| Bart Starr To Be Honored By Anasazi
Legendary NFL quarterback Bart Starr and his wife Cherry will receive ANASAZI Foundation's "Turn for Peace" award at the nonprofit organization's annual scholarship dinner, which celebrates the achievements of young people who have overcome significant personal challenges. The award presentation and dinner are scheduled for Thursday, November 8, at the new Phoenix Convention Center. ANASAZI's Turn for Peace award is presented to extraordinary people who have made significant contributions to heal and strengthen families, specifically parent-child relationships. Past recipients include former First Lady Barbara Bush, country music star Wynonna Judd, author Stephen R. Covey, philanthropists Robert and Lynette Gay, entertainer Marie Osmond, Family Circus creator Bil Keane, and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, who nominated the Starrs for the 2007 award.
Aboriginal parents project
In today's society, aboriginal families face a far greater challenge in maintaining family and traditional values. History impacting upon aboriginal societies has left a wake of family breakdown and loss of connectedness to cultural values. The strengths of language and communication, once integral to family systems, seem to be slipping away. As concerned elders reflect on these societal changes, they often agree that there is value in turning the focus back on traditional wisdom. Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs for us to do in our lifetimes, and to achieve healthy parenting on any level is a measure of success. One of the first things to acknowledge is that in order to care for our children, we must learn to care for ourselves. When we expect our children to have self worth and feel good about themselves, we as parents must also begin to exercise this philosophy within our own lives.
He vows not to repeat dad's mistake
When George Johnson Sr. visits his children's school for career day, he asks the kids how many live with their fathers. Only a few hands go up. Probing further, he finds out that many girls look forward to becoming mothers, but typically few expect to get married. "My mother told me these men aren't no good," one girl told him. That's when Johnson explains earnestly that his job is to combat the mindset that fathers are optional. He works for Eagle Wings, a drug and alcohol intervention and prevention program aimed at fathers. Johnson, a 52-year-old single dad, strives to exemplify what he preaches. He remembers the awkwardness after his divorce, when he got custody of his two youngest children in 1999. He soon learned son George didn't like beans or eggs and had to come up with some passable meals "so we could eat as a family." He taught himself to do Shamyra's hair, curling three braids on top of her head into his favorite style which he calls "the flower." "While you're raising a child, you're not only a teacher, you're also a student," he reflected.
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