Century Council Blog
Apolo Anton Ohno stops in Philly!
Apolo Anton Ohno today visited La Salle Academy in inner-city Philadelphia today, joined by kids from St. Malachy School, St. Laurentius School, San Miguel School, and Hope Partnership for Education. Many of these kids’ potential is limited by social, academic, or financial challenges. Apolo reached out to them, telling them that as long as they stayed focused and driven to succeed, nothing could stand in their way.
"I don’t know what’s going on with you and what your situation is, but it’s not over until it’s over. I may start off the race at the back of the pack, but at the end of the race, I win it."
This is why we believe partnering with athletes like Apolo is so important. When an eight-time Olympic medal winner, himself the child of a single parent, is telling you that saying ‘YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking will help them accomplish their goals, they’ll believe it.
Thanks to everyone at La Salle Academy for such a great event! You rock.
CNN, Ask Listen Learn, Atlanta, Apolo!
Hello Atlanta! In our effort to bring Ask, Listen, Learn to every conceivable part of the country (let’s go ahead and make it a 50 state goal,) we enlisted the help of Apolo Anton Ohno to reach out to the kids of Kennedy Middle School!
But first, we made a trip to CNN headquarters in Atlanta! Apolo explained what the Ask, Listen, Learn is all about: educating kids to have the confidence to go out in the world and make healthy, active decisions.
The kids were pumped to see Apolo, and eager to learn. We’re enormously thankful to everyone at Kennedy Middle school for the warm reception, and we hope they enjoy the Ask, Listen, Learn interactive activity we left behind!
Life Savers, here we come!
The Century Council is pleased to be attending the 2010 Lifesavers Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Lifesavers is the premier national highway safety meeting in the United States dedicated to reducing the tragic toll of deaths and injuries on our nation's roadways. Each year, the Lifesavers Conference provides a forum that delivers relevant and timely common-sense solutions to today's critical highway safety problems.
The conference addresses a wide range of safety topics, from child passenger safety and occupant protection to roadway and vehicle safety and technology. It offers the latest information on advances in highway safety, highlights successful programs and draws attention to emerging safety issues.
We always learn something new at the Lifesavers Conference, and we’re looking forward to going. Let us know if you’re heading too!
Dara Torres joins the team, Apolo Anton Ohno comes back for another tour!
We’ve got some news about two of our favorite athletes…
Please welcome Dara Torres, our newest Ask, Listen, Learn super star! This five-time Olympic athlete is a fierce athlete and a great role model, winning twelve Olympic medals over her career!
Apolo Anton Ohno is also joining with us again to help spread the message of Ask, Listen, Learn!
On April 13th we’re heading down to Atlanta, GA with Apolo to visit Kennedy Middle School! Apolo will be demonstrating the Ask, Listen, Learn interactive activity, telling kids to say ‘YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking. Stay tuned for pictures and video from the event!
On April 14th, we’ll be heading up to Philadelphia, PA with Apolo, to St. Michael’s Parish.
On April 20th, we’ll head to the Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, in Arlington, VA, and Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School in Laurel, MD.
But we’re saving the best for last. On April 22nd, SuperStars Dara Torres and Apolo Anton Ohno will be participating in Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day in Washington, DC! Check our events page for details!
Teens can say the meanest things
Source: Toronto Globe and Mail
“No, Samantha you can’t go to the sleepover at Maya’s house.”
“But, Mom, you can’t say that. You haven’t given me one good reason why I shouldn’t go. Mom!”
The discussion, which had already been going on for 10 minutes, continued for another 15, with escalating anger on both sides. Samantha’s mother, however, stood firm. The discussion finally ended with Samantha in tears, screaming at her mother,
Alcohol Awareness Month, all year long
April 1st is a very important day to us here at The Century Council. While other organizations joke on April Fool’s Day, we face a serious reality: Underage drinking and drunk driving remain serious problems, despite the progress made against them. We want to let you know what we’re doing to make a fight these problems.
Coming off our visit to the 2010 Winter Games, We just recently wrapped up an electrifying post-Winter Games Ask, Listen, Learn tour with Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian in history and star of the 2010 Olympic Games. We were thrilled to be able to bring him to see kids all over the country and tell them to say ‘YES’ to a healthy lifestyle and ‘NO’ to underage drinking.
We also recently filmed a series of PSAs for State Attorneys General with Dara Torres, five-time Olympian swimmer and winner of 12 Olympic medals. These PSAs will be airing in states all over the country in honor of Alcohol Awareness Month. Check out pictures from the event here!
Both of these stellar athletes are coming with us to Capitol Hill this month! On April 22nd, The Century Council is hosting an educational event on Capitol Hill that will teach parents and kids the importance of saying "YES" to a healthy lifestyle and "NO" to underage drinking. We’re doing this with our partners, the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation, the Artists and Athletes Alliance, and PE4Life.
We’re also starting to distribute our Ask, Listen, Learn interactive activities all over the country! We’ll be bringing it to roughly 250 schools and community groups around the country. We’ll also be posting online mini-games to Ask, Listen, Learn soon!
Lastly, Our Hardcore Drunk Driving Commuity Corrections Guide is coming out soon! This guide is designed to help probation and parole officers in monitoring hardcore drunk drivers under the care. We’ll be presenting it next week at this year’s Lifesavers Conference in Philadelphia, and posting it to our website shortly thereafter. Stay tuned!