All Posts (627)

Sort by

Get your Kids Excited about Reading

Island Books is hosting P.J. Story Time
Second Saturdays at 6:30 pm

This story time is for ages 3-7 years

Saturday, October 9th Norm Brecke

Saturday,November 13th Nancy Stewart

Saturday, December 11th Margaret Read MacDonald

for more info please contact Island Books 206-232-6920, islandbooks@seanet.com

Read more…
When the kids are afraid? Self Defense is listening to kids.

*originally Posted by MeLisa Turcott Strongheart on February 5, 2010 at 3:30pm


Today there was an incident which involved the police and resulted in the kids at IMS and Island Park to go into the "lockdown" mode.

When something like this happens the kids come in and immediately talk about it. They are in a sense "traumatized" . Please don't misunderstand me; on a scale of 1-10 this probably wouldn't rate very high. However, in my experien
Read more…

What would you do to make a difference?

Hello all,

I am excited to now be working towards my black belt. Time to structure and execute on a project that gives back to the community as part of that training. I have some ideas, but I am sure there are many great ideas that I haven't considered. Anyone like to share your ideas of great projects? I'd love to hear them! --Jan
Read more…
Comments: 3

Mercer Island is well Prepared

I am a volunteer for the Mercer Island Emergency Preparedness Dept. And yesterday September 22nd was the cities yearly test...in case of a real emergency. We simulated an earthquake with a total shutdown of both bridges, power outages, fires, and even deaths.

It was a real eye opener for me. If an emergency hits, I will be involved at the call center at City Hall. We take the calls, map out where everyone should go to help, open the emergency well, and shelter sites. We will dispatch where polic

Read more…

No questions asked: National Drug Take-Back Day September 25


The city just sent out this notice inviting residents to drop off unused, unwanted, or expired prescription drugs at Mercer Island City Hall:

Safely declutter your medicine cabinets and help prevent increased pill abuse and theft at the first-ever National Drug Take-Back Day on September 25. From 10:00am to 2:00pm, drop off your expired, unwanted

Read more…

Bicycles for Humanity update


Bicycles for Humanity Seattle is proud to announce that our first shipment of bicycles has been loaded into a shipping container and is onits way to South Africa. The 451 bicycles will be distributed to students and health care workers to make their journeys easier. The container itself will become a self sustaining business staffed by locals trained and dedicated to the repair of bicycles. As this is a perpetual process we are continuing to collect unused bicycles for inclusion in our next c

Read more…
Week 2 Sept 13-18

review behaviors of bullying from last week: 1. imbalance of power 2. intent to harm 3. threat of further harm.

and work on the POWER OF THE BYSTANDER

60% of bullying is ended when one person takes a stand.

we will role play as well, maybe make some videos;)


Here are some things you can do if you see someone getting bullied:

Tell the bully to stop. Examples: "Cut it out!", "That's not funny!", "How'd you like it if someone did that to you?" Let the bully know that what he or she is d
Read more…

My living hero's

I thought about who my living hero's would be a while ago when our new CGN's were testing for their black belts. I have a few of them. The first one would have to be my mom. I guess for the simple fact of, she never gave up on me. I think back now on how she helped mold me into to this adult person that I am. Always there to put a band aid on my knee, the warmth of her hug, how she prepared a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup when I was under the weather.(I was in my 30's the last time sh
Read more…
Comments: 0

Suicide Prevention Day Sept 10


Education, Awareness Key to Suicide Prevention, Treatment September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day


In observation of National Suicide Prevention Week each September the American Psychiatric
Association continues its education and awareness efforts on suicide
prevention and treatment through its public service announcement,
“Father/Son.”

Through support of the American Psychiatric Foundation,
the APA’s 30-second public service announcement explores one family’s
struggle and offers a nat
Read more…

Community service

For my community service I decided to help teach other kids about longboarding, and how cool it is. I made sure to let them know how important safety gear is, how to skate safely, and just common curtsy toward people that may be walking by or cars. I first showed them how to stand on the board and go forward. Then how to brake and stop. After they had gotten that down, went went over to do some downhill skating. They were scared at first but after a couple try we all started going from the top o
Read more…
Comments: 0

We are members of a group of amazing martial artists called The One Hundred. We are seeking to redefine the role of the Master Teacher in today’s world. We are asking each other, as martial arts teachers to push ourselves in ways that serve as examples of our collective potential.

We believe our “business” is the business of being extraordinary human beings; of using our training for something more than fighting; of bringing authentic mastery to our schools by practicing the martial arts in ways

Read more…

What is Cyber Bullying?

Cyber bullying is bullying through email, instant messaging (IMing), chat room exchanges, Web site posts, or digital messages or images send
to a cellular phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) (Kowalski et al.
2008). Cyber bullying, like traditional bullying, involves an imbalance
of power, aggression, and a negative action that is often repeated.

Cyber bullying has some rather unique characteristics that are different from traditional bullying:

  • Anonymity: As bad as t
Read more…

Bullying Quiz (answers and explanations follow the test)

Complete the following quiz by selecting True or False for each question.

  1. Bullying is just a part of growing up. The effects of bullying on victims are short-term and minor.
    a) true

    b)false
  2. Bullying is not a serious problem for the bullies; they eventually grow out of this behavior.
    a)
    true
    b)false
  3. Most bullying occurs in high school because older students are more confident and willing to pick on others.
    a)
    true
    b)false
  4. Bullying is usuall
Read more…

An Ode to Bullies.

It is easy to be angry, and upset about the behavior of bullies. After all we know that their behavior has terrible outcomes for their victims. But empathy, and compassion for bullies, ought to be part of our approach to the problem of bullying.


Kids do not become bullies without system involvement. Remember without the bystanders, and the silent consent given by folks within their system, the bully would not have the ability to bully at all. In fact, the research is clear that the negative eff

Read more…
Keiko Fukuda, 9th dan, is the highest ranking woman in judo histoy. Sheis also the last living disciple of judo's founder, Jigoro Kano. This is a 10 minute sample of the upcoming documentary film, currently in post production, "Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful."

This is an amazing project, about a phenomenal martial artist. the folks at flyingcarp.com are producing this documentary. it would be wonderful to see the finished project.

I am going to donate $10 dollars. Joining in with Tom Callos
Read more…

Can Dirt and Bacteria make you smarter?

"Mycobacterium vaccae is a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breath in when they spend time in nature," saysDorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, who conducted the research with he

Read more…
We are on a mission to train as many kids, teens, and adults the skills needed to end bullying now. Verbal Judo is a program that has been used by law enforcement for over 26 years--it trains officers in tactical communication skills so they are able to de-escalate situations using words before they become physical.

We have broken the program down to present to kids in a way that is developmentally appropriate, combined it with anger management, and education with the most current anti bullying
Read more…

Congrats

I just want to say congratulations to all the new black belts. It was an honor to meet all of you young now black belts who are a inspiration to your community, showing dedication and perseverance through years of training and hard work. You are now members of an elite family and I urge you to continue to strive for perfection both on the dojang floor as well as out side of the dojang.
I had an absolute blast working out with you all and I'm very impressed with your positive attitude and the exam
Read more…
Comments: 2

Essay By: Katherine

By Katherine

Some of my goals upon having reached black belt for my future training and learning are to have realized that you don’t become a black belt when the masters tie your belt on, you become a black belt when you have learned to respect and to honor others and yourself. As for my training when I know I have a higher belt on I know that I am expected to be more respectful and to work harder on my forms and kicks.

I will be the kind of black belt that shows respect to everyone because when I

Read more…