Local educator Kathy Roy is in a class by herself.

As the a Lafayette Education Foundation Teacher of the Year and founder of the REAL class at Acadiana High School, Roy has touched the lives of students, faculty and many in the community by creating an environment in which students could tell the truth, develop leadership potential and discover commonalities between themselves, their classmates, their families and teachers.

“I had been teaching the REAL curriculum for six years at Acadiana High, and I wanted to go full time with the program, because this is my passion,” she said. “As a classroom teacher, I witnessed the lack of social skills, the bullying, gossiping, judgments, apathy, and low self-esteem on campus.

Roy is launching a new program, Real Education & Outreach, with the goal of reaching and helping teens though out the community. The Reality-Check Summer Program will be held at The Petroleum Club June 25-26, 2012.

“I designed a day, based on the REAL Curriculum called Reality Check to do just that — wake the students up to how they were living and treating one another and teach them leadership skills to bring back to their campuses and hopefully ignite some ambition in them,” she said.

Real Education & Outreach is designed for students interested in building confidence, improving self-esteem, increasing leadership skills, eliminating bullying, making effective choices and developing better relationships.

“I think that if we teach our young people social/emotional skills and instill some vision, integrity, and acceptance along the way, it will inevitably affect our community,” Roy said. “These young people could make a positive shift with community programs, especially on school campuses.”

The cost for this summer program will be $75 per child (includes a t-shirt, hot lunch and beverages).

The goal of the Reality-Check Summer Program is to create a safe and fun environment where young people learn through demonstration and by doing. The program is designed with fun activities that offer students an opportunity to enhance their confidence, their communication abilities and their relationship skills.

Space is limited. Registration forms can be found at www.realrealitycheck.com.  Registration closes when the program is full. Please return your application as early as possible to ensure your student has a spot. For further information, contact Roy at 337-962-8834.

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