The Achievement Academy has partnered with Bear Givers

to bring joy to individuals in need.

 

 

 

 

The gift of giving is something that we here at The Achievement Academy experience each time we receive a donation from a kindhearted person or organization.  It is also a lesson we are sharing with our students.  In an effort to teach them what it feels like to give to others, we have partnered with Bear Givers. 

 

Bear Givers (formerly Bears 4 Kids) was founded and developed by Joseph B. Sprung as a nonprofit organization committed to bringing joy and hope not only to individuals in need but to children who can learn how to improve our world.  www.beargivers.org

 

Bear Givers has an Empowerment Program developed to teach children with and without disabilities to give charity and show kindness to others with special needs. Through this program, participants experience, sometimes for the first time, the satisfaction of being able to contribute.

 

The Bear Givers Empowerment Program enhances our Life Skills and Social Skills curriculum by teaching our students to be socially proactive and personally responsible.   Cheering up an ill child, elderly person, or someone in need and/or with special needs, is one of the many positive practices that we hope our students will experience as they participate in this ongoing community service project.  Our students will keep a journal on why they selected a particular organization or person and what it felt like to give a teddy bear to someone in need.  These journals will become a part of our school’s website.

 

The Achievement Academy is currently identifying local or national organizations, children, adults, or families, who would benefit from receiving this very special gift.  Please direct any referrals to balauver@achievementacademy-nv.com. 

 

During the 2009-2010 School Year, we delivered Teddy Bears to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children in Boulder City, Nevada.  Their mission is to serve all abused, abandoned and neglected children and families, creating new chances, new choices and new hope in a safe, homelike environment. 

 

Spreading “Joy” around the Valley:

The Achievement Academy students decided to name the teddy bears “Joy Bears,” because they bring joy to other people.

During the 2010-2011 School Year, we visited St. Rose Hospital Siena Campus.  We brought Teddy Bears to the sick children in the Pediatric Ward.  We felt both happy and sad — we were sad that they are sick, but we were happy to give them something to love so they wouldn’t be so afraid.  It felt amazing to bring the children joy.

 

During our visit, we met Mr. Andrew and his Bichson Frise, Kloe.  Kloe is a therapy dog.  Even though some of us were afraid of her, Mr. Andrew held Kloe so we could pet her and not be afraid.  Kloe works at the hospital to make people happy.  She is like our Joy Bears, she brings others joy, too. 

Student Empowerment Program

The Achievement Academy is an accredited private school designed specifically for students in Grades 1-9

with Learning Differences and Social Challenges including Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, and Attention Deficit Disorder.

       * * * Bringing Learning to Life * * *

Where children have the opportunity to achieve their full potential

academically, emotionally, and socially.

During our 2010—2011 School Year, we also brought Teddy Bears to a local Henderson Fire Station, so they could be distributed to children who were victims of fires or emergencies.  Two of our students had recent fires at their homes and had been given stuffed animals by the firemen. They were then able to share their experiences with the other students and were able to tell them how much more secure they had felt when the firemen had given them a stuffed animal. This made the entire experience even more significant.

 

 

During our 2011-2012 School Year, we delivered a Teddy Bear along with handmade cards to a very ill young adult who occasionally volunteered at our school.  These gifts let her know that our students cared about her and were hoping for a speedy recovery.  This gesture of kindness also helped our students to feel empowered that they were making a special friend feel loved and thought of during her illness.