RESPONSIBILITY: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines responsibility as “the quality or state of being responsible.” That involves social, moral, legal, and mental accountability. Responsibility is demonstrated reliability and trustworthiness. Consistent responsible behavior is a critical foundational practice that youth need to develop. There is a direct link between responsibility and leadership capacity. It is essential to develop this key competence. The DREAM NOW program develops personal, social, political and fiscal responsibility. Students increase responsibility competency through interactive learning programming. The program takes an aggressive approach to responsibility development through several methods. The first is Character Building. The program’s value driven curriculum instills an understanding, acquisition, and application of leadership traits including but not limited to: respect, trust, fairness, and critical decision-making.  Another component of the responsibility focus is goal setting.  

Successful people establish goals. A statistical truth of leadership indicates that those who establish and put their goals in writing achieve them. Students in the “DREAM Now” program learn to set personal short and long-term goals. Their personal goals include educational and home facets. Kevin McCarthy writes in his book (The On-Purpose Person), “Purpose is energy!” Youth goal setting provides youth purpose, or focused direction that fuels effective decision-making.  It builds individual confidence and becomes a motivational force for the goal setter. Students who goal set exhibit higher levels of self-control in order to achieve their goals. Their tendency to succumb to peer pressure decreases, and self esteem in- creases with successful goal accomplishment.

EDUCATION : The DREAM NOW program recognizes three components of education. The first is formal education, the necessary foundation of learning that occurs in a structured school setting. The second is common sense, which is defined as the level of wisdom exhibited through sound decision-making in response to situational circumstances and stimuli. The third is continued exposure to new learning opportunities that enhances and/or expands the current individual knowledge base to stimulate mental, physical, and spiritual growth. The programming efforts in this focus area support learning in all three components. The program encourages academic achievement. A key word associated with this focus area is “exposure.” Program participants are exposed to exciting and empowering learning experiences.  It involves a verbal communication skills (public speaking), and financial common sense component. Educationally enriching field trips are incorporated into the program to support the various subject components.

ADAPTABILITY: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, and leave us nothing but grief and pain” is a popular quote from a poem by Scottish author Robert Burns. The quote under- scores that the best conceived plans, strategies, or systems offer opportunity for failure or inefficiency. Conditions and circumstances often change, resulting in proverbial cross- roads of decision-making. An inability to proficiently react and adjust to changing stimuli can erect challenging hurdles that are difficult to overcome. Developing the ability to adapt to changing environments provides a critical skill of a leader. This focus area is designed to develop an adaptive mind. Critical thinking, conflict resolution, problem solving, and decision-making components guide the programming efforts of this component. Program participants engage in activities that encourage teamwork and test the resilience of their minds.  Each student receives and utilizes a student workbook throughout the duration of the program. It provides challenging exercises that promote leadership development.