Williams/Ledger students become champions against bullying
Special to Leader-Press
As part of its bullying prevention strategies, Williams/Ledger Elementary School hosted the NED show to teach students how to be champions at school and in life.
NED show performers use a combination of magic tricks, balloon tricks, yo-yo stunts, humor and story-telling to present a positive message to students. The program features a cartoon mascot named Ned who also happens to serve as an acronym for the three main points of the program: Never give up, Encourage others and Do your best.
The program talks to students about making positive choices, apologizing when you do something wrong, and continuing to try until you master a challenging skill. Mary Dunaway, 4th grade teacher, said she was impressed by the positive messages the presenter gave to the students.
“Some of them were giving compliments not only makes the person receiving it feel good, but it also makes you feel good,” Dunaway said. “Also, if you have a dream or a goal that you want to attain, keep trying and never give up."
A lot of humor, yo-yo tricks, and even some magic got the message across that students can become champions, both at school and in life.
Student Kaden Mayes, 3rd grader, learned from the humor in the presentation.
"I think that it was so cool because he told some funny stuff. He did some cool yo-yoing and also made a cool hat from balloons,” Mayes said. “I learned to never give up, encourage others and do my best."
At the beginning of the program, NED doesn't want to come to school, so he runs away and is chased by aliens. Eventually, he makes the right choice and asks the aliens to take him to the school so he can talk to the students. That really stuck in the mind of 4th grade student Sadie McKee.
“Everyone can learn from their mistakes,” McKee said. “Also, if you do wrong things, bad things will happen to you."
Stacie Golden, 3rd grade teacher, said she really enjoyed the NED show.
“He captured the students' attention immediately by introducing activities that encouraged them to be positive and model excellent behavior,” Golden said. “The students loved the magic tricks and were so excited to be the one he picked to answer what it took to be a stellar student.
“It was a great and fun beginning of the year lesson for our students to be a part of to start the year on a positive note, encourage others and to remember to not give up when times get difficult."
NED is a character education program through All for Kidz Inc. and promotes positive values to students across the globe. They have performed at the White House multiple times as well as in all 50 states, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
For additional information, the website is http://www.thenedshow.com. Teachers and family members can find free downloads to continue to build on the positive message.