I just want you to know that it was a fantastic experience. I thought that the facilitators did a great job, as well as the students and the adult volunteers. It was amazing how the feeling in the gym was so different in the afternoon from the feeling in the morning, when we all sat as strangers. Again, thanks for enriching my life through the Challenge Day. And thanks for all you do to make this world a comfortable place for our youth.
-- Colleen Widlak - Clinton Township Optimist
I am fortunate enough to have many of the seniors from leadership class who participated in two days of events. Although I was only there for one day among the freshmen, I have noted that in the hallways there has become a certain nod or acknowledgement among us that wasn't there before. In my second hour, the class that has about eight leadership students, we now greet each other, when waiting for conversation to die down in order to move on, with our "international sign."
It has been a VERY worthwhile experience for me and for my students and I genuinely hope that our school and district continues to participate in this important movement.
-- Student - Chippewa Valley High School
I got a phone call from my friend yesterday afternoon and he asked me to pass along some positive feedback about Challenge Day. Many of you know that Ed's wife Mary has a dance studio. One of her dance students participated in Challenge Day on Wednesday. That evening she came to dance class and spoke to Mary about the Challenge Day experience. She said, "this totally changed my life". (I have heard similar comments from my students as well). Perhaps more significant was the fact that Mary said this young lady was actually carrying herself differently. As a dance teacher Mary is quite in tune with body language and she said this girl was like a different person.
-- Susan Myers -- Teacher Chippewa Valey HS
Challenge Day is a wonderful program for young and mature going just to get out of school, but it turned is around for me. The types of activities were both fun and full of lessons. It made people connect with each other and share their problems, deepest secrets in front of people that they have never seen, or people they might not get along with very well. Some people learned to walk through other people's shoes and heard major problems that made them feel thankful that their's weren't as big. I was luckv and fortunate to have minor problems. Now, if someone is made fun of, I stand up for them even if I don't know them. If we don't start making a difference then nothing will ever change Even if it's one person it will make a difference. Maybe one person will really effect someone else's life and then it will spread throughout the world. This program changes people's lives and their perspectives. It brings love throughout the school. You might ask why is this program wirth doing? Won't they just go back to their same selves after it's over? Well, all I have to say is, if a small group of people become so close throughout the day, think about if we were to to it throughout the world. There was more love and comfort in that room then there might ever be in this world . So I hope this letter convinces you to keep this program alive.
Thank You!
-- Iva Sinamati
HOW CHALLENGE DAY HAS CHANGED OUR SCHOOL
Challenge Day changed a lot of kids from not being the greatest kid in the world, to being a fun person to be with.
It changed me. I went from not wanting anyone to be around me, to wanting to be around people and wanting to get to know them.
-- Tom Chaltron
Well so far a lot of people has made progress. I'm more social now and a lot more people talk to me. I keep myself out of trouble and keep away from negativity.
Challenge day opened up my eyes and made me see the better things in life through all the stuff I been through. It helped me express myself more because so many people understands me cause they may be going through the same thing. I didn't know that life could be so enjoyable when you relieve all your pain and sorrow you have,by crying or talking to someone. I learned that it's alright to shed a tear once in a while. And sometimes I do because I need to.
But then again I also have seen other things going on after challenge day. A good amount of people has been in situations where someone heard someone else was talking about them. And if you went to challenge day you'll know that we discussed that and we discussed the proper way to resolve that type of problem. Instead people listening to others that gossip and tell them things they heard or over heard. For example, my best friend and an associate of mine were in a bad situation. And my friend heard that my associate said some things about my best friend ex-boyfriend. She thought as a friend that person should know yet she did not knowing if it's true or not she went to my best friend and told her the gossip. My best friend had already had drama with my associate. I thought the drama was over at challenge day because my associate said she would never talk about my best friend again behind her back, and my best friend also committed to the same thing. So my best friend told me about the situation and I told her "You didn't learn anything from challenge day did you! Even though our friend may came up to you and told you., that doesn't mean that it's true. She doesn't even know if it's true or not! So go up to her and ask her politely did she say anything about you." So she went up to my associate and asked her politely and things were settled. Hopefully th~rcfriends again and are talking now.
Over all the point is some things have changed since challenge day. A couple of my friends for example Storm, Shaprese, Dae-Dae, and Jasmine say that they learned that you shouldn't judge people from the out side. And they also said they stopped talking about people. Adrianna, another friend of mine says she had a lot of fun, and she got to know a lot of people a lot better than what she knew them. And even though there are still people from challenge day that still do negative things, that doesn't mean they won't develop what they learned from challenge day. Cause no one's perfect. Right? And everybody makes mistakes. The majority of people in the school that went to challenge day enjoyed it and are looking forward to going next year. Because the majority of the people enjoyed challenge day, a lot of things changed around our school so far. There's a lot more respect and understanding goin on and a lot more communication, which is very good.
So, if you haven't been...GO! I promise you won't regret it. It can save your life too, cause it did just that for me!
-- La'kia Reece Allen
"What an incredible program Challenge Day is! I have seen incredible transformations in a six hour period of time. It happens every time. I just keep seeing hope for the teens and for our world as a result of this program!"
-- David Miller, Computer Consultant, Sterling Heights, MI
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