Help Kids Put DreamsInto Action (NAPSA)—Visions of a pro sports career aside, many kids see education as the key to their dreams. These were the findings of a recent survey by Start Something, a free character education program that helps 8- to 17-yearolds identify and pursue their dreams. When asked the open-ended question, “What is the dream you have for yourself today?” kids named education in two of their top five responses: 1. To be a professional athlete/ good at sports (18 percent) 2. Success in life (get a good job, make lots of money, get married, become famous) (13 percent) 3. Go to college (12.4 percent) 4. To be a doctor/nurse/pediatrician/therapist (9.6 percent) 5. Success in school/graduate from school (9.3 percent) Parents who want to inspire their kids can take these steps recommended by the Start Something curriculum experts: Help kids define their interests and talents by asking them to brainstorm list of things they like. * To get kids to think about what makes a person a leader, ask them to list the qualities of leaders they know andrespect. Ask kids to list their everyday heroes—a kind neighbor, a helpful teacher or caring relative —and to interview one of them. e As an exercise to encourage goal-setting, ask kids to finish a few sentences such as: “If I could be anything I wanted to be I would...” or “If I could go anywherein the world I would...” To keep the momentum going, kids can enroll in the Start Something program, where they can continue to dream and put dreams lu Seana _ The Start Something program helps children focus on their dreams and make them come true. into action, find volunteer opportunities and even qualify for scholarships to pursuetheir goals. Created by Target Stores and the Tiger Woods Foundation, Start Something has two million participants and is available to schools, youth groups and individuals. Parents and teachers can learn more about the program and obtain a ready-to-go curriculum for use with groups by visiting www.target.com. Kids can also join the free program by registering on www.target.com. Teachers and children can call 1-800-3166142 with questions on the Web site or program materials. The Start Something study was commissioned by Target Stores and conducted by Quality Education Data (QED), a leading education market research and database firm, from SeptemberDecember 20038.
