Last week it was Planet Improv’s honor and pleasure to participate in a training in conjunction with a program created by the Mendez Foundation entitled, “Too Good for Drugs.”

We had recently been awarded a grant to facilitate this program to students from kindergarten to fifth grade.

(Below) is a post at www.mendezfoundation.org that discusses their philosophy on educating students on a multitude of important life lessons.

Our Philosophy

Talking to children about how to make the right choice today prepares them to make a healthy choice today, but giving children the skills and the tools to make those healthy choices on their own and understand what influences them will ready them to make better choices for a lifetime.

The Mendez Foundation has made it its mission to make a difference in the lives of children, their families, and the community, and we put our efforts into preparing children and adolescents to navigate the opportunities and challenges that life has in store so they may reach their highest potential and be happy, productive adults.

A Recipe for Success

At the core of all the Mendez Foundation programs, is self-efficacy and interpersonal skills development, which forms a foundation to build a readiness to make positive life decisions and set achievable goals. Talking to children to make the right choice today prepares them to make a healthy choice today, but giving children the skills and the tools to make those healthy choices on their own and understand what influences them will ready them for a lifetime.

We believe a child equipped with the capacity to set reachable goals and make responsible decisions is better prepared to face the challenges and enjoy the opportunities in life with the readiness to be successful and productive. Every facet of our work is directed to promoting this goal.

A Strong Foundation to Build on…

Only the Beginning

Prevention Education introduces and reinforces a series of skills to prepare children to make healthy choices and resist unhealthy behaviors in life including substance misuse and aggression. The lessons that foster a cooperative social learning environment and engages students to practice and apply the concepts they are learning are more likely to instill lifelong values and healthy norms and expectations. Effective social development education depends on the school, the family, and the community working together to reinforce the skills and concepts that promote self-efficacy, self-awareness, and a commitment to making healthy choices.

Building Blocks

Healthy social development and emotional competency form a strong foundation for positive peer bonding relationship building and promotes unity throughout the school. The skill development and protection-building concepts built into our work promote a positive outlook and hope for the future to instill the confidence to aim high and persevere with the resilience to overcome obstacles.  Equipped this way, children and adolescents are more likely to make healthy choices and resist behaviors that bring consequences inconsistent with their goals.

A Link with Families and Communities

Students spend a great deal of time in school, but families and communities also provide critical learning environments. When families are involved in the learning process, children and adolescents are twice as likely to use and remember the skills they learn. When community leaders reinforce positive norms, the message becomes even stronger. Our approach in all of our work is to strengthen the learning connections between the classroom, the home, and the community to leverage the reinforcing effects of all of these environments in the child’s life.

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What Planet Improv found, both most fascinating and educational, was what the Mendez Foundation DIDN’T teach, judgement.

Often, we as adults, parents, caregivers and/or educators cannot help but insert our opinions and/or judgements as to what behaviors we believe to be good or bad.

However, the Mendez Foundation’s educational philosophy emphasizes skill building so that the student can make up their own mind as to how they will behave in important situations.

And more often than not, hopefully, help them make positive choices for life and a lifetime.