Each year I watched American Idol I wondered how to get kids to the big stage. We know few make it to the Big Stage, like American Idol, The Voice, The XFactor or America's Got Talent, but God gives us all one special talent; how does a kid find it? There I was this kid who was thrown out of the 4th grade twice and the 9th grade at 16. I always remembered that it was 'The Day the Music Died.' 1958. This day 2003 I was just a three-month Toastmaster about to attempt to motivate high school students, at The Great American Teach-in. Wow me the kid with no education; my life was about to change. That morning one boy in the front row was the class clown, I had this flashback to when I was 16. Because I was a veteran of standing in the corner, having my knuckles slammed with a ruler or a trip to the principal's office; I knew exactly what to do, I drew that young man into our program. That's when I realized what inspired me; take my message to as ma
Building a Toolbox (1) The Imaginary Man His name is Jack! Just imagine, as a young boy you were compared to Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, but most of all Dennis the Menace. As a young boy Jack’s father carried Jack every day, it seemed to the public library. Jack to the delight of his father became an avid reader. Jack, loved adventure, he loved the stories of Mark Twain, Alexandre Dumas, and Jules Verne; they would impact Jack beyond anything his father could have imagined. The idea’s of rafting down the Mississippi, or swinging a sword like D’Artagnan, or waking up on the Mysterious Island would capture Jack’s young mind. Like the great writers and storytellers, Jack yearned to become a man of words, a leader of people, a storyteller and someday capture the minds of young boys and girls with his stories. Jack’s First Big Adventure It was that night Jack and his father Jake went fishing, yes on the shore of the Mississippi river. That nig