Success for Life 101
Life Strategies for High School and Beyond
Parents!
Many of your teens are struggling right now more than with just the typical teen stressors. Bring your teens the empowering and inspirational strategies they need to help them not only survive but thrive in these crazy times with
Success for Life 101.
Based on the multiple award-winning Strategies for Success program that teens love and used to create great lives for themselves not only for their teen years but beyond
What would this mean for your teen?
What if :
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they had a sure fire strategy for remembering when they go blank on schoolwork?
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they knew how to redirect their negative thoughts when they got stressed?
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they had a series of questions to ask themselves when they needed to change the way they were feeling?
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they knew how to step into their best self at a moment's notice?
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how to access strategies for giving back and acts of kindness to actually improve how they felt?
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they could learn the basics of how to start saving and investing money now which could set them up financially for life
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as the world opens up post Covid, your teen could have a head start by knowing strategies used by the best of the best around the world?
These lessons come from some of the top motivational and self-help leaders in the world taught by a multiple award-winning teacher
Marianne Douglas will show your teen the lessons her students loved in a series of mini videos to help them jumpstart their daily life with a more positive mindset and easy to implement strategies.
Initially Marianne learned these concepts to help her run the business she owned while teaching high school. She began to weave them into her math lessons to the delight of her students. Sadly, she couldn't spend much time on them as that wasn't what she was hired to teach...
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Until her principal let her create the Strategies for Success program. Marianne had been part of a small team of teachers who had to deal with 300 students at the Senior Class Banquet as they learned that a classmate had hanged himself just minutes before the start of the banquet. He had been bullied. That moment lead to the creation of the Strategies for Success program which was so successful and popular among students and parents that she never taught math again.
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Strategies for Success changed the school and the lives of the students in all the best ways. Now it has been reimagined and updated for life during and after Covid when teens have more on their plate than ever before.
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Teacher of the Year
Mt. Hope High School
Distinguished RI Educator
Portuguese American
Women's Association
Alumni Service Award
Rhode Island College
Recognized as a "Hero" by the Oprah Winfrey Show
Teacher of the Year
Bristol/Warren School District
Jefferson Award for
Public Service
National Finalist Cable in the Classroom Leaders in Learning
It's worked for thousands of teens to date
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Because teens in my classes constantly asked for more after I started weaving the strategies I was learning into my math classes
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Instead of 'when are we ever going to use this?' asked of me in math class, they said:
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Where do you get these things from? ( I studied and trained with top self-help global leaders​)
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Can't we talk more about these instead of math? (No, because I'm required to teach the math curriculum)
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You need to write a book!
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Because when I did get to create a class full of the lessons they loved (after one of my students took his life after being bullied)
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They loved it so much that​
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they tried to be in school every day so they wouldn't miss any of it​
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their grades both in school and on state tests went up
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they connected better with their peers, teachers and parents
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Because after the first semester, students asked me to create a sequel which I did
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Because the classes were full and they had so many students wanting to take one of the two levels that I never taught math again
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Because I never had any discipline problems in the over 25 classes I taught. None. Despite there being minimum rules. Mutual respect started on day one and continued through day 90 every time
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​Because they needed a place on a regular basis to help them with their issues
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Parents are the ideal source for this kind of information but teens aren't always open to listening during their teen years​
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Guidance counselors are helpful but their time is extremely limited
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Teachers are great resources but their time is limited during class because they have to teach their subject and have many students to deal with. After school is often booked with helping students who need extra assistance
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What kind of situations did they need help with in pre-Covid times?
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too much schoolwork​
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difficult teachers
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bullying
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how to fit in
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how to stay interested in required classes
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boredom
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why they needed to be in school at all
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relationships
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"I learned how to be a better person. This is the class we'll still be talking about ten years from now."
— Strategies for Success student
"I showed the first two videos to my 14 and 12 year old children. My son said, 'Wow, I really like this lady. She has a lot of good stuff to say.'
To get the buy-in of a 14 year old boy is the true testimonial of the gift you have Marianne."
— Megan Reyes, Parent
The mini lessons are designed to be immediately useful and easy to implement
Most are between 5 and 7 minutes long, real and immediately useful.
The entire program is broken down into 3 sections:
1. The App Section - like the apps on a new phone, these are the concepts that are best learned first
2. The Keys Section - this is a collection of mini secrets to success, gathered from the best of the best and shared with teens for the past 2 decades
3. Jet Your Way to the Future Section - this is a collection of lessons that are more future oriented and often not taught in school. Included is basic financial literacy which was not taught in school when I was teaching math (nor did anyone teach me!)
Started in mid 2020, the App Section is complete with over 50 lessons ready to go! Lessons for the next 2 sections are in the works but there's plenty to get your teen started and new lessons are added regularly.
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Here's what you'll find in the App Section
Module 1
The Starter Pack
These are the first 10 lessons that were released prior to school opening in the fall of 2020. They are simple, easy to use and surprisingly useful. They were chosen to introduce the program and what the lessons are like.
Module 2
Star POWER
This is my signature set of lessons because it teaches how to step into your best self at a moment's notice and who doesn't need that knowledge at their fingertips?
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Practiced by my classroom students daily, it was the core of the success that they achieved in the Strategies for Success program.
Module 3
Managing Thoughts
Where do your thoughts come from? Do you have a say in what you think about? Can you manage your thoughts? Or at least the ones that cause stress?
Module 4
Power of Questions
One day everything I had complained about changed. Instead of the usual negative thought, I asked myself a question...and began to realize how powerful they were to direct thoughts. How I felt could be guided by asking myself the right questions. But what are the 'right questions?'
Module 5
Beliefs
What do you believe about issues both personal and global? And even more important, how do those beliefs make you feel? How do they affect your daily life?
This is a non-political, non-religious look at the beliefs we hold, how to support the empowering ones and how to deconstruct the limiting ones.
Module 6
Learning Styles
We don't all learn the same way. Teens knowing how they learn best empowers them not only in the classroom but in relating to other people. As one student said, "Now that I know I'm a hands-on learner, I don't get into trouble anymore." Shame was replaced with pride with just this simple realization.
Module 7
Words Matter
The words we use have more power than we sometimes give them credit for. Words can uplift or create conflict, heal or wound. Expressions we use regularly deserve a close look and possible replacement as we create our best lives one word at a time.
Over 50 mini videos ready to view with more being added on a regular basis!
What teens have to say about Strategies for Success, the program this is based on
“Now I have a positive attitude wherever I go. I took this class because I was forced to (I didn’t want a study) and it was the greatest class I have ever taken in my life.”
“My years in high school have been tough because of problems I was having at home and everywhere else. At the beginning of the year I was ready to give up, I didn’t know what to do. All I know was that I was struggling to pass school and I had no support from my family.
A week into this class, I noticed that everything was slowly changing. It helped me create a vision for my life, change my old ways, become aware of my own negative thoughts and how to replace them with new positive ones.”
I learned how to be a better person.”
We are amazing people but we needed your help to see it. Thank you for changing my life.”
The Strategies class changed my life forever. My behavior has been better toward my parents and I have been doing better in school.”
Throughout the entire time I have been in your class, I have changed inside and out.
I love coming to period 4 every day and will miss it terribly. We have all grown as a little family and bonded with each other. Thank you for showing me a way to a better life.”
Thank you for this class. It made a huge difference in everyone’s life who took it. This class makes people believe in and feel good about themselves.”
I hated school very much. I didn’t believe in anything. I am one of the most pig-headed people you will ever meet but you got my attention with Strategies when no one really could. It was the only good class I took in high school.”
Your class completely changed my life. Two years ago I was in an abusive relationship. I never went to school and I didn’t care about my life.
Your class helped me to understand that I’m worth a lot more than what that person was telling me. I finally realized that if I wanted to have a good life I had to do it myself…nobody was going to do it for me.
My grades went from C’s, D’s and F’s to straight A’s. I am in a healthy relationship and I’m so much happier in my life.”
