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Masons Caring
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NORTH DAKOTA MASONIC MODEL STUDENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The North Dakota Masonic Model Student Assistance Program (MMSAP) is the signature or flagship program of the North Dakota Masonic Foundation. The Freemasons of North Dakota offer this distinct student assistance program to serve communities throughout the state in the belief that prevention is the most effective tool for combating the scourge of addiction. Prevention stops use and abuse of drugs and alcohol before they take root.
The statistics are both alarming and depressing. Each day in the United States 3 children die from child abuse, 5 children under the age of 20 commit suicide, 9 children under the age of 20 are homicide victims, 9 children under the age of 20 die from firearms, 180 children are arrested for violent crimes, 340 children are arrested for drinking or drunken driving, 367 children are arrested for drug abuse, 2,350 children are in adult jails, 2,861 high school students drop out, 4,248 children are arrested, 5,703 teens are victims of violent crimes, 7,883 public school students are suspended, and 7,945 children are reported as abused or neglected. Research has shown that 1 out of 4 of America's youth is extremely vulnerable and another 1 out of 4 is moderately vulnerable to the negative consequences of engaging in multiple high-risk social and health behaviors. Concerns and problems concerning today's families and youth are often too intimidating for families and youths to solve on their own. Research has also shown that 8 out of 10 of America's youth are in need of behavioral health services and may not be receiving them.
The North Dakota Masonic Model Student Assistance Program is an intensive 3-day training workshop for educators to team how to identify, intervene with, and create appropriate referrals for students that may be at risk for substance abuse, depression, suicide, or violence. The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Dakota, operating through the North Dakota Masonic Foundation, is 1 of 19 Masonic jurisdictions that sponsors a Masonic Model Student Assistance Program. The Masonic Model Student Assistance Program is coordinated through the National Masonic Foundation for Children and training is conducted by Newman/Stecher International, the sole providers of Masonic Model Student Assistance Program training.
The North Dakota Masonic Foundation contracts with the National Foundation and Newman/Stecher International to train a core team of 5 to 8 educators from a school building in how to intervene early and effectively with students who display patterns of behaviors that threaten their success at school. Masonic Model Student Assistance Program training involves practice sessions designed to simulate real events along with presentations on such subjects as chemical dependency, depression and suicide, conflict, anger and violence, communication skills and intervention, family dynamics, enabling, life skills development, treatment and aftercare, and group process. Participants leave the training with a specific plan for behavioral interventions, and a system for implementing a Masonic Model Student Assistance Program in their schools. The Masonic Model Student Assistance Program has proven to be an effective tool for educators as they seek increasingly to make the most out of every minute of teaching time.
The North Dakota Masonic Model Student Assistance Program is a partnership among the North Dakota Masonic Foundation, individual educators, and school districts. The foundation provides the facility, lodging, meals, continuing education credit, and training materials; the educator provides his or her time and in some cases transportation; and the school district provides time off for the educator to attend the seminar and a substitute teacher to cover for the educator who is attending the seminar.
Following the seminar, educators are required to prepare a lesson plan to receive the continuing education credit and complete a detailed evaluation concerning the seminar. As you know, educators are required to complete a certain number of continuing education units in order to maintain their professional teaching certificate and many have attended other continuing education programs including student assistance programs. We are proud to note that the evaluations of the Masonic Model Student Assistance Program have been uniformly positive and many educators have noted that this program is the best of its type and a program that will make a great difference in their classroom.
Since this program was adopted as the signature charitable endeavor by the North Dakota Masonic Foundation in the fail of 2000, the program has trained over 550 participants. In addition, all prior participants are invited to attend a booster or refresher course once a year where they are encouraged to network with other graduates to discuss common problems and to visit with facilitators from Newman/Stecher International on problems they have encountered and solutions they have implemented.
The Masonic Model Student Assistance Program not only benefits communities, educators, and most importantly children--the program also benefits the Masons of North Dakota. The program is the face of Blue Lodge Masonry in North Dakota. Many people are familiar with the great Masonic philanthropies, the orthopedic and burns hospitals sponsored by the Shrine of North America, the speech and language disorder centers sponsored by Scottish Rite Freemasons, audiology research conducted by the Royal Arch Masons through Royal Arch Research Assistance, arteriosclerosis research conducted by the Cryptic Masons through the Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation, and vision services sponsored by the Knights Templar through the Knights Templar Eye Foundation. However, many individuals are unfamiliar with the charitable endeavors of the Grand Lodge of North Dakota and local lodges in North Dakota. This program is the answer for Masons who are confronted with the questions of what does your lodge do in the community and why should I become a Mason. In addition to making good men better and providing an opportunity to allow both the inner man and the outward man to grow, this program is one of the answers to the question of what do Masons do in North Dakota and why a man should become a Mason.
If you would like to assist the North Dakota Masonic Foundation in bringing this program to more students, educators, school districts, and communities, please consider a tax deductible donation to the North Dakota Masonic Foundation. The North Dakota Masonic Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation and all contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.