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Goal Setting
Institute Opens in Lawrence
Paula Porten
(08/03/07)
James Desrosiers does not like
to talk about his troubled childhood growing up in
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, but mentions that he had lacked
any goals and had no real direction in school.
At 17 years old, Desrosiers joined the military and was
ordered to run two miles. Two miles? he
thought to himself, I cant even run one mile.
But much to his surprise and delight, he ran one mile and
then ran the second. It was then that Desrosiers had his
Aha! moment.
It is that Aha! moment that Desrosiers shares
with children in the classroom, at the YMCA and elsewhere
across the Commonwealth. He shows them they too can
have that Aha! moment where they realize that
they can do something they thought was unachievable.
Seven years ago, Desrosiers wrote the book Young Peoples
Guide to Goal Setting. and has been speaking and teaching
youngsters about time management, self-motivation, and
achieving goals through his Goal Management Curriculum.
The curriculum uses his book as part of a six-week
course. So far, he has distributed over 18,000
copies.
Desrosiers has paired up with Bob Ansin of Monarch on the
Merrimack, to bring the program to Lawrence and now he is
in Lawrence piloting his Goal Setting program through the
Goal Setting Institute for Youth. The
Institute is presently on Island Avenue and he recently
received 501(c)3, non-profit status. Desrosiers has
been working with Notre Dame Academy, Espiranza Academy,
the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, South Lawrence East
School, Community Day Care and the Department of Youth
Services, to help kids set and achieve their goals.
The Department of Education is also involved, tracking
the progress of the students who have gone through the
six-week program. There is also a bill pending at the
State House to include the Goal Setting Guide and program
as part of the health curriculum in all middle schools
across the Commonwealth. The program will be a
six-week course taught once a week in sixth, seventh and
eighth grades. Senator Robert Antonioni, Chair of
the Joint Education Committee, sponsored the bill.
After reviewing Desrosiers material, Antonioni
stated, I strongly agree that the skills you offer
through this program are important and that our students
will benefit greatly from learning how to set and achieve
their goals and dreams. I see great potential for a
curriculum like the Young Peoples Guide to Goal
Setting in our schools.
Desrosiers expects to present his work before the Joint
Education Committee this fall, along with fellow Board
members Bob Ansin and Channel 5 anchorwoman, Susan
Wornick. Desrosiers is very optimistic that his
program will become a mandatory part of the middle school
curriculum.
The Goal Setting Institute for Youth was created by James
Desrosiers and Bob Ansin to teach young people how
to succeed and realize more of their potential. The
mission of the Institute is to provide critical
success skills including goal setting, time management,
and self-motivation to people as part of their early
foundational development as human beings.
According to the website, The overall concept is to
provide future generations with the curriculum, tools and
concepts necessary to promote the success and advancement
of young people in todays society.
Ansin invested in the program saying that he witnessed
first hand its success. He says, The program
empowers young people to stay on path. It gives students
a purpose to stay in school and makes them want to
succeed. He has seen students make goal
setting a habit and, along with immediate results, that
is a really good return on my investment.
Ansin says that the program is saving kids and kids want
to succeed.
The curriculum can be taught by a teacher or on the
internet. Desrosiers goal is for every middle
school student or age equivalent to get an ID and
password and go on the web and start setting goal.
He wants every child to have the skills of the Goal
Setting Institute and says that he is not waiting for the
bill to be ratified. I will continue to implement
and teach the program on a voluntary basis while working
at the State House to help make the program become a part
of the school curriculum. he says.
All kids need to be taught how to achieve goals and
how to succeed, says Desrosiers. They
need to stop being told that they are stupid, but that
they can succeed. My Goal Setting Institute provides the
tools to teach children how to set goals and how to
attain those goals.
One place in which Ansin witnessed firsthand the success
of the program was at the YMCA. Desrosiers
approached YMCA director David Perez, who agreed to allow
the curriculum to be taught to the Lawrence High School
JV and Varsity Basketball team. There were 34 boys
in total who worked with Desrosiers, each setting their
own individual goals. The program began
before mid-terms and the boys that set goals for passing
their mid-terms, all got As and Bs.
says Perez. Other teammates set goals for
playing better basketball. Before the Goal Setting
Program began, the team had lost three games in a row,
after Desrosiers completed the six week program, the boys
made it all the way to the championship. say
Perez.
The boys set goals related to grades, for better
relationships, family goals or goals that were
sports-oriented. But each boy set a goal and each
met his goal. When asked how the boys were
doing now, Perez happily reported that the three seniors
all graduated and are now enrolled in college. Perez said
that the Goal Setting Program was so successful that the
YMCA has recently applied for a grant to include the
Program be taught to 200 of the YMCA kids.
Desrosiers has also worked with Commissioner Jane
Tewksbury of the Department of Youth
Services. Desrosiers taught 13 incarcerated kids
the six-week program. The first week was
mandatory that each of the 13 kids attend, but the rest
of the weeks were voluntary, recalls
Desrosiers. After the first week, though, all
the 13 kids returned and completed the six-week
program. DYS saw immediate results. Kids were
off drugs, out of gangs and several enrolled back in
school, while others got jobs.
DYS plans to continue working with Desrosiers and he
expect to teach 2,500 incarcerated kids.
Desrosiers sees his Institute as teaching living skills.
He wants private businesses to get involved and sees
banks teaching students how to balance checkbooks to
teaching about the stock market. Kids live to the
standard, rather than to their potential. We need
to surround kids with excellence and goal achievement.
Surrounding kids with a support and belief system, they
will develop new permanent habits and a new belief
system, concluded Desrosiers.
To learn more about the Goal Setting Institute for
Youth or to contact James Desrosiers, go to www.growthco.com
or call (978) 272-1011.
Paula Porten is an attorney with the Tarshi Law
Office, a board member of The Valley Patriot and a former
member of the North Andover Finance Committee, you can
email her at plporten@comcast.net
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The August 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 15,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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