Last Year, Herff Jones partnered with Challenge Day to develop a Daily School Announcement Program. The goal of this project is to bring more ideas to schools about how to Be the Change daily and provide daily challenges for schools around the nation. This is also a great resource for businesses and other places where people work together. Below see three samples.

For more information on how to purchase the Daily School Announcement program, please contact office@challengeday.org

If you thought Oprah’s feature of Challenge Day was big, you are going to be astounded by our latest dreams made manifest. At the end of August, we filmed a pilot episode for a potential future show on MTV! Arnold Shapiro - our friend, supporter, and Producer of the Teen Files: Surviving High School video - had a vision that Challenge Day would have a “reality” show broadcast by a well-known network, and WOW did his dream, and ours, come true!

The goal of this ground-breaking series is to show students’ experiences in their daily lives before Challenge Day comes, during the day itself, and the multitude of amazing miracles that happen in the days following. Not only did the courageous teenagers and adults of Freedom High meet that goal, they exceeded it! At this year’s back-to-school rally, Dana Johnson, the coordinator of the day and also Freedom High’s leadership class teacher, got up in front of the school (with cameras rolling) to share what was happening with MTV. As she spoke to let students know that they have the potential to be a model for the entire country, she was overcome with emotion. Then, one by one, the youth from both Challenge Days (the day that was filmed and a program day that happened the previous week) stood up in support and sent her “I love you” hand signals. Student leaders from Challenge Day then took the podium as planned, and vulnerably shared what they had learned and how they do not want anyone left out or alone at their school. They challenged their classmates to join them . . . and when they finished speaking, the entire school rose to their feet holding up “I love you” hand signs. When the bell rang for lunch, no one moved!

Rich and Yvonne had this to say about participating in the filming of the Challenge Day at Freedom High School in Oakley:
“Words can not express the deep sense of pride and accomplishment [we] felt as we watched Sela and Vinny [lead the day and] bring our baby to a whole new level. They were masterful in their facilitation. Their partnership was impeccable. With camera crews in the way, producers communicating instructions, limited tools and limited music they vulnerably modeled hope, love and possibility [and] a new way of being. If any one of you would have witnessed what we did, you would have been so proud to have brother Vinny and sister Sela representing all of us.”

Huge kudos to Dana for her leadership and support of the students of Freedom High School, and to the many volunteers who helped with the program days. We also want to spread amazingly positive rumors about Arnold Shapiro and his staff, as well as the MTV folks, Liz and Angie, who jumped right in to partner with us. A huge thank you as well to the lead camera person, Greg, who started the ball rolling on filming day by tearfully describing to the film and lighting crew his experience of going to a Challenge Day a week earlier. As you can see, the assembled team was a huge blessing and we are more than ecstatic to see where the next part of our journey takes us!

As active participants in these three-day experiential workshops, adults and selected teens (ages 15-19) gain the knowledge, leadership skills, and personal growth experience needed to keep the Challenge Day spirit alive in their homes, schools, and communities. As a result, parents, teachers, administrators, and concerned citizens can empower themselves to be allies for teens, providing the environment in which compassion, acceptance, and respect can flourish and become a way of life.

Our Community Workshops are also exciting explorations in self-realization and personal growth. As such, they’re perfect for individuals who are interested in growing, changing, and creating relationships that are based on deep and lasting connection.

We especially encourage parents and teens who would like to create more love, connection, understanding, and communication in their relationship to attend as a family.

Click here to get information on Next Step.

Tips for Teens
Keeping Challenge Day Alive at Your School

• Be the change you want to see.
  Too many teens, and adults for that matter, complain about what others are doing instead of looking at themselves. We are powerless over what other people do, but we have total control over ourselves. Every one of us can make a difference.
• Serve others.
  Serving others not only makes a difference in their lives, it makes us feel proud. It is a scientific fact that service to others makes us both healthier and happier. Look for and create opportunities to serve. Practice sharing random acts of kindness with people around you.
• Teach love and respect.
  Share what you learned at Challenge Day as often as you can. Not only will it help spread the messages of love and respect, it will also be a great reminder for you.
• Be a positive leader!
  Have fun! Smile and celebrate often. Enjoy yourself without hurting others. Appreciate your friends, family and yourself. Be gentle with yourself and with others. Remember we all know what it’s like to be hurt and teased. Make people want to act like you act and feel like you feel.
• Remember you are a role model to others.
  You decide what kind! Your friends, little brothers and sisters, and everyone else around you learn more from what you do than from anything you say. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want your little brother or sister to do. Your role modeling is your best teaching tool.
• Empty your emotional balloon on a regular basis.
  Find safe places to share what’s in your heart. Find adults and friends who you trust who will listen to you. Share all the feelings in your balloon so you don’t have to numb them out and they won’t leak out on the people who you love. Remember to dance, cry, sing, laugh, play and find other safe and healthy ways to fully express yourself.
• Teach the adults in your life.
  Share what you learned at Challenge Day with every adult who will listen. Remember adults have a lot of power to support you in making the world a better place. Encourage them to get involved. Seeing an inspired teen can change an adult’s life forever.
• Compliment and thank others.
  Let the people you love know that you love them. Remember to use put-ups, not put-downs. Everyone loves to be appreciated. Look for the good in others. If you think something nice, say it! Remember if you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem. A kind word from you may even save someone’s life some day. Give lots of hugs!
• Remember you are 100% responsible for your own choices.
  Avoid blaming others for your mistakes. When you are wrong or you hurt someone, say you’re sorry. It takes a bigger person to admit they were wrong than it does to blame our behavior on others. Anger and resentments hurt all of us. Saying sorry allows for healing to take place both with the other person and in our own hearts.
• Interrupt put-downs, teasing and all other forms of violence.
  Be a stand for others and they can be a stand for you. We all know what it feels like to be hurt. None of us likes it so why not make it stop? Stand by what you believe is right. Even if people seem to turn against you at the time, they will admire and respect you in the long run if you stay true to yourself and your values. Friends who won’t respect you for who you are and what you believe are not real friends. Remember not to laugh at or tell sexist, racist, homophobic or any other hurtful jokes. They only add to the lies we learn about others and separate us from potential friends. Remember everyone deserves equal respect.

• Follow your heart.
  We all have dreams. Find yours and only hang out with people who will support and celebrate them. Never settle for anything less. We all have special gifts and talents. Do whatever makes your heart sing!
• Take care of your environment.
  At school, at home and in the community, the way you treat yourself and the way you treat the world is a reflection of the way you feel inside. Remember to do you part and a little bit more. We are all connected. Exercise regularly, empty your emotional balloon and avoid alcohol, drugs, tobacco and other mood-altering or self-destructive behaviors. Remember that every choice we make in some way affects everyone around us.
• Make positive art.
  Express your thoughts, beliefs and emotions through poetry, music and art whenever possible. Art is not only a great way to express yourself but it is also a great way to bring joy and to share your gifts with others. Make posters, buttons, paintings, songs and poems that help bring the lessons of Challenge Day to others.
• Become a Mentor.
  Share your lessons, love and support with younger peers. Make a difference in the lives of others.

• Blog your ‘Acts of Change’ online.
  Share your accomplishments with others. Celebrate accomplishments! Share service ideas. Create new possibilities. Give and get support. Connect with teens and adults all over the country who share your vision for the world.
• Meet a potential new friend every day.
  Just say hello to everyone you see. Share a smile with someone who seems down. Offer your support to a stranger. Remember that a kind word or compliment can be the first step in creating a lifelong friendship.
• Tell the truth.
  Trust works both ways. The only way you can ever truly trust another person is to be trustworthy yourself.
• Just listen!
  The gift of listening is the best gift you can ever give another person. Avoid giving advice unless the person asks for it. You don’t have to fix a person or change them. All you have to do is care enough to listen.
• Enjoy learning.
  Ask questions. Find out why things are the way they are. Be a leader. Think for yourself. Form your own opinions. Express your beliefs and stand by them even when your friends pressure you to go along with the group.
• Welcome and include others.
  We all know what it feels like to be new to a group, school or community. Look for people who are being left out and find ways to love them.

I just wanted to thank you so much for that amazing day you brought to me last year. I found over a years time I have grown so much as a person and I think a lot of that has to do with the Challenge Day I attended about a year ago. I have accomplished so many things thanks to that amazing day. My goal was to be able to speak to people and I have come so far and am so proud of myself. I have started acting lessons (something I’ve wanted to do forever now but never had the courage to.) I had my first audition last month and got into the program (where they only accept six people.)

I have also had the confidence to get up and do saxophone solos which I love. I believe that making music is a form of storytelling even if there are no words. But, most importantly I have been able to tell people how I feel and have had better relationships with them because I’ve been able to do that. I think a lot of these accomplishments are thanks to you and that there was a little voice inside me wanting to get out but I wouldn’t let it. That one day last year changed that and I think I am a better person for it.
I don’t think I can thank you enough!

- Shayna, student, age fourteen

It all started when I watched it on Oprah. I had been struggling with a change in my professional career but the minute I heard what Rich and Yvonne were talking about, I knew I had to be a part of it somehow. I am a Psychologist and I love working with groups. I believe the group dynamics is what teaches us about whom we are and there is no better way than doing that than learning it from others. Others see in us what we don’t.

After the Oprah show finished, I immediately went to the internet and searched for Challenge Day. It was amazing. Everything I read about it had so much to do with me and my personal fight to end prejudice, teasing and bullying. I have had 20 years experience teaching and learning about peace education with an organization that deals with more than 60 countries but the message in Challenge Day and the Be the Change movement seemed a lot more real to me; so real that wonderful things started to happen in my life since I learned about Rich and Yvonne.

In the middle of so many drawbacks and fears and even despair sometimes it really feels as if someone else is watching over us… The first person who ever replied my messages to the Challenge Day office was Natalie. She has been what I call one of my very special angels throughout this incredible journey. She guided me, she answered all my questions and sent me material and most of all, she always, without any doubt, made me feel celebrated, special and empowered. I feel in my heart that Natalie is always there for me.

Natalie, then, introduced me to Maureen Fernand, a Spanish Language teacher who works with the Partner’s of the America organization, and is the VP of the Idaho chapter and who is also another angel in my prayers list, who has been such a generous, loving and dear friend – we have never even met or spoken to each other on the phone or even seen each other’s faces! Maureen has also helped me with so many more ideas I can use here in Brazil, since she has taken part in Challenge Day.

And then one day I found Rich on Facebook. I was so afraid to get in touch him but at the same time, so excited to see him there! I really thought he would never reply and think what kind of intruder was I? But, then, once again, I took the risk and I was blown away by his kind, quick and beautiful reply. From then on, Rich has also been there for me, all the time.

So, for the past 3 years I have tried, relentlessly, to tell people everywhere – schools, companies, universities – about my work, which is, in fact, an adaptation of what Rich and Yvonne have created in the US. The results I have had so far with all the activities and debates are unbelievable. I have seen miracles happen before my eyes. I have seen people forgiving and asking for forgiveness; I have had people come up to me and tell me such wonderful things I never, ever expected to hear. Most of all, there is no better feeling than the one I get when I see I am giving children, young kids and adults a chance to reach out and get to know each better, overcome their fears, break down barriers and learn to live in peace in their schools, communities and with their families.

So far in my city, over the last two years, I have worked with two schools (about 300 people) and several companies (about 250 people); I have given workshops to about 50 teachers. In the nearby area, I have reached about 3 very big schools (190 adults) and given workshops to 192 teachers.

This semester I am part of a project that will teach about 85 young people and grown ups to say no to bullying and teasing in a small public school. I have also managed to get workshop contracts in three other cities in my state and in the state of São Paulo. There is a very good chance I can take my work to more cities in the state of São Paulo, as well.

It has not been easy. And I really want to increase those numbers. In times of financial difficulties mixed with a career change, it is hard to get people to listen or believe in you. But I have decided that I will not give up. My work here will grow and I will continue to make a difference. I absolutely love what I am doing and every once in a while God sends me a different angel along the way, to give me courage and more strength and to make me see and remember that I am here in this world for a greater purpose.
I wish to thank everyone who has helped me. There are so many names…Just know you are all in my heart.
Thanks to Oprah as well, who sees the importance of what we do.

Milene Ferrazza Thomas
Psychologist, Group Dynamics Specialist
Londrina, Paraná, Brazil