Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Jimmy Mcmikle
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000074
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man that created a program
00:03 that is preparing the youth leaders of tomorrow... 00:05 My name is Yvonne Lewis and you're watching 00:08 Urban Report... 00:32 Hello and welcome to Urban Report... 00:34 My guest today is Jimmy Mcmikle 00:37 Founder of the Dream Youth Leadership Program. 00:40 He's an author, a trainer and a speaker... 00:43 Welcome to Urban Report Mr. Mcmikle... 00:47 Hey... Thank you for having me... 00:48 Oh, it's so great to have you here. 00:50 May I call you Jimmy? You absolutely may... 00:52 Jimmy, I've got to tell you that this Dream Now Program 00:57 that you've developed is so good... 01:01 I looked through the booklet... it's just got 01:04 all of these different aspects of youth leadership training 01:09 tell us a bit about Dream Now... What does Dream Now stand for? 01:13 What does Dream stand for? The acronym Dream stands for 01:16 Developing Responsible Educated Adaptive Minds... 01:20 and it's an intensive youth leadership program 01:23 that develops some of the core competencies 01:25 critical to future leadership proficiency, 01:28 we really focus on 3 areas 01:30 Responsibility, Education and Adaptability 01:34 so, in dealing with responsibility... it's personal 01:37 and social responsibility, 01:39 as far as education 01:40 it's kind of a 3-headed monster if you will... 01:42 there's supporting education in its formal sense 01:45 they got to do well in school and understand the importance 01:48 of education... they also have to have some 01:51 common sense... because book smarts 01:53 with no common sense is dangerous... 01:57 just exposure... just exposing them to people, 02:00 places, opportunities and experiences that they wouldn't 02:04 normally come across in the course of their life... 02:07 and then the final area 02:09 is adaptability... 02:10 so building the adaptive mind 02:12 in other words... dealing with change effectively 02:14 you know, we have our plan and expect things to go 02:17 a certain way... but what happens 02:18 when it doesn't... so developing their credible 02:21 thinking, conflict resolution so that when change happens 02:25 they're prepared to deal with it Absolutely... this is so, so 02:29 important... unpack a little bit for us 02:33 for example... with just developing responsibility... 02:39 talk to us a bit about why that's so necessary 02:42 the sense of personal responsibility... 02:45 Well, I mean it starts with 02:47 you know... first accepting the reality 02:49 that you're responsible for things in your life... 02:51 and understanding that it can't be anybody else's fault 02:55 until you handle the things 02:57 that you're personally responsible for... 02:58 and so it gets away from "them" 03:00 and turns into "I"... 03:02 so, there are things that I have to deal with, as a youth, 03:05 there are things that I have to develop... to make me better 03:08 to deal with the things in life... 03:09 that I need to deal with and everything from 03:11 you know, just understanding the importance of making 03:13 a positive first impression, and all the factors 03:17 that go into that... and being responsible 03:20 as a child, for things at home, in school, in your community... 03:24 you still have a role to play in everything 03:27 and you have to be responsible for anything else... 03:31 And see, this is a critical piece because what I see 03:34 so often is that... sometimes we don't want to 03:38 take responsibility for things... 03:40 life is about choices... and so, the choices that we 03:45 make... really have consequences and those consequences 03:50 can be negative or positive so what you're saying 03:52 in this Program... with that sense of personal 03:55 responsibility is... the choices that these young 03:58 people make... can impact their lives forever... 04:01 and so... you are developing the sense of 04:04 personal responsibility in them, to help them know 04:08 that their choices can have consequences... 04:11 That's absolutely correct... and the earlier you start 04:14 the better... and... so that you go down 04:17 the right path initially... instead of having to re-learn 04:20 things later in life... which we all know... 04:24 can be very difficult to deal with change later in life. 04:27 Yes... for sure... so, how did the Dream Program 04:30 come about? Well, it came about... 04:33 it's really a matter of need intersecting with... 04:37 my personal passion... and so for the past 20 years 04:41 I've been involved in some capacity in youth education 04:44 youth leadership programming in the Greater Hartford area 04:48 of Connecticut... where I reside and, you know, 04:51 you get an opportunity to assess the needs and see things 04:56 and interact with children, I've mentored children 04:58 on all levels... Elementary School... 05:00 Middle School... High School... 05:02 as well as students in College... 05:03 and, when you see a need... if you're a person that is 05:08 their personal passion is tied to changing lives 05:12 you're inspired... to do something 05:15 about it... instead of just talking about the problems... 05:17 you do something and try and change it... 05:19 And that is so important too because just sitting around 05:23 and talking about problems is not going to make 05:26 a difference... of course, we identify the problems... 05:29 but then... we have to have solutions... 05:31 and so... what you're telling us is that you are involved with 05:37 not just identifying what the problems have been 05:40 but also with some solutions... Absolutely, and, you know, 05:44 it's funny because I get asked... on occasion 05:47 to serve on different commissions or committees... 05:50 and I'll go to a meeting... and I'll sit there and after 05:54 they'll ask... 05:56 "Are you ready to participate?" 05:57 I'll say, "Absolutely not... " because I don't want to spend 05:59 the next year of my life trying to 06:02 just do case studies 06:03 and figure stuff out... and they don't use stuff 06:05 so, good luck and hope it works out 06:09 but I need to be a part of... action 06:11 You're an "action" person... 06:13 Absolutely... So, with your program... 06:16 what age group does it target? 06:19 so, we start from third grade and go through high school 06:23 Now, why 3rd grade? Well, because... 06:26 the student workbook every child who participates 06:28 in the program receives a a student workbook... 06:30 and there is a need 06:32 at a younger age... 06:34 to have some leadership training but 06:36 when you explore the concepts that we do 06:38 and some of the exercises and what we try and draw 06:41 out of the children and and have them participate 06:43 and it's important that they are at an age 06:45 where they grasp it conceptually so 3rd Grade is about that age 06:52 range where it really clicks in terms of their ability to 06:56 grasp what we're trying to teach and so, we can customize it 07:00 all the way up to high school and what we've started lately 07:05 we've added what we call The Program Conference Tour 07:09 and it's targeting specifically high school students, 07:13 college-age students that we host on a college campus 07:17 we're going to do our first one the first week in December 07:20 on a college campus in Providence 07:22 where we bring local high school students 07:24 to a college campus, expose them to a college campus, 07:27 and give them a full-day Youth Motivational Conference 07:30 so, we're trying to reach every age range starting at 3rd Grade 07:35 on through college... That is so good... 07:38 because really when you think about it... 07:40 if we can get our children when they're really young 07:44 to understand the importance of their presentation 07:47 and their personal responsibility, 07:49 their ability to adapt to change 07:52 if we can get them when they're really young 07:54 and help them... to shape their values 07:58 we can really make a difference in their outcome... 08:00 Absolutely, it's easier... it's absolutely easier to 08:03 to ground them younger and work with them 08:05 so they grow up knowing exactly how it's supposed to be, 08:07 instead of trying to change learned behavior... 08:09 So, what's a typical session like 08:14 walk us through... because we have some time 08:16 walk us through a typical session 08:18 in the Dream Program... 08:20 Well, so, 08:22 it's very interactive 08:23 the worst thing you can do 08:25 with a group of children is 08:26 sit them down and just talk to them 08:27 or kill them with a PowerPoint... 08:29 reach out and make it very interactive 08:33 so that they're engaged from the time the Program starts 08:36 to the time that we end... I mentioned earlier that 08:39 you know, one of the things that we talk about is 08:42 the importance of making the first impression 08:45 so we do a very interactive piece with that 08:47 where... we have an acronym for making the first impression 08:51 called, "Yes Sir" and we deal with your appearance 08:56 exude confidence, how to smile, when you greet people, 09:00 shake hands firmly 09:02 introduce yourself 09:04 with clarity... respond appropriately 09:05 in a conversation... and so, we literally take it 09:08 step by step... we'll start off... 09:10 we'll have a person coming in displaying a 09:12 poor appearance... and we use them... 09:15 to critically assess... what's not right 09:17 about this situation... they get a kick out of it... 09:19 a lot of laughs... a lot of fun, but then we get them up 09:22 we break them into groups, and we go through 09:24 we practice those types of things 09:26 so that they understand that you make eye contact 09:28 with a person when you shake their hand... 09:29 they understand that... you introduce yourself with clarity 09:32 and confidence so that your head's not down, 09:34 you're not looking around... you talk with people 09:36 in a certain way... that when a person speaks to you 09:38 you're supposed to respond appropriately... 09:40 and be able to continue a conversation 09:42 and so, we deal with those types of things 09:44 we talk about how... that first impression matters... 09:47 but, we do a combination of things... 09:49 we use a workbook... so it's always a combination 09:51 of workbook activities... group activities... 09:54 individual presentation, we put kids on the spot 09:57 because in leadership, you may get put on the spot 09:59 to come and make comments and make remarks 10:01 that you weren't prepared to do, so no two sessions are really 10:04 ever the same... we structure... on a weekly, 10:08 a bi-weekly or monthly type of programming 10:11 depending on what the school 10:12 or the organization wants us to do... 10:15 the children plan and develop their own 10:17 Community Service Projects and so, one month 10:20 we may be in the classroom for a couple of sessions 10:22 and the next month, we may be out on a field trip 10:24 and out doing Community Service Projects 10:27 so, we keep it fresh, we keep it interesting 10:30 and allow them to develop this... very hands-on 10:34 That is so great... you know... as I was listening to you... 10:38 some of the things that are missing when you meet a young 10:43 person and they're not looking you straight in the eye 10:46 you might tend to not trust them and it's just that 10:50 they might be totally trustworthy 10:53 but they don't know that... that's a social skill 10:56 that they need to have... maybe they weren't 10:58 taught that at home that you look someone in the eye 11:01 that you give a firm handshake, not a weak-willy handshake... 11:05 you know, things like that that are so critical 11:08 to establishing that first impression 11:10 and what you're doing... and what it sounds to me 11:13 as though you're doing is... you're really making up 11:16 for some of the deficits that some of these kids 11:19 don't get... they don't learn these things... maybe at home 11:23 some of them... and so you're really making up 11:27 that piece... helping them... 11:28 when they go for that job interview... what do they do? 11:31 When they meet somebody for the first time 11:33 what do they do? How do they look? 11:35 I mean... all of this is so critical 11:37 and this is often... not being taught at home... 11:40 Absolutely, and that's one of the things that we see 11:43 that there's just no one to positively instruct 11:47 or direct them... or teach them these things 11:49 I think that everyone who's been marginally successful 11:53 in life can point back to people 11:55 that have had an impact in their lives... 11:57 to teach them things and show them things... 11:59 and there are a lot of children out there that don't have 12:03 that type of influence in their life 12:04 and don't have those people to teach them 12:06 right versus wrong or just the subtle things of life... 12:10 leadership and being social that they are going to need 12:15 to be taken seriously... And that, oh, that whole piece 12:19 of being taken seriously... is so important 12:22 because the way you present yourself... 12:25 whether you have a command of the language 12:28 whether you dress appropriately, 12:30 whether you interact appropriately, 12:33 all of these things are taken into account 12:35 their verbal and non-verbal conditions that prevail 12:40 so, you're teaching... with this Program... 12:43 you're teaching these young people... 12:45 how to present themselves in the best manner 12:48 to have the best outcome... Absolutely... 12:51 and I think that that's such an important thing 12:53 because nobody is really doing it... 12:56 the way I see... this Program... doing it... 12:59 and I haven't seen it in action 13:04 but what you're telling me sounds as though 13:07 it's such a great thing for young people 13:10 to take advantage of... and so, you go to different 13:13 churches and do this... this is not... 13:15 for our viewers our viewers need to know... 13:17 this is not a religious program at all... 13:20 it doesn't have a religious component in it 13:23 you can add that at your church... 13:25 at a later time but this has 13:29 Basic Leadership Skills and 13:32 Presentation and Responsibility skills... and so it's kind of... 13:37 it's not a religious program and I need to let our viewers 13:41 know that... but... it is teaching children how to be 13:45 responsible, educated and to adapt to situations 13:50 Am I correct in that? Yes, absolutely correct... yeah 13:54 So how would someone... let's say a church 13:58 wanted to bring you in... to work with the young people 14:01 what would be the process? So they would contact us 14:04 they can contact us directly through the website 14:07 it's called Dreamnowprogram. com 14:10 and we'll get in contact with them 14:12 sit down and discuss their needs 14:14 and we can tailor to whatever their desires are... 14:18 really... so it's something that... 14:20 it's so customizable from every level... 14:23 the age range of children that we work with 14:25 to the amount of time that they have 14:28 for us to work with them and we can absolutely 14:31 meet the needs of anyone... That's great... 14:34 What made you decide... that this was what you wanted to do? 14:38 In terms of the Program itself? No, in terms of your life, 14:42 your calling... your dream, your destiny... 14:44 well, you know, we all have our individual passion points 14:51 and there's a song, I think, by Whitney Houston 14:55 that says, "I believe the children are our future... 14:57 teach them well and let them lead the way... " 14:59 I'm not going to sing it... because it could be 15:01 the next interview for me... but I actually believe that 15:06 as corny as that may sound, I actually believe that 15:09 and I think that there is just unbridled potential 15:12 in all of our children and there's nothing 15:14 in front of them... but opportunities 15:17 so, I feel like... it's my role to really maximize... 15:21 prepare them... provide them the preparation 15:25 that will allow them to maximize their encounters 15:27 with opportunity in life and I think that we have to 15:30 plant the seeds in our generation of youth now 15:33 so that it reaps the benefits that we want to see 15:36 in the future... and that... it enables them 15:39 to then plant seeds in the future 15:41 so they can say, you know, 15:43 "This was shown to me... I have to show... to others... " 15:46 and I think it continues that generationally 15:50 and it's a big responsibility and it's powerful 15:53 it's also a responsibility... but it's necessary. 15:56 It is... and so... what you're saying is... 15:59 you're teaching the young people 16:01 and they'll grow up and reach back 16:03 and bring someone else along and help someone else too... 16:06 and that is so, so, important... what has been your journey... 16:12 tell us a bit about your personal journey 16:14 to get to this point... You know, out of college, 16:18 my first job out of college, I came out of college 16:22 with this degree... in Criminal Justice... 16:25 I was going to change the world and I started working 16:28 for the State of Connecticut with the 16:30 Department of Children and Families as a Social Worker... 16:33 and I did that for six years, and the first year was spent in 16:37 what was then called Long Lane, which is the only 16:41 Maximum Security Unit for... adjudicated youth in the 16:45 State of Connecticut and had the opportunity 16:48 to deal with a lot of troubled youth that had made some 16:52 mistakes and poor choices and you get to work 16:55 pretty closely with them and realize and understand 16:58 so many of these choices were preventable... 17:02 and you realize that what they were lacking 17:05 in their lives had led them to that point in their lives 17:08 and so, I worked there for about a year 17:10 and I switched out to the Hartford Regional Office 17:13 and did Social Work out in the Community... 17:15 and it was kind of more of the same... I mean... 17:17 it was really exposure to a troubling component of Society 17:22 for me... that our children need more, 17:25 don't have the avenues to receive it 17:28 and the need just continues to grow and grow and grow 17:32 so, it frustrated me with my job 17:34 to the point where I realized I can't make any type of impact 17:38 like I need to work in... in 60 plus hours a week here 17:41 putting Band-aids on things... and so... 17:44 I looked for another way... I actually... 17:46 jumped out of the frying pan literally into the fire 17:49 and switched careers and joined the Fire Department 17:52 and... You mean, you literally joined 17:56 the Fire Department? I literally joined the 17:58 Fire Department... and it gave me an incredible 18:01 amount of time off, and I jumped full... 18:05 you know both feet in the pool and this was just my passion... 18:07 and that's when I started developing 18:09 and designing and developing and implementing 18:12 the Youth Programming in the Greater Hartford area... 18:14 and I've been at it... for 20 years... 18:16 I've retired from the Fire Department 18:18 and I went back to School and got my MBA 18:21 and formed my own Company and my focus has just been on 18:25 Youth Leadership and Youth Leadership Development 18:27 I've authored two additional books... 18:30 written directly to children "Hey Big Boy" and "Hey Big Girl" 18:34 which are positive, life-directional messages 18:37 for children... I've got two children of my own 18:40 and when you have children of your own... 18:42 my kids love books and we've always read to them 18:46 there was this gap of quality books that gave 18:49 life directional messages to them 18:51 and so I decided to write a couple... for children... 18:53 whoever needed it... and that's been my passion 18:56 ever since then... You know what... 18:58 this is so great... I see such a trend with you 19:02 okay, because... what you're telling us is... 19:05 when you're working with the criminal justice 19:09 well, you took Criminal Justice in School 19:13 and then when you were working with the Correctional Facilities 19:16 and all that... you saw problems... 19:19 you saw... issues with the young people 19:23 that you knew... perhaps could have been avoided 19:26 had they made different choices... 19:28 and so, you identified what the problems were... 19:32 but not only did you do that... 19:34 you decided to be a part of the solution... 19:38 and so, you too are... 19:40 a Dare to Dream person 19:41 in that... you took what your passion was 19:45 and you allowed God to just direct you 19:49 which He did... it's obvious that He's brought you 19:53 through to this place... and so, He directed you into 19:56 this whole trajectory of changing the lives 20:00 of young people... and that is so good... 20:03 you didn't just see the problems, Jimmy... 20:06 you really got in there to be a part of the solution 20:10 you've authored books, and you've founded this Program 20:14 for young people... so, I really think that 20:18 you really represent what we like to promote 20:21 at Dare to Dream and that is Spirituality, 20:25 the Personal Responsibility, and the whole idea 20:29 that your choices... you can dare to dream... 20:33 you can follow your passion, and that's what you did... 20:36 and so, I just applaud you for that... 20:39 because you represent what we're trying to teach here 20:42 with this Network... Oh, thank you... 20:44 there's more work to do... so we're going to keep working 20:47 and keep making a difference and find new ways 20:49 to raise the bar... and the standard of expectation 20:53 and excellence in your Youth... 20:55 That's great... tell us about 20:56 some of the young people that have gone through 20:59 your Program and the outcomes... 21:01 that they've had as a result of it... 21:02 Well, you know, the first thing is... 21:04 when you interact with parents and they say 21:06 that there has been a change at home... 21:09 and a change of responsibility, we, from the first day 21:12 of the Program... we hand out... as an assignment 21:16 a chore chart... for the children 21:17 to go home and complete with their parents... 21:19 we hand out a hygiene chart 21:21 which is already completed and it's just the 21:24 daily maintenance itself... and, you know, 21:27 everything from, "I took a bath" you know... 21:29 to "I brushed my teeth this morning" 21:31 before I went to bed... I put deodorant on... 21:33 I put lotion on my skin... I did my hair... " 21:36 and at the end of everyday, we challenge parents 21:39 to sit down with your child and check it off... 21:41 did you do it or did you not do it... 21:44 and so we... from Day 1... we jump in 21:47 and we say, "Hey, you need to do things 21:49 a certain way... and... not doing it that way 21:53 is not acceptable... " and so, we try and change 21:56 things from Day 1... and then, when teachers tell you 21:59 that there has been a change... I mean... it's powerful... 22:02 so, it's great to be able to see increased self-esteem, 22:06 self-confidence... and improved 22:08 inter-personal relationship skills 22:10 it's powerful... it lets you know that your doing 22:13 things the way they need to be done... 22:16 Yes... that is great... so, if a Church... 22:18 let's say... a viewer... watching 22:21 is part of a Church that wants to bring in 22:24 the Dream Program, how would that work? 22:27 Okay... so, we can do a couple of things... 22:30 depending on where you are, obviously, geographically, 22:32 we can't physically be everywhere 22:34 but what do is... we'll go in... 22:36 and we'll train the trainers if you will... 22:38 so, if you have a group of volunteers... 22:40 be it a School, be it a Church, be it a State Agency... 22:43 we can go in and train your facilitators 22:46 to run the Program... we want to train you 22:48 because we want it run right... Right... 22:51 some have a faint version of what we're trying to do here 22:55 so, we're going to come in and train you on the Program 22:59 whether it's weekly program or bi-weekly or monthly 23:02 and empower you to run this Program 23:06 so that children will receive the full benefit... 23:08 This would be great for maybe... PTAs... 23:13 do PTAs ever do it as well? No, more so... 23:17 just the Schools... we have some teachers that 23:20 will volunteer... one school... we had a Principal 23:24 that actually came to every session and wanted to 23:28 participate... I think initially there was some 23:31 concern with a group of kids that they wouldn't behave... 23:34 but we've been doing this for quite a while 23:39 but, yeah, so we, you know... and then locally 23:44 where we are geographically if we can... fit it... in to 23:48 personally facilitate it... we'll come in 23:50 and personally facilitate... but we empower it to happen 23:55 however it needs to... That's great... 23:58 Do you have videos attached to this 24:00 is it all... with the book and 24:03 personal training... In terms of Program Sessions? 24:07 Yes... Yeah, so, we do... 24:10 there's personal facilitation, we'll use some video of 24:15 scenarios... to show scenarios 24:17 and we'll critically assess those scenarios... 24:19 we bring in people from the outside... 24:22 in different fields... depending on the topic... 24:24 that we're talking about... in a couple of weeks 24:28 we've got some politicians coming in... City Council... 24:31 State Reps that are going to come in 24:33 and do a social responsibility piece for us, 24:35 where we talk about Government elected officials 24:38 and we're going to follow that up with a field trip to 24:41 the State Capitol and do a tour and meet with the State Rep 24:44 there at the Capitol as well... so, we mix it in... 24:48 very creatively... That is so great... 24:51 so where do you see this Program going? 24:53 What's your vision for it? So, my vision for it 24:57 actually is to be active all across this Country... 25:01 to reach out and touch the lives of as many children 25:04 as we can... so our push is going to be 25:07 a Nationwide push to... to push to school districts 25:10 to run it as a part of the curriculum during school 25:14 or after-school program and State Agencies for children 25:18 in Foster Care... who oftentimes are children who fall through 25:22 the cracks... so that's a very important demographic 25:26 for us right now... we're working out the details 25:30 of the things with the State of Connecticut 25:33 Department of Children and Foster Care here 25:36 in Connecticut, and so, that's our goal... 25:39 Nationwide impact and influence on our children... 25:43 What a great idea to reach out to Foster Kids... 25:46 who are... falling through the cracks, 25:48 who are just being relocated all the time... 25:52 and don't have a chance to really bond with the family 25:55 and so, that's such a great idea to give them 25:58 the skills that they need... to be the Leaders of tomorrow... 26:01 Absolutely, and statistically children in Foster Care 26:04 they fall through the cracks 26:06 with higher frequency than others 26:09 and so, we have to get those children that are 26:13 from one home to the next... that may not be in sync 26:16 with who they're placed with 26:18 and so that Leadership exposure 26:20 may not be there where they're willing to accept 26:23 what the person is willing to offer... 26:25 the information or advice that they need 26:27 so, we have to service those children... 26:29 Yes... so you kind of step in as, kind of, surrogate parents 26:35 in a sense... in terms of instructing and 26:38 things that should have been instructed in the home 26:40 that maybe weren't... so you guys, kind of, 26:43 take up the slack in a sense 26:46 of some of the things 26:47 that should be taught by the family 26:49 that some of these children just aren't getting... 26:51 Absolutely, and I think that that's really all of our 26:54 responsibilities regardless of whether you're facilitating 26:57 a Program or not... you know... that whole... 26:59 "It takes a nation... I mean, a village... to raise a child" 27:01 concept should be something that we all embrace... 27:05 I kind of see myself as a Community Father... 27:07 I laugh because I'll walk down the street 27:11 I'll see something that doesn't look right... I'll say, 27:13 "Hey, young man, come here... " and you know 27:15 and they look at you like, "Who are you old man... 27:17 or something like that... " and I say, 27:19 "Pull those pants up" or "Don't do this" 27:21 or "Don't talk to her that way" or "Don't pull on her" 27:23 or "Don't do this" or you know... 27:26 I'm that guy... call me crazy but, 27:29 "Hey, you didn't put deodorant on this morning" 27:32 So, I'm that guy in the Community 27:34 but we need that... because when I was a child... 27:37 there were people that would say, "Hey, come here young man" 27:40 "Knock that off" or "Where do you live?" 27:44 "I'm going to take you home" so, we don't have that... today 27:48 That's right... It's something that we need 27:50 to provide... We do... we do... 27:52 Thank you so much for being with us... 27:54 Our time is up... but you have provided 27:57 some great information for us... 27:59 Thank you so much for tuning in... 28:01 Join us next time... 28:02 It just wouldn't be the same... without you... |
Revised 2015-02-05