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Family Play Day

May 30th, 2008
by Toby.
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Brandy Runkle took Landmark Education’s Self-Expression and Leadership program earlier this year and looked at creating a project, she wanted to do something which helped families spend more time together in today’s fast paced world. She created a project which created a family day together in a scenic outdoor setting. The Olympian, a the leading newspaper of Olympia, Washington, recently wrote a feature story about Runkle’s project, which appears below.

Play Day Focused on Family Time

By Linda Tarr – 4/6/08

Brandy Runkle is putting together “Take Your Family To Play Day” on Saturday at Priest Point Park.

“We get caught up in the day-to-day routine and don’t make enough time to appreciate the people in our lives,” she said.

The event will resemble an old-fashioned company picnic or big family gathering, with crafts such as finger painting and games such as relay races.

While kids younger than 16 will probably be most interested in the activities and games, all ages are welcome, she said.

Peter Rex, community relations director for the Olympia School District, said fun family time helps families bond.

“It’s so important to have family time together that is fun and not just always focused on the day-to-day activities of getting kids to appointments and dropping them off at school,” Rex said. “It’s these kind of enrichment activities that really form long-term memories between kids and their parents and families.”

He said Priest Point Park is a great spot for the event – and just for families to spend time.

“There are so many wonderful opportunities for discovery and hiking and looking at things on the beach and just spending quality time together with kids and family,” he said.

The event will afford Runkle family time as well. Her mother, sister and brother all have volunteered to help. She said others who want to volunteer are more than welcome.

“The more the merrier,” she said.

Though she does not have children, Runkle said she was inspired to launch the activity after attending a Landmark Education forum, a self-expression and leadership education program in Seattle. She also was inspired by her sister’s two children.

Runkle envisions having a “Take Your Family to Play Day” four times a year. “I would love for this to turn into not just a one-time event,” she said.

On Saturday, she will gather information from people who’d like to help with future play days.

“The vision is, whoever attends has so much fun and enjoys it so much, we rotate who sets it up each quarter,” she said.

“Take Your Family To Play Day” is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Priest Point Park in Olympia.

Thanks to the Olympian for this story.

Landmark Education Self Expression and Leadership Program connects Salt Lake City to Northern India

Dec 10th, 2007
by Toby.
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In Northern India, in the State of Hamachel Pradesh, there is a discouraging state in the social affairs of the local people. This area remains to be one of the most backward regions of India with an average income of $200 dollars per year for most native residents. Outlying communities remain poor with little hope for government funding to improve their way of life.There are eight facilities in the district of Chamba that serve orphans, and battered or homeless women and their children. These facilities have extremely poor living conditions, broken windows, little or nonexistent sanitary facilities, no hot water, poor or no beds and bedding, lack of clothing, minimal kitchen facilities, little or non-existent educational resources and a lack of training or vocational programs to help the local people.

According to local government officials in Chamba, no outside humanitarian organizations had previously ever come to the aid of these people.

Youth Making a Difference (YMAD) is a project that was created Landmark Education Self Expression and Leadership Program. It is intended to make a difference in the lives of children in orphanages in Northern India and perhaps more importantly the American students who participate.

The above video was taken in the months leading up to the first YMAD visit to the State of Hamachel Pradesh. While this 2 week trip brought much needed supplies and contact to the various orphanages, it made an even bigger difference in the lives of the students who participated. You can get a sense of the difference that was made by viewing the second video below.

If you would like to know more about this project or would like to participate with Youth Making a Difference you can visit www.ymad.org if you would like to know more about Landmark Education, you can visit www.landmarkeducation.com.

Landmark Education Self Expression and Leadership Project Teaches Defensive Driving in India

Jul 29th, 2007
by Toby.
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When B. Ramakrishnan registered for the Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Program, he knew that he wanted to make a difference in safety on the roads of India.  Indian roads have always been chotic, but with the double diget economic growth of the last two decades, the problems with traffic have become even greater problem.  According to the Boston Globe 276 people die in traffic accidents each day in India. Ramakrishnan’s projects seeks to do something about this, starting with his hometown of Banglor.

Here is a recent story from a news paper in Banglor

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Bangalore, India

Training in Defensive driving as a Landmark Self Expression and Leadership Program. As part of the Landmark Education’s Self Expression and Leadership Programme, B Ramakrishnan has taken up a community project of imparting training in defensive driving for professional drivers, especially companies that hire drivers for their employees. Call centers and software companies are among the target group as ‘they form a significant part of the vehicular movement on the road’, says Ramakrishnan.

As part of the initiative, the first session was conducted for drivers hired by GE India Technology Center (JFWTC) where around 76 drivers from SRS Travels and Ambassador Travels underwent the four-hour programme.

The training covered the basics of defensive driving — the need, impact on community, awareness of safety on the road and responsibility of road users. They also covered some of the recent developments or steps taken by the Bangalore Traffic Police in improving driving conditions on road.

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The programme, conducted by Geetha, Inspector (Traffic), Traffic Training Institute, Bangalore Police and her colleagues, included presentations, videos as well as discussions on accidents in the country along with footage that included interviews of family members of victims. The feedback, according to Ramakrishnan, was quite positive and people seemed to realise the impact negligent driving can cause on people as well as how important it is to adhere to rules.

Similar workshops will be conducted for other organisations in the near future. For further information contact Ramakrishnan at: ramakrishnan.b@ge.com

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