Jun 21 2011

Lake County Sees Effects from Positive Action

Positive Action Staff
Kim Loop, is the In–Home Care Supervisor for the Lake County Trial Court in Baldwin, Michigan where she also coordinates the Positive Action program in local schools. Kim recently shared some of the remarkable experiences she has had with Positive Action so far this year. Here are a few of her stories.

One of the mental health workers Kim supervises was making a home visit when the children got home from school. One of the children was bursting with excitement and began to pull Positive Action activity sheets out of his backpack. He explained to his mother what positive actions were, like eating right, getting enough rest, and treating others with respect, and how he could choose positive actions in his life and how they could choose positive actions in their family. The caseworker was amazed and returned to tell the story in their next staff meeting.

Kim was making site visits with a state reviewer, when they sat in on a Positive Action class at Tustin Elementary School in Tustin, Michigan. The reviewer was very impressed with the lesson and leaned over to Kim during the class and said, “I can use this in my own life.” As they left the school, they noticed the bulletin board in the lobby covered with ICU Doing Something Positive messages, including students referring teachers for their positive actions.

On a more personal level, Kim’s own niece is a pre-schooler in a Positive Action class. Her niece has become a keen observer of human behavior. When she sees something wrong going on, she doesn’t hesitate to announce, “That’s not a Positive Action!”

Lake County started implementation of Positive Action in schools and through their juvenile court system in the fall of 2010 with funds from an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant.

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