Alva Review-Courier -

On Feb. 15, the Woods County Retired Educators Association (WCREA) met at Gambinos. The speaker was Marian Payne, northwest coordinator of LifeWize Program. Having been a teacher's assistant for five years, she appreciates all that teachers do. She works through Northwest Ministries, which is a community of believers who seek to serve young people through the LifeWize program, the Children's Hope program and Empowered Parenting program.

The main thought is to help students to be wise in life. Some topics have been social media use and what is appropriate and what is not; bullying; using "I" messages instead of "you" messages – all of which are good to learn for use with peers, family members and spouses. The first lesson she shared was about the power of words.

Taking a larger paper doll cut-out, each student was asked to say one negative thing about the doll (anyone they were thinking of) and to tear off a piece of it. Some students tore off a small portion while a few ripped the head off. One refused to say anything negative or tear off anything. Next, they were asked to say two good things about the doll (again the person they were thinking of) and tape their piece back on the doll. This was a stunning visual about the power of words and bullying. This was the first lesson in the fall.

Next she shared how goals plus plans equal success. Just as we use the GPS in our cars, our life needs direction, too. "What is success to you?" was the question students were asked. Understanding what influences choices is important. Things like wrong information, low grades and depression can be strong influences. Students played the "Spending Your Life" game. A statement was made and they were given two options. As they chose, they marked off the required number of "coins" on a sheet of paper. Some options cost more than others while some choices cost the same. After all was chosen a last-minute twist was given in that if they had chosen option A for the third question, they must mark off two more coins. "Not fair!" and "You didn't tell us that at the first!" Isn't that how life is? Sometimes we do not see all the consequences of our choices till later in life. Another powerful lesson for students to learn.

"Boundaries" was the next lesson shared. A bowl with two live goldfish, James and John, is brought in and put on the table. As students discuss boundaries, rules, restrictions, etc., the leader calmly scoops one of the fish out of the water and puts it on the table. To the gasps and disconcerted looks, she states that the fish thought they were having more fun out here and he felt he was being left out in the bowl. He felt his boundaries were unfair and he needed to escape the restrictions. Of course she puts the fish back into the water. Lesson learned.

The last lesson was learning what we control and cannot control. The signal light colors were the focal point. Red was the reaction of "over the edge;" yellow was "figure it out;" and green was "take action." Mental control is knowing we have no control over other's emotions, only over our own emotions. The goal was to get them to thinking about their choices.

If anyone would like to work in this area, you will need an OSBI background check, finger printing and a two-day training. Contact Marion. This if funded by Oklahoma Baptist Home for Children and private funding.

The next meeting will be March 15 at the Homestead with Kyle Hughbanks, BancCentral Association president, speaking about the new facility and branch offices.