Stake Women's Conference - year 2

Brian Kershisnik is the artist of this beautiful oil on canvas called "She Will Find What is Lost."  Of his oil painting Brian wrote: "many unseen forces are interested in you, love you, and work to influence matters for your profound benefit.  Most of what we all do is resist it, misinterpret it, or mess it up, but my experience indicates that these unseen efforts persist impossibly. 

 I thank God for that."

 We got the artist's permission (and paid him a small commission) to use this picture on our invitations and throughout the conference as we talked about the scripture found in 

John 14:26-27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.

Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I can't say enough good about these women!  They all served with heart and soul and carried out their responsibilities above and beyond that was needed.  

Melinda was over the decorations (she worked with a woman in our stake who owns a catering business and she graciously let us BORROW,

 free of charge, all of the beautiful decorations you see below!),

Kathleen was over the printed invites, programs, publicity and signage,

Dana was over all the set up, take down and technology needs,

I was over the luncheon.

Our stake has had the tradition for 22 years of organizing and offering a half-day conference for the women in the stake that is planned and carried out with their needs in mind.  Last year, this was the conference, and this year we decided to go a different direction. We had a general session first with a beautiful musical number (Come, Ye Disconsolate), an intro of our theme (which was taken from John 14: 26-27) and short talks by our stake president and his first counselor and then we divided into the break out sessions.  

We wanted this conference to provide real help for real latter-day saint women who are living in 2018.  We hoped that the presenters would share experiences from their own lives and how those experiences relate to the gospel of Jesus Christ and how we can feel peace and comfort in our lives, even amid challenges and difficulties.  Each presenter had 45 minutes to speak and the women who attended the conference chose three of the classes to attend.  It was a very difficult choice for them to choose only three classes! The teachers were all so well prepared and the classes were excellent.  These were the topics of our classes:

1.  Helping children find happiness living the gospel
2. WWJD: Christ's example of radical inclusion
3.  Hope and resources for those dealing with depression
4.  Finding peace and joy amidst life's challenges
5.  Living with a grateful heart
6.  Feeling God's peace through music
7.  Finding peace and hope when a loved one chooses to live an alternative life style
8.  The Family Proclamation: A battle worth waging
9.  Keep on the covenant path - tips for the trail
10.  Sean creyentes y felices y no se desanimen todo saldra bien
11.  Is happily ever after a fairytale in marriage?  No!!
12. Education for life: finding peace by preparing you, your daughter, and granddaughters for their unknown futures
13.  Accessing the Holy Ghost in times of trial
14.  Combating loss with creating: service and charity (especially) during the rough times
15.  The miracle of family search

BYU take-out food did an excellent job preparing the shredded chicken and seasoned ground beef for our build-your-own taco salads.  We had all the trimmings and everyone could choose their own preferences.  We also had a huge bowl of Clementines (cutie oranges) and key lime tarts for dessert, also prepared by BYU food-to-go.  We had priesthood men help set up the chairs and tables, serve the luncheon and help with clean up.  They were wonderful!  Rick was a huge help in picking up the food and being a over all great helper that day.  Our High Counselor over Relief Society was wonderful as well.  The saying that many hands make light work was very evident this day.  I'm so grateful to ALL those who served, who attended and who shared their personal experiences and their lives.  We felt like the conference was time well spent and we received great feedback that the conference was helpful to many sisters.  We estimate that over 300 attended that morning, as their time permitted. This was our goal - give our sisters concrete ideas of how to find peace, joy and comfort in their lives.  We feel like this goal was accomplished! Success!!

Working Mormon women

I've been involved in the Women's Success Center at UVU for about four years now.  It's been a privilege to serve with an organization that I really feel strongly about.  It's my time now to step down after serving on the board with some amazing women over the years.  Our last fund raising effort was another huge success, thanks in large part to my cousin Janis, who along with her husband Corey and his associated business, were sponsors of the event. Over $300,000 was raised at one luncheon for the educational pursuits of women attending UVU.  Through my tenure, I got to serve with two of my cousins - Rebecca from my dad's side of the family and Janis from my mom's side of the family.  Serving together with them was a lot of fun and I will remember many wonderful shared experiences in mentoring other women and learning and growing together as we worked to advance the achievement and success of women.

Helping women succeed in whatever they want to do is very important to me.  I have seen so many women struggling along in life without the preparation they needed to be successful in supporting themselves and their families and in finding fulfillment and joy in their journeys. Women should have options and plans to succeed in whatever field of study or combination of jobs outside or inside of their homes that they choose to do to contribute to society, their families and their neighborhoods. I'm a believer in preparation, knowing that it leads to success and choice.  Freedom to choose instead of having limited options and low paying jobs.

The Deseret News has been running a series or article about the gender wage gape in Utah.  The articles are fascinating to me. They are well researched and present some interesting statistics and information.

The truth about Utah and the nation's gender pay gap.
Mormon women navigate cultural pressures around work, family and faith.

I have lots of thoughts on this topic and maybe I'll share them later.  What do you think?

Self-reliance iniatives

I have been involved recently in our stake church group on a committee to help people become more self-reliant. There are so many great community resources and LDS church resources available to people who need help. This program was recently rolled out in our church to help train people HOW to help themselves and their families.  I'm so happy that many people in our neighborhood are enrolled in the 12 week courses and on their way to gaining the skills and know how they need to better care for themselves and their families in the areas of:

Starting and Growing My Business

Personal Finances

Find a Better Job

Education for Better Work

There are Pdf downloads of all of these materials for the courses on the web site and anyone who is interested can access the information and get the help they need.  Ingenious!  I love how proactive our church is in helping people help themselves and become more self-reliant.

Also available is a booklet and information called "My Foundation."  These lessons focus on helping each individual strengthen their own foundation in spiritual and temporal ways.  I bought the booklet for each of the families in our family group and invited them to go over the short lessons and corresponding videos, scriptures and quotes in their own weekly Family Home Evening.  I'm hopeful that these lessons will help ALL of us as a family strengthen our own foundation as we strive together to become stronger in all aspects of our lives.  With all the bombardments and strife around us, strengthening our spiritual and temporal foundations is greatly needed now and in the future.

I also made a presentation a few months ago in our stake priesthood meeting, sharing information about resources in our community that help women, especially single women, get ahead in life.  I'm so grateful to serve in these areas and share information that I am passionate about.  I firmly believe that if people have resources and caring people to help them get ahead in life, that they can improve their circumstances and be happier, healthier and better able to assist others.

 "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" 


Community resources for women:

Women’s success center, UVU

Our mission:  Graduating women and transforming lives.

Scholarships available based on need.  Mentors/counselors are available to assist.

Womensuccesscenter@uvu.edu

www.Uvu.edu/wsc

801-863-3010 or 801-863-5586

Wee Care Center, UVU

Our mission: The Wee Care Center is a licensed childcare facility dedicated to UVU student-parents. The staff serves children from six weeks to twelve years, so students can  attend their classes and study sessions. 

Single parent registration begins July 5th. 

Married parent registration begins July 10th. 

Enrollment is first come, first serve. Priority enrollment is given to single parents, low-income families, and students close to finishing their degree.

www.Uvu.edu/weecare

801-863-7266

People Helping People

Our mission:  People Helping People is dedicated to reducing the number of children living in poverty by teaching low-income women, primarily single mothers, how to earn an adequate income through stable employment that pays a living wage.

www.phputah.org

801-583-5300 or ask for Heidi  Wynn at 801-437-4415

Located on the third floor of the Boy Scouts building in Orem

Light the World - day three

I've been a mentor to three or four college age young women at UVU now for about three years.  It's a pleasure to meet with them monthly and encourage them in their educational pursuits.  We talk about things they want to talk about and share experiences together, eat (of course) and have a good time.  It is a joy in my life to serve with them.  I've met and interacted with some wonderful women over those years. I've also served on the board of the Women's Success Center at UVU for about four years now.  Some wonderful things are happening at UVU, especially in the WSC.  We are trying to raise the bar and emphasize the importance of women gaining an education or some sort of training so they can support themselves if needed and to just expand their minds.  In my way of thinking, this quest helps to bring light into the world of young women who need to prepare themselves for any eventuality that may come their way and also so that they can be better wives, mothers, community members, and contribute to society.

As a side note ~ because I have been involved at the WSC, we were invited to a special pre-game meal at UVU before we watched their basketball team play ball last week.  Since their team recently beat up on the BYU Cougars, 114-101, we were interested to see what is going on there since they are playing some good BB.  It was an interesting experience and kind of sad to see that the Wolverines don't have much of a fan base in attendance at their games.  They deserve better!

Also at UVU recently was the unveiling of the new fabulous stain glass exhibit called Roots of Knowledge.  It was 12 years in the making.  12 YEARS! Can I just say that if you go to Orem, you need to go to their library to see this exquisite display in person.  Call me, I'd love to take you! It tracks the "roots of knowledge" starting at the beginning of time and going until the present day.  And all of this story telling is done with 80 panels of stained glass.  It is just another way that artists (Tom Holdman and crew) have brought light into the world through knowledge and this stunning display.

Take a sneak peek at a few of the many handcrafted panes of stained glass at Roots of Knowledge.  Altogether, Roots of Knowledge incorporates 60,000 pieces of glass, as well as actual rock, fossils, coins, meteorite, petrified wood, and coral; materials were carefully selected to authentically illustrate the narrative to each historic event.

Potential outcomes for educated women

We have two universities in our county.  Between the two, they enroll approximately 60,000 full-time university students in our community.  We also have trade schools, night schools, for-profit colleges and online colleges.  This area is full of college age students who add a lot to our community as they pursue their educational goals.  The vast majority of them also work part-time or full-time to support themselves.  Many more would attend college if only they had the funds to pay for tuition.  Some simply don't see the benefit in pursuing a higher education, gaining a trade or some sort of training after high school to support themselves and better their lives.  Some women in our culture don't think they will need any further education after high school. They do! We're trying to change that culture.

Here is a great list of some of the ways an education benefits a woman.  The potential outcomes for an educated woman are amazing!  Take a look at the list and see what research has shown as benefits for an educated woman.  Who wouldn't want these outcomes for themselves and for their daughters, sisters, friends, cousins and nieces?  I want these outcomes for my four daughters and my five grand daughters and all those women I love because I know that their lives will be so much better if they prepare themselves and then have options when life gives them challenges they didn't anticipate.  I'm grateful that my daughters are all educated because that training has made and will make all the difference in their lives.

I've been involved at the Women's Success Center at Utah Valley University for about three years now.  Our purpose is to help young women realize the importance of a college education and to help them get admitted, stay in school and graduate.  UVU provides young women with many options in their educational pursuits, including trades, certifications, and a four year college degree.  UVU fits a niche in our community and 80% of the student body who attend there come from Utah.

The other university in town is BYU. As a private university, Brigham Young University fits a certain profile of students, many of whom come from out of state.  Admission standards are tough.  ACT scores and high school GPAs on constantly on the rise and many good students can't get in.  Here is the fact sheet from their web site. 

Freshman Profile
Applicants	11,603
Admitted rate	49%
New freshmen	4,427
Average ACT	28.3
Average high school GPA	3.8

Many LDS students who want to attend college in Utah find that UVU is a great choice too.  Under the direction of President Matt Holland over the last seven years, much growth and change has occurred.  Many young women get admitted to UVU (since enrollment is open), but they don't stay because they don't have the money to stay in school and graduate.  We as a WSC board have been working to help provide scholarships to women who qualify so that they can stay in school and graduate.  I invited my cousin Janis to join the board at the WSC.  Janis has been a force for good as she has taken a major role as the chair of the scholarship committee in raising money for women to stay in school.  We recently held a luncheon where successful and accomplished women from the community were invited and asked to participate in raising scholarship money.  It was a great success!  Janis did a wonderful job in hosting the luncheon and making the case for the need to raise scholarship funds.  With the help of our host doTerra, over $250,000 was raised at this luncheon for scholarships!

Our local newspaper, the Daily Herald, published an article about the luncheon which included the pictures shows below.

Janis did a great job conducting, making the case for the need
we have in our community and contributing to this worthy cause.

Barbara Barrington Jones is a generous philanthropic
 community member who has done much good in
our community, and provided funding for the
Wee Care Center at UVU where women can leave
their children in day care while they are in class.
President Holland's wife Paige is a
great supporter of this cause as well and has helped in
 many ways to further the cause of education.

Janis explaining the goal we wanted to reach that day at the luncheon.

Elaine Dalton also spoke and showed her
enthusiasm when the funds started rolling in.

I'm passionate about helping to get the message out that women NEED some sort of training, education or skill in order to be better women, mothers, parents, community members and to work outside of their homes if they need to or choose to.  Preparation is key and no effort is ever wasted on pursuing an education.

You were born to lead

Chelsea and I had the wonderful opportunity a few weeks ago to attend a special speaking engagement at Utah Valley University with keynote speaker, Deseret Book CEO Sheri Dew.  We were invited to attend a pre-speech meet-and-greet with other members of the UVU Women's Success center board and other guests.  It was so fun to attend with Chelsea and introduce her to some of the wonderful women I have met in our community.  One of my great heroes was there...Ardeth Kapp.  She was the general Young Women's president when I served as our stake Young Women president.  Years ago we invited her to come and speak to our young women and others from several stakes in our area and she came and gave them such great counsel.  It was fun to see her again.

The Keynote speaker was Sheri Dew with an introduction and speech by former YW general president Elaine Dalton.  Both of these women are such an inspiration to me.  They lead with conviction and love and they are wonderful speakers.  I took copious notes and want to share some of what they said. I was inspired, motivated, encouraged, and rewarded for attending and I'm so happy I go be there with Chelsea.

Elaine Dalton said:  Ordinary Mary, mother of Jesus.  Extraordinary task accomplished.  Using our ordinary talents and abilities can change the world.  Leadership is hard.  It can be exhilarating, rewarding...but it is never easy.  It's about influence.  Learn techniques to influence.  The leader doesn't have to have all the answers.  They just need to know how to find the answers.  Be a person people will follow.  Leaders are needed everywhere.  The leadership of women is critical.  Women can see things.  We know what the needs are.  We can be a combination of courage and compassion.  We will have direct influence on 1,000s of people over our lifetimes.

Sheri Dew gave an inspiring address. Speaking to women of all ages, she said, "The best leaders are perpetual learners. An inspired leader is always learning -- from mistakes, from others, and from experience. I'm not sure it is possible for a poor learner to be a good leader."

She shared seven principles of influence:
1.  Your leadership is not about YOU.  Lift others, don't elevate yourself.  Help others do and become more than they could become on their own.  Model for others how to do something.  Selfless leaders tend to be optomistic and positive.
2.  Leadership is utterly dependent on trust.  Without trust it is only a strategy.  Relationships of trust bear fruit.  How can we trust someone...that their motives are pure, their judgement is good, we will feel the truth.  Do people you lead trust you?
3.  Experience is the best teacher.  New experiences lead to results.  First - Experiences, second -beliefs, third - action, forth- results.   What new experiences can you give to people you lead?
4.  The best leaders are perpetual learners.  Learn from mistakes, hire the brains, ask good questions, the best you can do is the best you can do. Leadership exposes your weaknesses.  You can't hide, ignore or deny.  You must acknowledge and compensate for inadequacies.   Leaders accept responsibility.  It is always important to know what you do not know.
5.  The best leaders are both courageous and kind.  Always show more kindness than seems necessary.  Everyone has value and wants that value to be recognized. Leadership is sometime lonely.  Show courage, compassion and consideration.
6.  It's easier to motivate someone to do something difficult than to motivate them to do something easy.  Our leaders should call upon us to do more.  A life that doesn't stretch us doesn't help us to grow.
7.  Inspired leadership endures.  It is devoted to something greater than themselves.  Every woman giver her life to what she believes in.  Each day, endeavor to be more than you were. 

 For more information on the event, see the write up on the local newspaper HERE

Education. I'm a fan.

I couldn't tell you when it became a priority to me, but I do know this; I'm a huge fan of education for everyone, but especially for girls and women.  Education changes lives.  Education gives opportunities.  Education brings more confidence and security.  Education opens the world of ideas.  Education gives a woman choices. Every sacrifice to obtain an education is worth the effort.  I would encourage every woman I know to go as far as she can in obtaining an education.

Recently BYU began a serious of videos about the back stories of some of the women who teach at BYU.  How did they get to where they are now?  These stories of women at BYU are aimed to inspire education for young women.  Check it out HERE. 

The main message is that "You Can Move Forward."

The BYU Faculty Women’s Association, an organization for female faculty dedicated to promoting a sense of community and supporting women to be successful in their work, wanted to create a way to encourage female students at BYU to finish their schooling.
“There are several types of challenges such as health, family roles, academic difficulties, resources, and personal needs.  Sometimes circumstances imply, ‘you can’t move forward,’ and I wanted to be the voice that said, ‘you can move forward and there are wonderful women here at BYU who can inspire you."
The stories By Study, By Faith are very interesting.   I personally know two of the women fairly well, Dr. Jenny Pulsipher and Dr. Renata Forste.  I love hearing what they have to say about women and education as they share their own experiences. 

As I near my 60th birthday, I think that if I have any regrets, it is that I didn't obtain more education after finishing my bachelor's degree at BYU.  I did start to take classes towards a master's degree, but I couldn't see how to continue since I was working full-time, had a baby and a husband in law school. I've tried to continue life-long learning as opportunities have presented themselves.  I have been able to attend wonderful seminars and conferences and I have been exposed to so many great ideas and to so many different areas of study.  I don't always agree with everything I hear or read, but just knowing other points of view has broadened my horizons and my way of thinking about things.  I've also been very fortunate to work around very smart people for these last 20 years.  It is one of the things I will miss when I quit working...listening to or participating in the sharing of ideas and the defense of those ideas.

I have worked hard to help my children gain an education.  I'm so proud of my sons and daughters and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law who have all valued education and who have worked hard to obtain their own education.  Jordan got a master's degree (MPA) from the U of U, Claire got her degree in accounting from BYU and is now a CPA, Courtney got her master's degree from the U of U in speech pathology and Chelsea graduates this spring from BYU and is then headed to UCLA this fall to pursue her PhD in health Psychology.  Although they may not be currently working outside of their homes, they are working hard inside of their homes to educate their own children and instill in them a love of learning.  If the need or desire ever arises for them to work outside of their homes, they will be ready, capable, and prepared to contribute to society and to earn a comfortable living. They can have peace of mind knowing that they can do what needs to be done because they are prepared. Their education and training is a benefit to them, their families, their church congregations and the community around them.  I"m so proud of them and of all women young and old who pursue higher education or training to make their lives better.

Whoosh Cecil!

A new era begins today at BYU.  President Cecil Samuelson steps down as the 12th president and Kevin Worthen takes the reins as number 13.  University presidents really set the tone for what goes on at a university.  President Samuelson went around every year and visited the colleges and departments at the university to meet the faculty and staff and learn about the work they do.  I met him early on in his administration and when I saw him again on campus, he remembered my name. That really impressed me about him.  He really seemed to want to get down in the trenches and know what was going on at the university.  His 11 year tenure comes to a close and we are all anxiously waiting to see if he returns to wearing red (the U of U colors and his alma mater) or if he stays true to Cougar Blue.  Time will tell.
The BYU students started a tradition of saying "whoosh Cecil" after every scored free throw at basketball games.  Cecil would then give a thumbs up.  He continued this tradition for many games over many years.  He was a good president who was very approachable.  He will be missed at BYU.
His replacement, Kevin Worthen is a fine choice as a new president. He was in Rick's class in law school and Rick knows him and says he is a fine (and very smart and capable) person.  Goodbye and good luck President Samuelson and welcome and best wishes to President Worthen.

Education is the key

I have a girlfriend who told me that her whole life  took an unexpected turn for the worse when she made a major mistake in her early 20s.  She told me that she was still paying for that mistake 30 plus years later.  She felt like that one bad choice changed the direction of her life and it has taken her many years to get back to where she wanted to be all along. There were few helpers along the way and she was left to suffer along doing the best she could.  She had to drop out of school and was nver able to finish her degree.  She started working then and has had to work ever since. I admire her courage and determination to get back on track.  I admire her owning her mistake and acknowledging that choices have consequences, sometimes dire and long-lasting consequences.  As the saying goes, when you pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the whole stick and all that comes with it.
I've seen this scenario play out over and over many times through the course of my association with young women.  They think they know what they want when they are very young and inexperienced.  They think they know what they are doing (and often they do, but sometimes they don't.)  They sometimes won't take or follow any advice. I suppose they think that they will escape the bad consequences of their unwise choices.  Unfortunately, that is seldom the way things work.  But, they need to have a way back and a way up and out of the hole they may have dug for themselves.  They need a second chance.  Everyone needs a second chance!
I don't think a person should have to give up their dreams because their choices (or the choices of another person who impacts them) cause them to get off track.  I believe that some young women who are in this circumstance find it hard to dig themselves out.  They sometimes continue on as single mothers in low-paying jobs and are often trying to support themselves and their children with no training or education. We all make mistakes and we all need mercy and help to learn from those mistakes.  Often they need a caring mentor.  Often they need a helping hand and a way back to the path they were once traveling.
Enter the Women's Success Center at UVU.  
This is a center that is having a great impact on the lives of young women in our area.  They are actually doing something to help bridge the gap between success and failure.  The wife of the President of the University is behind this movement and lives are being changed. I admire her determination to get involved.  She is making a difference!

UVU has established the Women's Success Center to offer women the support and resources they need to complete their degree and gain the confidence, opportunity and knowledge that come with a diploma. Utah Valley University is dedicated to providing higher education opportunities to all who seek them, especially to women.
President and Mrs. Holland are behind the Women's Success Center 100% - they want you to succeed!

"I use my Bachelor's degree every day. I couldn't be the kind of mom, wife, and First Lady of UVU I should be without my education."

-Paige B. Holland

A major need that has been identified and addressed is the need that young mothers have to find a safe and affordable place to leave their young children while they attend class.   How can they gain the education and skills they need if they can't find a way to attend class and get the education they need?  The Wee Care center was established for this very purpose.  Through generous donors (many of whom were young mothers who were struggling along themselves in their youth) the center was established to provide child care while the moms are in class.  I think they is a marvelous idea.  A new building is currently being built to allow many more children to attend the care center while their mom's are furthering their education.  Take a look at this beautiful center and imagine the lives it will impact as young women prepare for their futures and are better able to care for their families.  For example: 

 

Women Who Graduate:

• Feel more control over their lives
• Have more leadership skills
• Have more solid self-esteem
• Have greater resistance to alcohol/substance abuse
• Have greater teamwork capabilities
• Are more tolerant of differences

Moms with a degree:

• Have higher birth-weight babies
• Have children who are more likely to complete their own education
• Create healthier lifestyles for their children
• When they choose to work, have higher salaries and more autonomy/flexibility in the workplace
• Are more involved in civic & volunteer opportunities
• Care more about social issues and world affairs, knowing it's the world their children will inherit

Something to get excited about!

Education! 

 For young men and young women. 

 Especially for young women who are also single mothers. 

I was invited to attend a gathering of about 300 women in our area in support of education at Utah Valley University.  It was such a worthwhile meeting and I felt like it was for a worthwhile goal. The main objective was to network with other women and learn how we can help young women be more successful in college and help them complete their education so that they can support themselves and their families if needed.  There were plenty of women there who could contribute financially, and others like me who could contribute time and experience.  Figuring out ways to help women complete their post secondary education, especially women who are also young mothers, is such an important goal.  We enjoyed a delicious luncheon and some nice entertainment, but more importantly, we learned about what is happening at UVU to help young women and specifically young mothers succeed in starting, continuing or finishing their educational goals.

This concept has been in the back of my mind for years and years.  Working at BYU I've seen thousands of young women on campus working towards their educational goals.  The old adage "if you educate a mother, you educate generations" - rings true to me.  I love to see thousands of young women educating their minds and preparing for their futures.  However, BYU has not made it easy for those young women who may also have children.  25% of the student body at BYU is married and 48% of the 29,000 student body is female.  Young married women either have to delay having children or figure out how to juggle education with child care while they are in class, drop out of school or delay their education until later. There is no day care available on campus.  I think BYU (the LDS Church) is being cautions in avoiding sending out the message that they endorse young women leaving their children in day care to pursue their education.  To me, it's a catch 22 because the LDS church values education and regularly encourages young women to receive an education or training so that they can support themselves in the future if needed.  They just don't make it that easy to do that at BYU.

Enter UVU.  Utah Valley University is located only a couple of miles from the BYU campus.  They are a state run university and hence don't have to worry about sending out the message that young mothers are supported in leaving their children in day care to pursue their own educational goals.  And more importantly, they are sending out the strong message that young SINGLE mothers have support on their campus by providing affordable or discounted day care for children to attend while their mothers are in class.  There is such a need for this service. In another post I'll share what they are specifically doing. 

The state of Utah has established the Utah Women and Education initiative just for this purpose.

Utah Women and Education Initiative

The Utah Women and Education Initiative (UWEI) is the outcome of a need to increase the number of Utah women holding postsecondary degrees and certificates, enabling them to:

• more effectively contribute to the local, social, and economic development of the state;
• realize their own potential for positive influence and contributions to the public and private good; and
• positively influence and contribute in family, societal, and work contexts.

The Initiative will orchestrate a collective effort for Utah to become one of the most innovative and successful states in the union by harnessing the power of education for its residents. Educators, business people, and community members are working together to achieve the goal of having 66% of Utahns aged 20-64 attain postsecondary degrees or certificates.  Utah leaders believe that we must harness the power of education for our residents and continue to help more women complete college degrees and certificates.
 
Both men and women with postsecondary degrees and certificates, whether they participate in the paid workforce or not, are better prepared for roles as community members, homemakers, and caretakers. As noted by Dr. Susan Madsen and colleagues, “A college education is more than a gateway to an affluent lifestyle. Earning a college degree has implications far beyond the workplace.  The non-tangible benefits of receiving a college degree are, at minimum, equivalent to the monetary ones, and they extend from individuals to families and communities.”  Among other benefits, Dr. Madsen cites research that shows the following advantages for college educated women: a healthier lifestyle, increased life satisfaction, better lifelong learning skills, expanded knowledge, enhanced analytic skills, deeper creative thinking, better decision making, increased civic and community engagement, strengthened leadership skills, more developed social skills, heightened self-esteem, and stronger reasoning. These benefits are felt tangibly as women help mold the next generation of Utah children and strengthen our society.

I hope to get involved in this worthwhile goal in some way.

MBA Dave

 Congratulations to a great son  who worked so hard and received his MBA degree!  We're so proud of you son and congratulate you and Courtney on working together to get it done!  Now, on to real life with a job and a career to support your little family.  Hooray!

Want a better job? Get a better education.

This is a topic that a feel very strongly about. I'm climbing up on my soap box armed with great data, so watch out. There is a mountain of evidence to prove that good paying jobs come to those who have a good education. There are a few exceptions and a handful of cases where someone broke out of the norm and got a lucky employment break, but generally if a person wants a secure employment future, they must get an education or some sort of skill certification. If a person wants to scrimp by their whole life and worry about where the money is coming from for the essentials of shelter, food and clothing then just drop out of high school or quit school after graduating from high school and plan to struggle the rest of the time.
I've been spending a lot of time lately with someone in this situation. She is 18, dropped out of high school and is struggling to finish her GED. There are a lot of other issues going on, but the basic idea that life is going to be a CONSTANT daily struggle for her from here on out has left an impression on me. She won't stand a chance of getting ahead in life working minimum wages jobs, using food stamps and trying to survive. I took her to the grocery store to get some food and learned how food stamps work. She was scared to death that she wouldn't have enough money on her food stamp debit card to pay for the items she had in her cart. Government and church financial assistance can only do so much. I'm going to try and influence her to get more training and education and increase her chances of better employment in the future. Why oh why don't people see that settling when they are young into this pattern of living is only going to cause a lot of hardship and grief over the course of their lives? Why don't they see that the choices they make today determine the lives they will lead tomorrow?
Why don't young people stay in school? Why don't they continue their education after high school and get some sort of training or skill? Why don't they see the direct correlation between learning and earning? Why don't they see that every effort to study and learn while they are young will come back to them 10 fold as they grown older? Why don't their parents work with them to get good grades and take their education seriously? Why do parents let their kids waste their time on so many mindless distractions while their futures crumble before their eyes?

I'm so grateful for my parents. They valued education. They saw to it that each of their seven children got an education and some training so that they could support themselves and so that they wouldn't have to work minimum wage jobs. They sacrificed so that we could have this great gift. They valued education for the basic advantage it gave us to be well rounded and to be able to reason, write, think, discuss and know what is going on in the world. They valued it because they wanted us to be happy and successful and to strive towards something worthwhile. They set the example of how to contribute to society in meaningful ways and they expected us to do the same.

What keeps people from getting a degree or certificate of some sort after high school graduation?

I thought this graphic was very interesting. This article in the D News makes some really interesting points about Utahns specifically:

• Utahns with a degree or certification have an income level 75% higher than those who do not and are 2 1/2 time more likely to hold a salaried position that come with benefits.
• over the course of their work life, students who receive a Bachelors degree earn about $650,000 more than high school graduates. They also experience increased career opportunities, better health care benefit and overall a deeper quality of life.
• A child with parents who did not earn a degree had a 27.8 percent chance of earning one. If one parent earned a degree, that number rose to 41.8 percent, and if both parents have degrees the number peaks at 55.2 percent. Students with both parents and at least one sibling with degrees had the highest chance at 80 percent.
• Nationwide, Americans with at least a four-year bachelor’s degree tend to be employed more. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, in July 2011, the unemployment rate for those with at least a bachelor’s degree was only 4.3 percent, compared to 15 percent for those who have not finished high school, 9.3 percent for those who have only a high school diploma but no secondary education.
• Utah's universities and colleges need to be more flexible in helping people obtain a degree while juggling jobs and family. This seems to be the biggest obstacle.
  

My personal feeling is that young families need to be prepared to sacrifice to gain an education. There are grants and loans and ways to make it happen. I worked very hard to help my husband complete his graduate degree and we sacrificed in a lot of ways to get through those years. We were really, really poor and those were very hard years. But we made it and we slowly started to see the benefits of the sacrifice. I hope that young people will weigh the benefits and the disadvantages and make the choice to work hard while they are young to obtain a college education or some sort of specialized training.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but there is a clear connection between the level of education an individual achieves and the level of happiness he has in life.

Before you become somebody

First, become somebody who can support herself.
Second, before becoming somebody’s wife, be careful about who that somebody is.
Third, before becoming somebody’s mother, become somebody capable of being a good mother.
Fourth, before becoming somebody’s wife or somebody’s mother, become somebody who can make her own life richer.
Fifth, before becoming somebody’s wife and somebody’s mother, become somebody who is spiritually strong.
Sixth, a message especially for young men: Become somebody who encourages young women to reach their full intellectual and spiritual potential.
Finally, become somebody who understands that being a woman is worth celebrating.

This talk was given 27 March 1990 at a Ricks College devotional held during Women’s Week by Marie Hafen. I think it should be REQUIRED reading of all young women, their leaders and their parents.
It's a topic of discussion that comes up regularly in our office. Do women really need an education or should they just plan to raise a family and be a wife and mother and not worry about getting some training or in pursuing a career? Seriously? Why is this still being discussed in 2010? Letters to the editor in the campus newspaper usually have a hot exchange on this topic at least once a month.
Do guys like smart women? Are they intimidated by smart women? Should they have to compete against them for grades and available jobs?
Shouldn't women prioritize their lives and put home and family first and then a career second? Should pursuing a career ever come first? Do women have to make a choice, but men don't?
Should women delay having children to get their own education or to work while their husbands are in school?
Should women stop their education when get married?
Who will pay for the student loans of women when they aren't working anymore and start having babies?
And on and on it goes...


Here is an except from one of the many talks given by President Hinckley:

“It is so important that you young men and you young women get all of the education that you can. The Lord has said very plainly that His people are to gain knowledge of countries and kingdoms and of things of the world through the process of education, even by study and by faith. Education is the key which will unlock the door of opportunity for you. It is worth sacrificing for. It is worth working at, and if you educate your mind and your hands, you will be able to make a great contribution to the society of which you are a part, and you will be able to reflect honorably on the Church of which you are a member. My dear young brothers and sisters, take advantage of every educational opportunity that you can possibly afford, and you fathers and mothers, encourage your sons and daughters to gain an education which will bless their lives” (meeting, Hermosillo, Mexico, 9 Mar. 1998).

Haven't we progressed enough in the last 20 years since Marie Hafen gave her talk that we now know that women need to be prepared in BOTH arenas with preparation for a career and preparation to start a family and build a home? It's BOTH. It's possible to do both with some planning, hard work, prioritizing, training and goal setting if a woman wants to or needs to. It's important to have options and a good education will provide those options. In this day and age, I'm a firm believer that we have to better prepare our daughters for their futures. It's heartbreaking to see women struggling through life, working minimum wage jobs because they have poor training or no training at all, often with children and sometimes with a husband in tow. Preparation for the unknown future seems to be the key to me. Prepare and then prepare some more. Get all the education you can. I'm not advocating that all women work. I'm just saying that they should be prepared with options to work fewer hours for more money with the proper education if they so choose.

From the article:
Young women should prepare for a career, but not because a career is more important than family life. A career isn’t even as important as family life. Although Church leaders have counseled mothers of young children to avoid working outside the home whenever possible, they have also urged young women to seek education and prepare for careers and meaningful involvement in society.

Career-oriented education matters for several reasons. For example, at any given time, from 35 to 40 percent of the adult women in the Church are single, whether widowed, divorced, or not having married. Only 3 percent of Latter-day Saint women never marry. (See Twila Van Leer, “Singleness Becoming More Common,” Church News, 6 November 1983, p. 4.) In addition, more than 90 percent of both married and single women must work sometime during their adult lives. An LDS woman is now likely to work more than twenty-five years, and six out of ten working LDS women are supporting not only themselves but others in their families.

What these statistics boil down to is that young women who believe they will always have a husband who will fully support them, thereby making it unnecessary for them to work outside the home, are living in a dream world. Husbands may die, or they may be disabled by accidents or illness. Children grow up, missionaries need financial support, and most mothers live healthy, vigorous lives for many years after their children leave home. Single-adult women cannot expect the Lord to rescue them from life’s natural adversity. The gospel has been given to heal our pain, not to prevent it. The Lord does give us strength to deal with a world that can sometimes be dreary, but often that help comes only as we do all we can do.

Reading - Part IV

As everyone knows, the benefits of reading to children are HUGE. This interesting article supports that fact:

"Every parent of a young child should resolve to do one simple thing in 2009 that can change his or her life – read to the child every day. Reading to young children is proven to be the single most important thing a parent can do to ensure his child's success in school. Not only does reading improve children's language development — the strongest predictor of school success — it also brings parents and children closer together.
Yet, a study conducted for Reach Out and Read shows that fewer than half of American parents read to their children daily. Young children who are not read to are at the highest risk of reading below grade level once they begin school. More than a third of American children start kindergarten without the basic literacy skills they need to learn to read."

A young child who had been read to is much more likely to want to continue to read on their own. The more books they are exposed to and the greater variety of books they read will help them gain a desire to read on their own. Making the transition from reading daily to a child to getting them to continue to read daily can be a challenge. I think it is wonderful if parents continue to read to their older children as well, either in the car while traveling or in other settings. The trick is to get the child hooked on books so that they will be motivated to continue to read. Children are much more likely to read if they see their parents reading magazines, newspapers or books themselves. Our example speaks volumes to our children in this area as well as many other ways. Reading increases their vocabulary, verbal skills, writing and spelling skills and awareness of what is going on in the world around them.

Good ole Harry Potter has helped in this regard. The series got children into reading who wouldn't have been interested otherwise. But the cool thing is that there are so many other series and other books that are just as interesting and fun to read as Harry. Every library has book lists for each reading level and type of book sought - such as mysteries or adventures for example.

Here are some good sources for other wonderful books:

Here is a list of all the Caldecott award books. The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. It was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Together with the Newbery Medal, it is the most prestigious American children's book award.

The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association (ALA) to the author of the Outstanding American Children's Book. The award has been given since 1922. Together with the Caldecott Medal, it is considered the most prestigious award for children's literature in the United States. It is named for John Newbery, an 18th century publisher of juvenile books.

Another great source is one my friend Colleen (who has been an elementary school teacher and administrator for over 20 years) shared at our friends group meeting a few months ago. She gave a great presentation on Children's Literature and share this great site for matching books to readers, using leveled books in guided reading. Also look here for other reading resources that teachers use.

We would make many trips to our public library when our kids were young. They could have their own individual library card as soon as they were old enough to qualify for one - kind of a right of passage. In the hundreds of books we checked out, I think we only lost one. Reading to them when they were young lead to them reading on their own which probably helped lead to academic success as stated in the article at the beginning. Our kids are proof that the theory works! I don't think it can be stressed enough - Reading to Children Matters!!!