Cooperating School Districts of St Louis
8225 Florissant Road, St Louis, Missouri 63121 (314) 516-4500
I am writing to recommend Tom Jackson's "Activities That Teach" workshop. As the Director of Leadership Development for Cooperating School Districts it was one of my responsibilities to bring in speaker's and programs that would be of benefit to our members. I attempted always to bring in quality speakers and programs.
During my tenure with Cooperating School Districts, I was responsible for bringing in dozens of speakers and programs. I can quite honestly say that Tom Jackson was one of, if not the, very best speaker I brought in for our schools. I know this because I watched his entire workshop and because the participants told me it was true.
Cooperating School Districts always has the participants in a program or workshop fill out an evaluation form. The forms for "Activities That Teach" were all very positive. Some of the comments were: "This was the best workshop I have attended in my twenty years as a teacher!" (secondary school teacher) "I can't wait to get back to school so that I can use these activities! Thank you for setting this up." (elementary school teacher) and "Please bring him back so that we can send more teachers the next time." (curriculum coordinator).
In addition to the fact that his material is excellent, Tom Jackson is an outstanding teacher. He has a superior sense of timing and sense of humor. He is also aware of the needs of his audience and works hard to meet those needs.
I must add that, as a person whose job it was to set up a variety of programs, Tom Jackson and his wife, Janet, who handles the arrangements are a joy to work with. My calls were always returned in a timely fashion and the materials we ordered were delivered well in advance of the workshop. Tom and Janet are both enthusiastic, courteous and honest people.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (314) 522-3099.
Sincerely,
Terry Proffitt, Leadership Development
Collier County Public Schools
Department of Exceptional Student Education
3710 Estey Ave, Naples, Florida 34104 (941) 643-2700
I am writing on behalf of Mr. Tom Jackson, who presented an exciting "Active Learning Workshop" in Collier County on April 21, 1999. I had the opportunity to introduce Tom to a diverse group of 25 educators (i.e., administrators, counselors, regular education teachers, special education teachers, and instructional assistants).
Tom was most impressive in his ability to capture the attention of his audience over the entire day. It was interesting to note that the enthusiasm of the group increased as the workshop continued into the afternoon hours. I relate this to the the "Active Learning " technique, which promotes participation and cooperation. Our group enthusiastically embraced the activities presented to us.
At the conclusion of the workshop, staff members were asked to fill out an evaluation form. As expected, Tom was highly rated for his informative and stimulating presentation. The following day, staff members e-mailed me to let me know that this was the best workshop they attended all year. It was most telling when they informed me that they already begun using Tom's activities.
Sincerely,
Jay H. Simon, Ph.D.
Special Education Coordinator
District School Board of Collier County
Future Homemakers of America, Inc.
1910 Association Drive, Reston Virginia 20191-1584 - 703-476-4900 - 800-234-4425
I am writing on behalf of Tom Jackson. Tom conducted a workshop for teachers at the Future Homemakers of America 1997 National Leadership Meeting. This meeting provides training and leadership development for students and teachers.
Tom Presented two 45 minute workshops on activities that teach for our teacher/advisers. His presentations were well organized dynamic and provided many hands on activities that our teachers can implement in the classroom. Almost ninety percent of the evaluations rated Tom's workshop good to excellent. Numerous positive comments endorsed Tom as one of the meetings best presenters!
I highly recommend Tom Jackson as a speaker for your organization. With his strong background in education, he knows that students learn by doing. He gets his audience involved in his workshop and motivates them to use active learning as a teaching technique. Tom is extremely professional and is a pleasure to work with.
I would definitely invite Tom back to conduct teacher training for Future Homemakers of America again,
Sincerely,
Nancy Bock, Chapter Relations Coordinator
Alma School District Number 30
706 Highway 64 Easy, Alma, Arkansas 72921 (501) 632-2168
I would like to recommend Tom Jackson as a speaker. I am the director of a middle school advisory program. We implemented our program five years ago, but it had fizzled to a very low point. At about this same time, we began to hear about activities that teach. After looking at where we need to be, we determined that our teachers needed to be trained in this area.
Our initial thought was to hire Mr. Jackson to work with our advisory teachers. But, when we realized the potential impact on our district staff of K-5 and 6_12, we used Mr. Jackson for one of our school district's staff development programs. I am happy to say that our advisory program is back on track! We made some minor changes and now we ask our advisors to teach at least two activities a month. Due to Mr. Jackson's presentation, our teachers are more comfortable leading activities that are actually fun! And, our students are turned on to the learning activities and look forward to the next session. The added benefit of including teachers from K-12 has been wonderful! Our teachers have great resources, using Mr. Jackson's books.
I believe we will be using activities that teach for a long, long time!
Sincerely,
Pamm Treece, Counselor
At - Risk Youth Conference
Cal Neva Resort, North Lake Tahoe
Tom Jackson spoke at our 4th Annual At-Risk Youth Conference this past November in Crystal Bay, Nevada.
The 237 educators from California, Nevada and Oregon who were in attendance were held spell bound by Mr. Jackson's two presentations.
He was our keynote speaker on Saturday and gave a most inspirational talk on "Moving from Preaching to Teaching." He kept the audience focused and interested throughout his entire presentation by including relevant information for all levels, elementary and secondary. Considering the audience was made up entirely of educators, that was no easy task.
On Sunday, his presentation on "Activities That Teach" was met with much excitement and active participation among the crowd. He had everyone in attendance involved and learning so that they might be able to return to their respective schools and put to use immediately those ideas which had been presented.
Tom Jackson is a most congenial individual and was ready to help in any way he could to make the conference flow smoothly. He is personable and a pleasure to be around.
I would recommend Tom Jackson to any group seeking enlightenment in his field of expertise.
Sincerely,
Pete Mathiesen & Denis Willens
Conference Coordinators
Utah Division of Youth Corrections
2465 N Main #13A Sunset, Utah 84015 (801) 774-8767
This letter addresses services performed by the Active Learning Foundation and more specifically its director, Tom Jackson. The northern region of the Division of Youth Corrections was planning its annual regional training day that typically involves 150-200 employees from secure, detention and community alternative programs in an informal atmosphere. To be more specific, it is a training picnic, outdoors, with all break and lunch food provided. To say the least the atmosphere was very laid back.
This year the regional director wanted more training in skills Youth Corrections workers could use, and less picnicking. Needless to say, whomever we got, they would have to overcome the "old way of doing business" and hold the employees attention in this very relaxed, outdoor atmosphere for the majority of the day. Some of the current employees had been exposed to Mr. Jackson's material )i.e., Activities That Teach) and his teaching techniques, so we contracted with him to basically educate and entertain these 150-200 employees.
I'm proud to say that Mr. Jackson successfully overcame all of these difficulties and supplied the employees in attendance with new skills and ways to successfully deal with today's troubled youth. The comments "by all" in attendance from the regional director, facility directors and line staff, was that this was one of the "Absolute best and most useful" trainings they had ever received, and they truly felt like they had new tools that really had practical application in their work world. His presentation skills were exceptional and he held employee attention all day.
This organization highly recommends Mr. Jackson and testifies that he serves as the very epitome of his own foundation.....Active Learning!!! If any further questions concerning his performance or relevance of material need answering, please feel free to contact me at (801) 774-8767 ext 510.
Sincerely,
Thomas TenBoer, Region 1 Training Coordinator
Arkansas Department of Health
4815 West Markhan Street, Little Rock AR 72205 (501) 661-2000
Tom Jackson presented a plenary session and breakout session at the annual "Arkansas Comprehensive School Health Conference". This conference is a continuing education event for social workers, teachers, guidance counselors, nurses, nutritionists, and health educators from around the state who work on health-related issues in the school setting. Approximately 275 people attend this conference. Tom was referred to us as an excellent speaker - we were not disappointed. Tom's presentation style is one in which the audience gets to participate. I assure you, no one fell asleep during his "performance"! His presentation on the necessities of varying teaching styles was a very important message for the audience.
Tom received nothing but positive comments on the evaluation. I have no hesitations in recommending Tom as an informative and entertaining speaker.
Sincerely,
Christie Brinsfield,
Administrator, Division of Child and Adolescent Health
Springfield Public School
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program
3031 Stanton Ave, Springfield, Illinois 62703 - 217-525-3014
I am happy to write this letter of recommendation for Tom Jackson who so expertly trained my professional Student Assistance Program (SAP) staff around advanced support group activities. We have had the opportunity to work with a variety of trainers in the SAP field, and we unanimously agree that Tom was one of the best we've ever experienced!
Tom blends his vast knowledge of subject matter with humor and warmth to make his workshops non-threatening, fun, and imminently worthwhile. He leaves his audience with strategies that are practical and easily adaptable to both support group and classroom settings. Most importantly, his workshop instilled in my staff renewed excitement, vigor, and enthusiasm for their professional role in the school setting.
I believe one of the most important services I can provide my staff is quality staff development that will continually develop their capacity to do their jobs. Tom Jackson, quite simply, get the job done!
Sincerely yours,
Barbara Fafoglia,M.A.
Student Assistance Program Administrator and Supervisor
Horizon Treatment Service, Inc
2607 Bridgeport Way West, Suite 2J, Tacoma, Washington 98466 - 253-564-3377
It is with great enthusiasm and pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Tom Jackson and his Activities That Teach training. He is a dynamic, humorous and very skilled presenter with practical information useful to any person working with youth today.
Recently, Tom presented two one-day skill building work shops to over 120 prevention and education professionals working in K-12 schools locally. The response to his workshops were overwhelmingly positive. Tom received exceptional ratings on all participant evaluations. Individual comments from training attendees included:
"His instruction was clear, consistent and practical to my work environment."
"By showing, Tom inspired us to want to practice these skills with our groups."
"His strengths are his sincere commitment to active learning and his ability to read and include everyone in activities."
"Excellent workshop - I am a "believer"!"
"First workshop in five years that I could not sleep! Well done!"
In sum, we were invigorated and recharged as professionals as a result of experiencing Tom's creative methods, quality expertise and playful enthusiasm.
Without a doubt I would highly recommend Tom Jackson as a workshop presenter to all groups interested in teaching social skills to others that have a lifelong positive impact.
Sincerely,
Mona M. Johnson, MA, CDC
Coordinator of Prevention/Intervention Services
Athens First United Methodist Church
327 N. Lumpkin St, Athens, Georgia 30603 - (706) 543-1442
I am writing to recommend Tom Jackson and the Active Learning Foundation. Tom recently led a workshop for our church on "Activities That Teach Family Values." Parents and grandparents in our congregation took part in this workshop, and all were very pleased with the presentation. Not only did Tom come well prepared and ready to interact with our group, but his presentation was the first one in a long while that had the participants saying they wished it was an additional two hours longer!
Tom's sense of humor, enthusiasm and knowledge of families made for an excellent workshop. Not only was it fun, but we were given a great deal of helpful information that could be used in many settings. Although the workshop was geared toward activities for teaching values in families, I have already used a number of the activities in our middle school and senior high youth groups. These activities are excellent ways of promoting cooperation, problem solving and "hands on" learning - all presented in a way that is fun and has participants eager to try the next one! I have found these activities to be non-threatening to youth, and an excellent way to share values without lecturing.
I hope to have Tom back again soon, and this time I want to open up this opportunity to our entire community!
Sincerely,
Reverend Margaret Davis Freeman
Minister to Families With Youth
Sugarland Elementary School
2111 Jefferson Island Road, New Iberia, Louisiana 70560 (318) 365-9624
It is my pleasure to recommend to your attention Mr. Tom Jackson, a dynamic presenter whom I had the distinct good fortune of hearing recently in a professional growth in-service. The particular in-service to which I refer included faculty and staff members. I can say without hesitation that Mr. Jackson had meaningful information for program enhancement for each discipline and/or area of concern.
Based on my personal impression and those received from the informal feedback of many of the participants, I can honestly say that my sentiments were shared by an overwhelming majority of those in attendance.
If you are looking for a timely and practical approach to many of the issues in education as well as some direction toward solutions, you would do well to include Tom Jackson in your program.
Sincerely,
J. Curley Mouton
Principal
Arlington Independent School District
200 West Main Street, Arlington, Texas 76010 (795-2457)
Tom Jackson's presentation to the coaching/physical education staff of the Arlington Independent School System was appreciated by everyone in attendance. Approximately 170 teachers were present for the in-service of August 8, 1996. The few people that missed the presentation have requested that we have Tom Back again in the near future.
Several people have called to thank me for having Tom during our back-to-school in-service. In visiting schools since his presentation, I have noticed teachers using his activities to start their classes. I hear them talking about his ideas and how they are incorporating them into their classroom activities. I do not believe we have ever had a speaker who presented so many useful ideas for our teachers.
Tom Jackson's activities and ideas were presented to elementary, junior high, and high school physical education teachers. This represents all levels of physical education for the Arlington Independent School District. His tools for teaching are useful in activity classes as well as the classroom setting. Please feel free to call me at (817) 795-9737 if I can answer any questions.
Sincerely,
James Hyden
Director of Athletics/Physical Education
Marion First Church of the Nazarene
233 W Church St, Marion, OH 43302 (614) 383-6021
This is a letter of recommendation for Tom Jackson as a speaker to Christian groups on educational and family matters. I first met Tom When he was invited to our community as a presenter for a teacher training event sponsored by our local Board of Education. Upon hearing his workshop, I made it a point to meet him personally. (I sensed that there was more to his presentations than just a passion for secular education!) I was not surprised to learn that he is a committed Christian and even has 10 years experience as a youth leader in the Baptist church he faithfully attends!
We invited Tom to be the speaker for our annual "Home Improvement Month" weekend Family Life Conference at our church. To Spoke to public school and Sunday School teachers on Friday night in a session entitled "Active Learning: Creating Excitement and Increased Learning in the Classroom." Then, on Saturday morning he presented a workshop to parents entitled, "Stop Lecturing and Start Sharing." He addressed families (children age eight and older and parents) on Saturday night in a session entitled, "Activities That Teach Family Values." We also invited Tom to be the Sunday morning and evening preacher and he addressed our congregation with presentations entitled, "Zucchini and the Christian Family" and "Keys to Building Christian Families."
Every session was well received by those who attended! Tom's style (which involves the audience as active participants rather than just passive listeners) made the sessions memorable and fun! Also, Tom's use of humor and personal experience allowed us to laugh at ourselves while we learned! Every session was filled with practical insights for teaching, communication, conflict management, and growing together as families!
I also want to comment on how each Tom was to work with when it came to booking the event, travel arrangements, lodging, meals and other logistics. His humble, servant attitude and thorough communication made it a "low stress" event for all concerned.
If you want a speaker who can deliver practical workshops for a Christian education and/or family conference give Tom Jackson a call!
Sincerely
Thomas R. Lytle
Pastor to Families with Teenagers
Enoch Elementary School
4701 N. Wagon Wheel Drive, Cedar City, Utah 84720 (435) 586-7058
I have know Mr. Tom Jackson for several years and have always left his training workshops a better person. He is an exceptionally skilled presenter, very entertaining, well organized, knowledgeable and approachable. He's a master teacher. The saying, "It's not what you say, but what you are that communicates" certainly applies to Mr. Jackson. He is a man of profound moral integrity. He lives what he teaches!
Mr. Tom Jackson conducted a seminar on "Family Values" to a group of parents and their children in our school recently. I particularly liked how he involved our groups in activities that teach. Following a short introduction, Mr. Jackson had the parents/children combine into small groups. The parents did the activities with their own children. We participated in four quite varied and enjoyable learning activities, then our groups discussed a series of questions that led to deeper applications of selected values in our lives.
The activities, discussions, and values taught would be appreciated for any organization, schools public or private, religious group, groups from any socioeconomic status, culture, or gender. The activities were fun, meaningful, and well organized. The parents and children enjoyed the evening, and left feeling closer to each other and had some techniques in hand to build upon their relationships.
I would highly recommend Tom Jackson to you, especially if you're looking for novel techniques to tap into universal values that enhance a family, school community, or the society at large.
Sincerely,
Terry Pickett
Principal
MADD - Mothers Against Drunk Driving
2 Regency Plaza, Suite 3, Providence, Rhode Island 02903 (401) 421-0800
Sometimes taking a risk in life works out so well you feel it's you responsibility to spread the word to other people. Please consider this letter MADD, Rhode Island's way of telling the world about a risk we took concerning a gentleman named Tom Jackson.
This past summer our organization needed a speaker/workshop presenter for our teen leadership training conference. We needed someone who could motivate 125 teens between the ages of fourteen and eighteen during a late afternoon general session. We also needed that same person to present a one and a half hour workshop about alcohol and drug educational information to this same teens. But we didn't stop there. We also expected this same person to present an adult workshop to twenty-five adult advisors attending the conference. After all, we are a non-profit so we really have to stretch our dollars. Well, stretch we did.
When I asked for suggestions of people who could do it all for us at a reasonable rate, I was assured that Tom Jackson was the man for the job. This is were the risk comes in. I had never heard of Tom nor had I seen a video of his presentation style. I simply relied on my friend's suggestion. And am I glad I did! Tom Jackson did it all and then some! Besides motivating the teens and adults to unbelievable heights, tickling their funny bones, and gaining their trust, more importantly he managed to teach them in depth and fact about alcohol and drug education.
After all the years I've worked with teens and heard continuing complaints about boring lectures on alcohol and drug facts I was pleasantly surprised when I read the students evaluations on Tom's workshop. Tom allowed them to not only listen to his presentation but become a part of it. He gave them hands on activities that gave them visuals that demonstrated the effects of substance abuse and overall alcohol and drug impairment. He never once lectured to them. He respected their intelligence, educated them, and and allowed them to develop new attitudes and gain new insights.
Some of the comments written by the teens certainly assured me of Tom's success. Comments like "TOM RULES", "Mr. Jackson was so AWESOME", "He's COOL", and "Mr. Jackson provided a well planned workshop that was interesting and fun. Too bad there wasn't more time!" The last comment amazed me because that was after these teenagers had spent over an hour and a half in Tom's workshop.
Needless to say MADD, Rhode Island plans on inviting Mr. Jackson back next summer for its annual teen conference. As a parent of three teenagers, a youth education specialist, and MADD, RI's youth program coordinator, I was so pleased to find a man who not only could do what Mr. Jackson did in educating these teens, but also respected the students and made them his friends.
Sincerely,
Gabrielle Abbate
MADD, Rhode Island |
