The Principal Kevin Eberle walks the halls. The Guidance Counselor Dawn LaMendola is constantly sharing her heart with children. Eighth Grade Teacher Klayton Peterson is a bundle of compassionate energy always looking for new ways to reach his students. I was greeted with a cup of coffee and given a Harvey Austin shirt which I now wear proudly.
 
The students in today's class were energetic and engaged in our discussion about being an entrepreneur and mutual respect. We have a new code in our class. Whenever somebody can't keep their hands to themselves, we say: "Space! Boundary!" Each person deserves their own space and needs personal boundaries. Respect is honoring personal space and boundaries. We look forward to being with the folks at Harvey Austin.

Thanks for your time.
Go do something nice for somebody.

What Does A City Youth Director Pray About?

     Life in the city is vastly different from life in the country. There are more police, larger jails and overflowing cemeteries. Porn shops spring up like weeds. Drug dealers are mobile and set up shop on any street corner. Homeless folks hang out like pigeons under city bridges. Other folks stand on street corners with cardboard signs that say: "Please help, homeless, need money for food." Gangs recruit immature kids looking to feel wanted. Girls give their bodies away in return for shelter and food. Kids are kidnapped or run away into the arms of child traffickers. Gunshots take the lives of both the innocent and the wannabe innocents. Some kids sleep on a different couch every night, Sometimes they have to give themselves away to earn a spot on a couch.
     With an enormity of things to pray for, where would you begin? I'm just going to start and pour out my heart. I'm going to do it today.

Dear God,
I know you're listening. I know you feel. I know you care. I know you see all that's happening here in the city. Thank you for the lives of children. They're full of potential. Thank you for the potential that you have given all of us. Lord help us to protect that potential. Make me into a guy that children can believe in and trust. Cause me to always keep my word. Help me to teach them how much you love them. Help me to teach them how to be as compassionate as you are.

Today Father, 
give a boy the courage to say no to joining a gang.
Today Father,
 help a young girl to know a Father's love so she doesn't end up looking for love in a cheap sexual act.
Today Father,
 save the life of a child whose mother is headed for an abortion.
Today Father,
 give a mother and father the courage to work out their problems and save their family from the destruction of divorce.
Today Father, 
lock the bedroom door of a young girl who's pleading to let the night pass without someone forcing her to feel dirty.
Today Father,
 open the eyes of a teenager who thinks they have to steal to survive.
Today Father,
 bring the homeless into a shelter where love is taught as a way of life that provides sustenance.
Today Father,
 cause a drug dealer to flush their cache of drugs down the toilet.
Today Father,
 jam the gun before it fires and save the young man's life.
Today Father, 
open a cell door to a new beginning for a prisoner who has been chained to his past.
Today Father,
 bring fresh new people into the city who have your compassion to teach your style of leadership to children.
Today Father,
let the rejuvenating flow of your spirit bring new adrenalin to city youth leaders.
Today Father,
give city school teachers the strength to continue and love children who only know hate.
Today Father, 
infuse city leaders with your wisdom to make decisions based on love and compassion.
Today Father, 
Amen.

http://youth-with-a-purpose.blogspot.com/2015/01/what-does-city-youth-director-pray-about.html



Posted by Bob Kuebler at 6:12 AM 

        
     Yesterday was a great day to visit Mrs. Turner's North Tonawanda Middle School Health Classes.Both of the 7th and 8th Grade Classes were unbelievably respectful - reflecting the heart of their Teacher. Most folks bring the Youth With A Purpose program into a school to do presentations regarding, gangs, drugs, and violence. What we really talk about is leadership. These young folks already have a resident leadership Teacher in Mrs. Turner.

      The students, listened, laughed and learned a lot about themselves and each other. One of the highlights of our day was the steady stream of kids who walked out of the classroom. They were leaving to sign up for the Helping Hands Program. They were volunteering to serve with some folks who are developmentally disabled. That is one of the coolest things that young people can do - share their time and share their hearts. I would imagine that their compassionate attitudes had something to do with the seeds of compassion planted by their Teachers.

        During our class, we covered a lot of social and emotional subjects with the students sharing many opinions and valuable insights. Everyone I met in the school met greeted me with a smile - from the ladies in the office to all the Teachers I met. The students at NTMS are in a safe place that cares about them and holds them accountable - and they like it! Thank's Mrs. Turner for your kindness and leadership - you're a rock star!

Thanks for your time,
Go do something nice for somebody.
JLYASDW

Bob Kuebler 
Youth With A Purpose 
In School & After School
"All Children Are Gifted" 
157 Locust Street
Buffalo, New York 14204
716-830-8240

http://www.youthwithapurpose.org/
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-3043165
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youth-With-A-Purpose-Inc/111808805513470
If you are looking for a speaker for parents or youth, please call us.

Bob Kuebler, Director of Youth With A Purpose will present:

MENTOR FORCE - The Team Approach to Teaching Leadership. 

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 from 7-9 pm
400 Northampton St, Buffalo, NY  14208, (Mount Mariah Baptist Church) 



Help empower our youth ages 14- 18. 
Be a positive role model and have fun doing it!
Mentor's Requirements:

·     Mentor can identify with at-risk teens

·     One school year commitment

·     Meeting with your youth at least 3hrs face-to-face a month

·     Some form of communication with your youth every week

·     Attending mentor trainings

·     A required background check

·     Participate in bi-annual mentor gathering

Ms. Kristy Tyson, Class Room Facilitator and Case Worker 

 Ktyson@BuffaloUrbanLeague.org (716)-645-1926

~Up-Coming Project Ready Mentor Events~

Mentor Training (open to the community)

 www.archives.gov
January 1, 2015 
The Emancipation Proclamation  

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

From the first days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom.

The original of the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, is in the National Archives in Washington, DC. With the text covering five pages the document was originally tied with narrow red and blue ribbons, which were attached to the signature page by a wafered impression of the seal of the United States. Most of the ribbon remains; parts of the seal are still decipherable, but other parts have worn off.

The document was bound with other proclamations in a large volume preserved for many years by the Department of State. When it was prepared for binding, it was reinforced with strips along the center folds and then mounted on a still larger sheet of heavy paper. Written in red ink on the upper right-hand corner of this large sheet is the number of the Proclamation, 95, given to it by the Department of State long after it was signed. With other records, the volume containing the Emancipation Proclamation was transferred in 1936 from the Department of State to the National Archives of the United States.

The Emancipation Proclamation
Page One 

Click to Enlarge

 Page Two

Click to Enlarge

 Page Three

Click to Enlarge

 Page Four

Click to Enlarge

 Page Five

Click to Enlarge

Additional Resources

Transcript of the Proclamation

The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, 1862

"The Emancipation Proclamation: An Act of Justice" by John Hope Franklin.

Audio: Former slave Charlie Smith discusses work and living situation after the Emancipation Proclamation.
(357K, 0:46) from NARA's Online Catalog (NWDNM(s)-16.332B)

The Charters of Freedom

Image at Top of Page:
The Emancipation Proclamation, page 1
Record Group 11
General Records of the United States
Enlarged View

Page URL: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/index.htmlU.S. National Archives & Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001, • 1-86-NARA-NARA • 1-866-272-6272