Asset Message of the Week

(Hello eveyone, Here is our latest Asset Message of the week written by our Youth Worker Melissa Robinson, MSW. Hope you enjoy it and pass along this message to others as I think it is a really valuable one. And as always, please visit http://www.assetpromise.org/ to learn more about how we all can support Middletown youth and consider making a promise yourself.)

Good Morning,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. For this week's asset message, I wanted to share a story of purposefully building assets:

All last week a young man at WWMS had been telling me that he was writing me a letter as part of an assignment in Mr. Geary’s class. He wouldn't give me any more information beyond that but when I got to work on Friday, I found a letter in my mailbox as well as one under my office door from another student. Apparently the assignment was to pick a staff member from the previous year and write them a letter letting them know why you appreciated them. Each letter talked about how I had made some sort of difference in their lives and specifically noted different things I had either done or lessons learned from spending time with each other.

For those that know John Geary, an 8th Social Studies teacher at WWMS, this kind of activity coming from him is probably not a surprise to you. A friend of the YSB and an asset builder before we brought developmental assets to this community, he has always been known for his habit of doing little things that make a big difference (most notably sending cards to former students when he sees their name in the paper for making the honor roll or dean’s list in college).

In a perfect, preach what you practice moment, he allowed for his students to write these small notes to staff members as a way of showing their appreciation that might often go unmentioned. He even went the extra mile with the students and had them deliver the envelopes to the mailboxes as well as offices. This great asset building exercise from Mr. Geary's class touched on several of the assets including: other adult relationships; caring school climate; adult role models; bonding to school; and caring.

Personally, I was so touched. After thanking both students for their letters and letting them know how much I appreciate them as well, it was clear that they had gained satisfaction from writing this letter as well and intentionally thanking someone for being in their life.

It goes to show "what is common sense is not always common practice". How often do we appreciate others in our lives "just because" or how often do we encourage the youth in our lives to intentionally appreciate others just because?

As this story is a nice reminder of purposefully building assets, consider taking this message one step further and encouraging the children in your life to let someone know that they are appreciated. Not only will they make someone else’s day in doing so, but will find the joy in making others feel good as well.