How effective are you?

It takes organization, continuing education, passion and a healthy dose of vitamins to keep ahead of young people (are we preaching to the choir?). The problem with your work is that it’s never done! Young people are a work in progress.

Clearly you’re touching lives, and you may even see immediate changes in attitudes and behaviors. But how can you possibly measure your long-term impact? Educators tell us they just have to believe—in what they are doing, in the students themselves, and that over time their lessons and positive messages become even more meaningful. And they use curriculum and teaching methods that are both educationally sound and conducive to retention.

Here at Realityworks, we have the same issues, only we have the help of outside researchers to examine the effectiveness of our products over time. We operate on the same belief system you do, and we’re proud to give you the assuredness you need, in meeting educational standards and providing engaging and information-rich materials for long-term results.

Check out our new White Paper on the effectiveness of the ySTART Addiction Education Program, read testimonials from health and life skills educators across the nation, and give yourself credit for doing all you can to change lives and the future—even if you can’t fully see those results today.

ySTART Proof of Effectiveness is here
White Paper: The Effectiveness of a Tobacco Addiction Prevention Program for Young People

Enough with the sneak peeks at the research . . . a White Paper is now available, summarizing the results of a nationwide longitudinal study of more than 350 students. It proves that the new ySTART Program is effective.

ySTART version 2.0 released (cue the sound of
angels singing)
Now available in Spanish! Now compatible with MAC OSX!
Build your own audio for the PreventPak Addiction Simulator!

The new ySTART Addiction Education Program uses a handheld electronic device called the Prevent Pak addiction simulator to simulate an addiction and peer pressure situation. A two-day take-home simulation helps young people intimately understand the impact of an addiction on their lives, and practice their refusal skills.

The PreventPak contains a group of about 300 spoken phrases called an audio pack for a realistic and unique experience for each participant. With version 2.0, educators can modify this factory-installed English language version of the simulation by creating their own audio packs and downloading them to the devices! This makes it easy to use the program in any part of the world. If our existing audio doesn’t represent the slang or accents in your community, you can change it for a more localized and realistic experience.

This way-cool audio creation feature resides in the ySTART Community, a web site available only to ySTART educators. The site exists to help you make the most of your program, share helpful tips and tricks and get answers to your questions from the Realityworks Product Support team. You can also talk directly to other educators through a new forum. We are bringing the world together through technology! Software engineers and webmasters everywhere are smiling at the beauty and goodness of this humanitarian work . . . be sure to hug your favorite techno-geek today. You can access the ySTART Community through Control Center software using your Internet connection.

Control Center software, included with each ySTART package, provides instant programming and data retrieval for the addiction simulation. Version 2.0 also comes with Spanish printable materials.

For a complete list of features and benefits, click here.

For more information, please contact your Product Consultant or send us an email.

Infant simulators at Harrison School prove that simulations have a big impact on students, families
and the community
Fundraising for Baby program was a community effort

Janet Zimmerman

For years, students at this rural southwest Montana high school carried around five-pound sacks of flour meant to represent an infant for instructor Lisa Cooper’s parenting class.   

But some students found it easier to stash the “baby” in a locker or car trunk. The instructor never knew for sure what kind of care was dispensed by each student. Those days are gone for good. 

This year, the sacks of flour have been replaced by five RealCare computerized infant simulators.

“Most all of the students scored high on this exercise,” Cooper said. “I am quite proud of how well they all did in accepting this responsibility.” 

However, not everyone supported the project. One teacher, annoyed by the disruption to his first period classroom, insisted that the students go out into the hall when their infant cried. 

Parent Debby Jacobsen described the overnight experience as “horrible”.

“I hated it the whole time. I thought it was the stupidest thing ever... I can't say for all the kids, but my two boys didn't learn a thing,” she stated. “The money should have been spent for school books . . . I think a good sex-education class would be better.” 

School secretary Doreen Young had a different view. She noticed how supportive the students with the simulators were to each other. 

Also, she reported that students had a lot more to carry at school. In addition to the usual backpacks filled with books, they had to maneuver the halls with the infant in a carrier and with a diaper bag. The physical challenge didn't end when the students left school either; the infants had to be buckled into the car and any siblings hitching a ride home had to move over to make room! 

“I would rather they practice on a fake baby than a real one,” she said. “I think they will be ready for the real thing with the time comes, with real skills.”

Most everyone at school was affected by the project in some way. Linda Ehlers, 7-8th grade teacher and a proud grandmother herself, enjoyed watching the students take to the parenting challenge.“ It was a little disruptive but the kids were very good parents.”

Some students chose to skip the school ski trip, thinking that a day on the slopes might be a hardship for an infant. Siblings sharing a bedroom complained of having to spend the night with a crying baby in the care of an older brother or sister. One of the boys was concerned that the rough ride in his truck would make his infant cry when he fed cattle after school.

“A real baby would be easier,” one boy exclaimed, but his peers gleefully pointed out that real babies can get sick, cost lots of money and have real bodily fluids complete with unpleasant odors. 

The infant simulators were purchased with private money at the request of the Harrison High students. More than 20 area residents and the Community Youth Partners donated $3,500 to fund the project. 

CYP, a local group, administers grant money from the Turner Family Foundation for positive youth and adult partnerships. A senior student took responsibility for organizing the fund drive in the community. 

Most of the students felt that they don't want to have kids anytime soon. 

“It was hard to care for an infant at school,” said one sophomore. “They always interrupted at inconvenient times . . .” 

One freshman girl added, “I've decided I'm not ready for parenthood any time soon. Observing the other students struggle with their infants has made me more understanding of what is involved.”

Another boy admitted he would like to have a family someday. “But not until I am 30,” he said. 

- Janet Zimmerman, Harrison Schools
Pony, Montana

Wanda Hoover is changing her world!
Indiana educator has long-term impact on community

	Wanda Hoover with Joe Frank, Realityworks Product Consultant at the Indiana Department of Education Family and Consumer Sciences conference.

Wanda Hoover’s principal, Derick Bright, personally told us how much his school and community appreciates Wanda’s efforts and passion for FCS education. Wanda has taught for over 30 years at Taylor Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana, and has been a huge advocate of the Realityworks RealCare Program. For the past six years she has successfully received grant money to fund her program. She is the Family, Career, Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) advisor for her school. This year, her students made it to the FCCLA national competition. She also serves as vice president of internal affairs for the Indiana Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. 

Wanda’s FCCLA students participate in a sewing project to help cheer children who stay in the local hospital’s pediatric unit. The students create stuffed frogs and are very proud of the work they do. The school has received letters from parents of hospitalized children thanking Wanda and her kids for making them. According to Bright, it is only one of the many special activities Wanda conducts as community outreach with her students.

Do you know a special educator who deserves recognition for their work with the RealCare Program? Contact your Product Consultant today. We’re listening . . .

Enter and Win—Share Your Story

We print your story and you get a chance to win free product! Tell us a little bit about your program and what makes it special. Send us a photo with some chicken scratch next to it. Draw us a picture. Call us and we’ll take the notes for you.

Winners will be chosen by random drawing at the end of the year. Lots of great products from us to you, just for bragging up your program and showing other program leaders how you git ‘er done (Editor’s note: rednecks are people, too). Share the love, won’t you?

Include your name and contact information, and a photo if possible—of either you or your program in use—and email your story to newsletter@realityworks.com.

Click here for contest rules.

Tools You Can Use
Product Support at your service

Unlike some companies, you can call the Realityworks product support line and get a real live person to help you with your product concerns. They can talk you through just about any concern or problem you're having with your Realityworks products.

In addition to the one-on-one help, we share their product support tips every month right here by the clover (because we’re lucky to have such great product support technicians, of course).

Summer Product Support hours (June through August) are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. Call 800.830.1416 or +1.715.830.2040.

Product Support Tip O' the Month

School’s out for summer!*

It’s that time of year when many of our customers put Baby away for a summer siesta. Here are some simple housekeeping tips before you give Baby a well-deserved rest.

What to do with batteries:

• For RealCare Baby II—be sure to remove batteries before storing! Do not leave batteries installed in Baby over a long period of time. The batteries may leak and damage Baby's electronics. Have you checked out RealCare Baby II-plus? No batteries required! Hint, hint.
• For RealCare Baby II-plus—give Baby one final charge before storing. HOWEVER, be sure to unplug Baby from the charger. The best thing is for the rechargeable battery module to slowly drain until dead. Do not leave Baby plugged into the charger, and NEVER remove battery module from Baby's back. Recharge Baby when you return.
• For the RealCare Baby II control unit—just like RealCare Baby II, please remove the batteries. Do not leave batteries installed over the summer.

Keep Baby as safe and comfy as possible. Best practices for storing:

• Place Baby in a plastic bag; this will protect Baby’s vinyl.
• Lie Baby flat on its back in a box, car seat or other storage device.
• Never stack anything on top of Baby; it may distort the vinyl.
• Store Baby in a dry location.

We’re coming to your town!

Here’s a partial list of where we are headed next. Please come and visit us at these conferences, or call ahead to reserve some time with a Realityworks representative while we’re in your neck of the woods.