One of the things we are becoming best known for at Challenge Day is the way we live what we teach. In this spirit, this month's Founders' Letter begins a series on "being the change" in the workplace.

Twenty years ago, faced with a growing demand for our work, we realized that it was time for Challenge Day to expand. Our goal was to create an organization big enough to support our growth, while retaining our values of love, joy, connection, and integrity.

During this time of expansion, we feared that we might become so focused on a paradigm of strategy and bottom lines that we would leave our hearts. In the midst of our concerns, an "angel" appeared in the form of a friend and mentor named Stan. Stan challenged us to bring what we do during a Challenge Day into the office. "If you can figure out how to bring love and connection into a gym full of students," he said, "you can certainly figure out how to bring it to the workplace!"

At Stan's urging, and with the help of many people who believed in our dream, we built a non-profit organization that not only produces huge results, but also lives and models a new paradigm for the workplace.

Here are some of the principles and practices we have implemented in our organizational culture. We invite you to apply them to your own lives, homes, schools, and workplaces.

1. Living the Challenge Day Vision - Our vision is to create a world where every child feels safe, loved, and celebrated. This vision extends to the child that lives inside each one of our hearts. Our goal is to create a work environment where everyone feels safe, loved, and celebrated for who they are and the role they serve.

Our challenge to you is, before you act, first ask yourself the question, "Will the decision I am about to make or the thing I am about to say or do leave the people around me feeling safe, loved, and celebrated?"

2. Daily Acts of Change - As part of the Be the Change Movement, we are committed to doing at least one intentional act of positive change every day to add to the love in the office, our families, or in the world. We take time at our weekly meetings for staff members to celebrate acts of change they feel especially proud of. The process takes very little time and leaves our staff feeling both empowered and inspired.

Our challenge to you is to commit yourself to doing at least one positive act of change each day for the next 30 days and to see how it changes your life. Imagine a workplace of one hundred employees doing just one positive thing a day. That would be 2000 acts of positive change in a single month!

At Millennium Middle School in South Lyon, Michigan, art teacher Jennifer Robeson and her seventh and eighth grade students are making the principles of Challenge Day really "stick."

Using a few rolls of packing tape, a heaping helping of creativity, and two volunteer models, Jennifer and her students created a stunning reminder of the impact of Challenge Day: a life-size human sculpture!

Crystal-clear and adorned with student messages about "Being the Change," the sculpture helps sustain the ideas, inspiration, and energy of the school's recent Challenge Day.

"I wanted to have something around that would remind students about their special time at Challenge Day, and I needed something to grab their attention," Jennifer explains.

"Since the statue is clear, students can identify with it because it can represent anyone," she adds.

Thanks, Jennifer and Millennium Middle School, for "Being the Change" in such an inspiring, creative way!

Inspired to create your own Challenge Day sculpture? Here are tips from Jennifer and her class:

• Find a friend to be the "cast" for your sculpture.
• Wrap clear packing tape sticky side up all around your friend.
• Next, add a few more layers of tape sticky side down.
• Carefully cut the tape off your volunteer's body. It's OK to make separate cuts for legs, arms, trunk, etc. - you'll tape the parts together later.
• Seal the cut seams back with more clear tape. Tape all the parts back together to create your completed Challenge Day sculpture!
• Post your statue in a public space. Encourage students, teachers, and visitors to write down and attach their own ideas for "Being the Change."

"I left that room at the end of the day feeling as if I was friends with every single person in the room. I have already talked to many of my friends who wanted to participate in Challenge Day, and even they are noticing bad habits of theirs and changing them. The more I think about Challenge Day the more I realize how much everything you said to me made sense. I can't thank you enough for coming to our school and doing this and I would love it if you came back and did it again." -- Student, CA

"You have just finished having a Challenge Day at my school, and I was so inspired and felt so loved from other students that I have been picking on since third grade. It made me feel bad to be such a bully, but I just did it to fit in with everyone else. Now, since going to Challenge Day, I felt proud because I was able to apologize to everyone I have been so mean to.

"I know I'm too young to work for Challenge Day now, but I am really interested in growing further. Berenice and Shereef were an inspiration. I'm making a big change, and I am trying to create my dream school. Thank you." -- Student, CA

"Today was the most amazing, beautiful, incredible, inspiring, life-changing day I have ever had. I never thought I would be able to open myself up the way I did in front of people I had never even talked to before, but the atmosphere was so awesomely comfortable that I don't think I could have kept any of it inside even if I tried. This is the kind of thing our community really needed.

David's life experiences help him feel especially connected to Challenge Day's mission. After moving to the United States in his sophomore year of high school, David faced a special challenge: communication. "Conversing in English was very hard for me at the beginning, and I was frustrated when I wasn't able to express myself to others," he remembers. "It was hard when I stood in a circle of people and could only listen; I felt that I was left out and no one noticed my existence."

David's turning point came when a compassionate teacher reached out to him. "One of my teachers helped me go through the toughest time, telling me that many people had gone through what I had, even when English was their first speaking language." Recalling his experiences, David is happy that students who face similar challenges can feel connected, loved, and celebrated through Challenge Day's programs.

"[Challenge Day] truly has changed things for my family. My son has indicated that his school feels "different." He said that he notices the kindness that is in people's faces. He said that normally when he walks down the halls at school, and especially when he walks into school in the morning, he just fixes his gaze on the wall and walks. Now he has noticed that even if he wanted to do that, he can't. The reason he can't is because people are looking in his eyes and smiling, and 'you gotta smile back, Mom.'" -- Parent

"When our [Challenge Day] session was over, I managed to have the most interesting conversation with my parents I have had in a long time. I am only 13, but in the future I would love to join Challenge Day and be a part of your community and serve as a role model." -- Juan, Student, NY

"[After Challenge Day,] I realized we as people don't need to be harmful towards others to fit in. We can be recognized for standing up and stopping the fights, for stopping the hurtful things that people say to each other. I want to be one of those people. I just wish that every place on earth was like this. We need to stand together as one and make sure that no one gets left behind. I will never forget what you guys have done for me." -- Sara, Student

"I'm making the commitment to be nicer to people and more open. Before today, I had so much bottled up. Today was the first time I felt like I could really be me and let everything go. I'll always keep this day with me." -- Gracie, Student, WY

"Yesterday, I participated in Challenge Day. What an incredible experience, not only as an educator but as a human being. That day, I completed the Challenge Day card and wrote a letter to my dad. Last night, I met him for coffee for two hours and talked about 'Notice. Choose. Act.' My conversation with him was one of the most 'real' and effective conversations I have had in years. Thank you so much!" -- Jennifer, Teacher, CA

From Concord, California to Kalamazoo, Michigan, Next Step to Being the Change workshops are transforming lives with the power of love and connection. Thanks to our incredible coordinators, Next Step workshops have traveled to Michigan, California, and Alberta, Canada over the past four months.

In response to the outpouring of interest in Next Steps, we've trained two of our Leaders, Pam Dunn and Vinny Ferraro, to lead these valuable workshops. Pam recently facilitated her first Next Step in Bassano, Alberta, and was phenomenal. Vinny will be leading his first Next Step this month. We're excited to see the magic he will bring to the room. Bravo, Pam and Vinny!

Please see our calendar below for dates and contact information. You may also want to check out our website at http://www.challengeday.org/find- out-more/next-steps.html or email us at worksho ps@challengeday.org.

Important Dates

Next Step to Being the Change

Concord, CA
May 18 - 20 FULL

October 26 - 28, 2007 (Concord, CA)

A warm welcome to our newest Circle of Change in Hawthorne, Nevada! This brand new Circle has already presented to their school board and has been commended for their efforts to support the youth of their community. They have also created their own Be the Change bookmarks, with a "challenge of the day" printed on them: a great idea for keeping Challenge Day alive.

Our Hawthorne Circle is a great example of the broad vision a Circle of Change can have. Challenge Day recognizes that our programs are just one part of creating a world where every child feels safe, loved, and celebrated. With this in mind, our Circle team coaches all Circles to do three things:

Create a long-term vision for your community: If you were dreaming as big as you could dream, what kind of community would you want to live in? What does living in a community where every child feels safe, loved, and celebrated look like to you?

Pick three short-term goals: It's the little steps that make the big change. What are the small steps necessary to reach your long-term vision? Maybe your long-term vision is to provide a Challenge Day for every school in your county and for each school to have an active Be the Change Team. A great place to start might be to have Challenge Day programs in one school with a strong follow-up program. You might even want to take a full year to create a strong community of allies and to prepare your first school for Challenge Day programs.

Choose an issue that is close to your heart: What are the issues affecting your area? Focusing energy and attention on an issue that concerns you is "Being the Change" - and it will make you feel good for doing your part! These community projects can also be a great place for your schools' Be the Change Teams to have a positive impact.

If you were starting a Circle of Change, how might you answer these three questions?

As a high school student in the Bay Area, Jennifer was an avid performer in plays and musicals, and even won an award for being the Class Clown. When she turned 21, however, Jennifer realized that she had spent much of her life living for others. In search of insight, Jennifer bought a one-way ticket to Spain to find herself. While in Spain, Jennifer discovered that everything she was looking for was within her the whole time.

After returning from her travels, Jennifer attended a Challenge Day: an experience that would change her life. From that moment on, Jennifer worked to reach her goal of becoming a Challenge Day leader.

Committed to community service, Jennifer has also volunteered with the Make a Wish Foundation, Pathways Hospice, and has served as a Big Sister in a local mentoring program.

Thank you, Jennifer, for your spirit, talent, and love that shines so brightly at every Challenge Day!

If you really knew Jennifer ...

• You would know that my heart holds the love and space for every being on this planet.
• You would that my mother and father taught me how to love that big. They taught me to be compassionate, be kind, and to love all beings. They taught me what true unconditional love looks like, and I feel so blessed to have them as my parents.
• You would know that I love traveling, sky diving, surfing, laughing, my friends, my family, music, life, beat boxing, dancing (especially hip-hop), spending time alone in nature, and falling in love.
• You would know that Challenge Day leader Vinny has had an enormous impact on my life, and I am eternally grateful for his presence in my life.
• You would know that I was born to be a Challenge Day Leader. Everything in my life until now has prepared me for this. And you would also know I feel like this is only the beginning of the positive change I will make on this planet.

Show your support for "Being the Change" this Spring in in a Challenge Day T-shirt or cap. Browse through the Challenge Day store online at http://www.c hallengedaystore.com/.

Want to take part in a Challenge Day near you? View our list of upcoming Challenge Days on the Cal endar portion of our website. Please contact the school's coordinator directly if you find a Challenge Day you'd like to attend.