Programs
"Drop Your Pride"
COS Signature Program on Alcohol, Choices, Bystanders, and Personal Integrity TEAM Program for Student Athletes: The Enlightened Athlete Model Program
"One day, one decision, and one life lost..."
The "Drop Your Pride" program is personal, delivered with pure passion and the hindsight of lessons learned. It meets the audience wherever they are: drinkers, non-drinkers, bystanders, leaders, teachers, coaches, parents. There are lessons and messages for all.
Aaron's deep voice and engaging stage presence make him hard to ignore after his first sentence, but he never drops the ball. A scan around the room reveals ears at attention, emotions flowing, brain filling, teary eyes drying only when Aaron adds a humorous moment to lighten the air. Then he challenges us, and then he challenges us again. He acknowledges any resistance points, and then moves right through them.
Aaron's story reveals how personal choices can lead to the destruction of so many lives. It is an unforgettable way to impact your group. His upbringing and life experiences resonate with so many. He describes his goals and dreams. Then, he reviews key points in his life when he took a wrong turn. As he speaks, he is unabashed in taking personal responsibility and never shirks the enormity of the pain he caused.
Through his personal speaking and work with Campus Outreach Services, he spends countless hours re-tooling his own life to help others. He donates his time and programs to schools without the means to bring in speakers. He volunteers for causes that support his mission to turn a terrible choice into a lifetime of good. Aaron's goal is that students walk away from the presentation speechless because their minds and hearts are so impacted, silence is the only option.
Aaron also provides specialized workshops to coaches, teachers, peer leaders, parents, and other specific groups. His programs all come with support materials, resources and curricula developed by Campus Outreach Services.
Goals and Outcome of the Drop Your Pride Program:
Goals- To challenge and change assumptions about the causes, impact and consequences on driving under the influence.
- To generate thought provoking conversation between students, teachers, coaches and parents.
- Students will gain the knowledge to analyze how and when a "choice" is being made, including its consequences on many levels.
- Students will effectively apply a thought process to eliminate, or minimize unnecessary risk.
- Students will understand and appreciate the core values for "Being a good person".
- Students will fully understand the "the ripple effect of devastation" surrounding a single choice in a single moment. They will hear how one "choice" can affect hundreds and thousands of people, many of whom they have never met.
- Students will understand how one "choice" can eliminate job opportunities and future options.