantaged youth grasp life’s unwritten rules. Among the 260 life lessons ARISE has created are anger and conflict management, self-esteem, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and job search skills.

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has functioned as a developer and publisher of life-management skills curricula and staff training programs. Created to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and capture the attention of even the most introverted participants.

ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training workshop, such as this one in Marianna, certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities. ARISE CHOICES: Drop It at the Door shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa.

ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is not for profit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at rock-bottom prices. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than three million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, please call Yasmin at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org.

ARISE Announces the Update and Expansion of its One-of-a-Kind Dropout Prevention Material

Through exciting interactive activities and group discussions, teens will learn the crucial skills they need to stay in school and lead productive, successful lives.

Every 29 seconds, a student gives up on school. In an effort to turn the tide, ARISE created a riveting series on dropout prevention. The first volume is entitled “So You’re Thinking of Dropping Out of School,” and it outlines just how difficult life can be for young people who cut their education short. The second volume, “So You’re Thinking of Staying in School,” prepares underachieving teens with the solid reasons they can relate to for staying in school and the knowledge they need to communicate effectively, build meaningful relationships and make healthy decisions. The Dropping Out series is not just an instantly usable prevention tool—it is a resource-packed source of valuable information teens can lean on for advice and priceless tips to help them avoid the hard-knock life most dropouts face.

Edmund Benson, co-founder of ARISE, celebrates his 80th birthday by contributing over 100 life management skills curricula to the international nonprofit community.

Edmund Benson, former at-risk kid and founder of ARISE Foundation, is celebrating his 80th birthday by giving a gift to the international nonprofit community: the creative licenses for all of the 100 ARISE life-skills curricula materials. Benson will allow the materials to be translated free of charge into any language (except Spanish, which has been done), for use in life-skills training programs around the world.

Benson and his wife Susan created the nonprofit ARISE Foundation in 1986. The foundation has since trained and certified over five thousand group facilitators who have taught over four million documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in Florida alone. ARISE programs are also used throughout the US, in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, the Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Botswana and Kazakhstan.

ARISE life-skills lessons are designed to engage at-risk populations with interactive, entertaining, easy-to-understand lessons about important topics such as anger management, self-esteem, peer pressure, gang avoidance, drug and alcohol prevention, the power of networking, interviewing and keeping a job, domestic abuse, etiquette and manners, conflict resolution, bullying and violence prevention, health and hygiene, stress management, stranger safety and much more.

ARISE lessons have a memorable impact on troubled youth because, for the most part, they are conducted by ARISE-trained group facilitators who carry out guided group discussions with exciting activities that are easily understood and put into practice. ARISE group facilitators inspire conversation, involvement and interest. The ARISE life-skills lessons are not sequential. Each stands on its own, making them ideal for transient populations. Everyone starts fresh with each new learning experience.

ARISE life-management skills curricula are used in public, alternative and charter schools, juvenile justice facilities, residential treatment centers, faith-based organizations, Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After School All-Stars program and organizations that educate orphans and other troubled youth around the world. The programs are written for underachieving pre-k, elementary, and middle school children, teens, and young adults with limited reading and writing capabilities. The ARISE life-management skills program succeeds with youth who have behavior issues and special needs. Those non-profit organizations interested in the ARISE free creative licensing program can communicate directly with Edmund Benson by calling 561-630-2021 (overseas); in the US, call (toll-free)888-680-6100 or visit the ARISE website at http://www.ariselife-skills.org to download the creative license kit and get more information. #####

Conversations Behind Razor Wire—ARISE Interviews Incarcerated Gang Members.

For its upcoming book, filled with stories about the dangers of gang life, ARISE Foundation interviewed several incarcerated young gang members about their experiences.

As part of its mission to write life skills curricula that is authentic and realistic, ARISE founder Edmund Benson went to a juvenile correctional facility August 7 and sat down with several young gang members in an effort to hear their stories and give them a chance to warn at-risk young people about the perils of gang life.

Teens may not listen to authority figures, but they do listen to each other. Firsthand stories of the constant fear, danger and violence of life inside a gang are a way to reach young people on the cusp of making the life-destroying decision to join a gang. Quotes from the interviewed gang members will be included in ARISE Foundation’s new upcoming collection of stories about gangs, written by people from all over the country. Each story was handpicked to illustrate a critical point. Topics range from the disastrous effects gang life has on someone’s family members to how easy it is to lose your life to gang violence. The stories illustrate, using plaintive, stark language, how easy it is to get caught up in the endless cycle of revenge that gang members live in every day.

The three interviewed gang members spoke candidly about the actions that led them to their incarceration. One 17 year-old, who joined a gang at age 12, spoke of the constant nightmares that plague him.

“The worst part of being in a gang,” he said, “is every night when you go to bed, you see the faces of the people you hurt, and your friends that got killed. That’s the hardest part, the nightmares.”

ARISE hopes to duplicate the success of one of their most popular books, “31 of Taneka’s Urban Tales,” with this new anthology of captivating stories.

For more information please call ARISE Founder Edmund Benson at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit ariselife-skills.org.

ARISE gives Pinellas Marine Institute staff the skills they need to prevent at-risk juvenile offenders from dropping out of school.

 

NEWS RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

CONTACT: EDMUND BENSON
Office 561-630-2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE gives Pinellas Marine Institute staff the skills they need to prevent at-risk juvenile offenders from dropping out of school.

The two-day ARISE Life Skills Facilitator training workshop will show participants how to lead exciting ARISE group discussions and activities.

ARISE Certified Master Trainer Star Moran will conduct a two-day Life-Skills Facilitator Training at Pinellas Marine Institute in St. Petersburg, FL August 24 and 25. PMI is a Department of Juvenile Justice contracted program serving youth 14-18 years of age who have been frequently delinquent or expelled from public school. The school uses the ARISE curricula as part of its intensive dropout prevention program.

The ARISE Life Skills Instructor Certification program is part of a comprehensive approach to getting at-risk youth back on track. The freshly-certified instructors emerge from training with confidence and a thorough knowledge of how to engage troubled youth in active group discussions and awaken their sense of creativity, cooperation and self-worth. Not only are staff members taught how to build relationships with kids that rebel against authority figures, but they are also provided with the innovative ARISE life skills curricula. The ARISE library was designed to educate youth who may have trouble reading and writing. Each lesson appeals to learners of every age and scholastic ability. The pages are easy to read and packed with attention-grabbing activities that teach valuable life skills such as anger management, substance abuse prevention, gang avoidance, interview and job search skills, health and hygiene, STD awareness and much more.

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most reserved participants. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements such as limited reading and/or writing ability and behavioral problems.

In its home state of Florida, ARISE were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, including the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and alternative schools.

ARISE programs are also used in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified 5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons across the United States. ARISE is currently being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, or to sign up for training, please call Yasmin Isaacs at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit ariselife-skills.org.

Drop it at the Door: ARISE gives New Mexico teachers the skills they need to reject negative emotions.

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

CONTACT: EDMUND BENSON
Office 561-630-2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Drop it at the Door: ARISE gives New Mexico teachers the skills they need to reject negative emotions.

ARISE will journey cross-country to bring anger and stress management to the staff of Academy of Trades and Technologies.

Continuing its effort to bring anger management and stress prevention to those that work with at-risk youth, ARISE Foundation will conduct its CHOICES: Drop it at the Door workshop at ATT in Albuquerque, New Mexico August 11 and 12. The Academy of Trades and Technologies is a vocational-technical high school for at-risk teens. The Academy offers students design and construction classes as well as assistance with mental health, housing and healthcare. The mission of the Academy is to not only give their students a viable career, but to steer them away from the at-risk lifestyles many of them were living before they enrolled in the Academy. Intervention Coordinator Colleen Chavez uses much of the ARISE life skills curricula and conducts group discussions with the teens about gang prevention, anger management, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, job search and interview skills and more.

“Our school is really their last chance resort,” Chavez said. “They’ve been kicked out of other schools and this is their last place to go. Even if they’ve been expelled from another school, we take them in. We want to get these kids job ready.”

As part of the Academy’s Professional Development Days, ARISE will conduct its intensive, two-day,
14-hour staff training workshop entitled CHOICES: Drop it at the Door. CHOICES is an innovative training that gives participants working with difficult populations the tools to handle anger and stress through making better choices in their work and personal lives. CHOICES is a perk provided by employers who want their staff to be successful both on the job and at home.

“This is a high stress job,” Chavez said. “We wanted to help ourselves de-stress. We take in a lot of negativity from these kids. How do you not take it personally?”

The training will give the staff of ATT a solid understanding of how they can make the choice to drop home- and work-related anger, stress and frustration “at the door.” CHOICES training effectively stops the boomerang effect of stress and negativity, relieving the tension and harmful emotions that can shuttle between the workplace and home. This powerful anger and stress management workshop prepares participants to deal with difficult populations. Troubled youth are often so angry that they lash out at everyone around them. ARISE trains juvenile justice staff and others that work with at-risk youth how to avoid confrontation by using proven techniques and strategies demonstrated and practiced in this unique CHOICES training.

The ARISE CHOICES: Drop It At The Door training program has been extremely successful in the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, where it has been conducted in various residential facilities. ARISE has also expanded its CHOICES program to include other government agencies such as police, corrections and probations departments that require employees to confront difficult and often dangerous situations on a daily basis.

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities and on probation, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most turned-off participants.

In its home state of Florida, ARISE was utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are currently being taught in 74 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and alternative schools.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

A 2007 study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one youth from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified 5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,788 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons across the United States. ARISE is also being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. ARISE curricula are presently being translated into Kazakh, Russian. Requests for translations have also come in from as far away as Pakistan and South Africa.

For more information, or to schedule a training, please call Yasmin Isaacs toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org

ARISE conducting a series of essential life skills instructor certification workshops in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Juvenile Justice staff from around the state of Florida will convene in Fort Lauderdale, FL for a series of two-day ARISE Life Skills Instructor certification workshops. Staff will walk away from the intensive 14-hour training sessions with the ability to confidently conduct ARISE life skills lessons with the incarcerated, at-risk youth at their Department of Juvenile Justice facilities.

During the workshops, juvenile justice staff are taught how to use the ARISE curricula to motivate, encourage and educate the youth on the crucial life skills they will need to stay out of prison and lead productive, law-abiding lives. The youth learn anger management and conflict resolution, how to find and keep a job, money management, how to maintain their health and avoid drugs and alcohol and much more.

These freshly-certified ARISE Life Skills Instructors use what they learned during the workshop to engage their learners and maximize the ARISE curricula. An ARISE trained instructor can mean the difference between a bland classroom session and an exciting, dynamic group experience, where the youth are involved and feel listened to and appreciated.

ARISE will offer four two-day Life Skills Instructor Certification workshops, on July 28th and 29th, July 31st and August 1st, August 6th and 7th and August 13th and 14th. Each training session will run from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM each day at the Broward Regional Detention Center, 222 N.W. 22nd Ave .

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most reserved participants. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements such as limited reading and/or writing ability and behavioral problems.

In its home state of Florida, ARISE were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, including the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and alternative schools.

ARISE programs are also used in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified 5,284 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,011,242 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons across the United States. ARISE is also being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. ARISE curricula are presently being translated into Kazakh, Russian. Requests have also come in from as far away as Pakistan to translate the material into Urdu and Punjabi.

For more information, or to sign up for training, please call Yasmin Isaacs at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit ariselife-skills.org.

Photo: ARISE Founders Edmund and Susan Benson shake  hands with Thompson Academy Facility Administrator Rodney Pagram after attending a talent show given by the youth.

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Five Quotes about Leadership, Brought to You by ARISE Life Skills

The last election and the situation in Iran have proven that human beings yearn to be led by someone fair, decisive and ethical. Leadership ability is something you are born with, but it can also be taught. ARISE offers those that work with at-risk and incarcerated youth several opportunities to become leaders at their facilities, as well as role models and mentors for the youth in their care. By taking a Life Skills Facilitator course or becoming an ARISE Certified Master Trainer, you can transform yourself from someone who simply goes to work each day to someone who is passionate about helping people. To inspire you on your path to leadership, here are five quotes about what it takes to pave a path for others.

1. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”        -Dwight D. Eisenhower
2. “The history of the world is but the biography of great men.” -Thomas Carlyle
3. “The real leader has no need to lead–he is content to point the way.” -Henry Miller
4. “A leader is a dealer in hope.” -Napoleon Bonaparte
5. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”              -John Quincy Adams