The document summarizes a "Words of Wisdom" project presented by Michelle E. Olin. The project involved sending letters to over 200 famous people soliciting short messages of encouragement for students. Approximately 65 responses were received, including from politicians, business leaders, scientists, authors, athletes and entertainers. The responses were displayed at the school to motivate and influence students. The project was well-received and the organizer recommends expanding it in the future.

1. GULL LAKE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS “WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT PRESENTED BY MICHELLE E. OLIN

2. PUBLISHED BY MICHELLE E. OLIN 2006

3. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT … bringing the world and Gull Lake Community Schools face to face.

4. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Presentation Outline Purpose Project Proposal Sample Letter of Solicitation Project Planning and Implementation Analysis of Results Examples of “Words of Wisdom” Battle Creek Enquirer Article Future Project Recommendations

5. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Purpose: Many adolescents and teenagers are lacking effective adult mentorship in their lives. Searching for role models to emulate, they have turned to “the celebrity culture” for guidance and direction. By obtaining “Words of Wisdom,” written specifically for our class by famous and important people from around the world, it was my hope that our students might be positively impacted by such personal and direct interaction with these highly influential people.

6. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Program Proposal: To send letters to important and successful world figures, celebrities, and sports personalities – asking them to respond with “a few words of wisdom” for the students of Gull Lake Middle School. The responses would be displayed in the school at a special location for the purpose of motivating our students toward their own personal success.

7. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Actions: Sent letters to more than two hundred people during the first two or three weeks of summer vacation, allowing sufficient time for the delay in response time. The letters solicited a few words of encouragement to the students of our school. The printing and mailing costs were paid privately, costing the school nothing.

8. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Expected Results: We recognized that many letters would go unanswered, but we also believed that we would receive just as many with good advice and words of support. An intangible, immeasurable, yet very important factor, would be the sense of interaction that our students would feel when they saw such personal words of support and encouragement coming directly from these important and world famous people to them at Gull Lake Community Schools.

9. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Additional Benefits: The project would give us the opportunity to educate as well as influence. By presenting biographical information with each letter displayed, we were able to help our students learn about such less well known, yet important, figures such as Sir Edmund Hillary, Julia Child, Alan Greenspan and Kofi Annan . Also, many celebrities sent us valuable autographed memorabilia ( Brett Favre and Jimmy Buffett signed hats, Orlando Bloom signed poster, and several signed books) which we donated to the school library or auctioned off as student council fund-raisers.

10. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Sample Letter of Solicitation

11. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Project Planning and Implementation Establish Categories: Politics / World Figures Business Science / Art / Authors Sports Broadcasting / Entertainment

12. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Project Planning and Implementation Selected 230 individuals spread across categories. Used Collector’s Guide to Celebrity Autographs (2 nd Ed.) and several internet resources to locate addresses. Mailed the requests during the summer using First Class Mail. Enclosed were pre-stamped return envelopes to facilitate more returns.

13. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Project Results First response was ten days after mailing, from Garfield Cartoonist Jim Davis . We averaged three to four return letters per week during the summer. The furthest response came from Sir Edmund Hillary , the first man to climb Mount Everest. He sent his letter from Auckland, New Zealand.

14. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Project Results Only had twelve letters returned for wrong addresses. Most wrote short notes of encouragement. Some wrote very long ones. Some sent letter with photograph. Some sent only a signed photograph. Some had secretaries send a brief letter for them.

15. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Project Results Of the 230 requests mailed out, we received 65 responses. By Category: Politics / World Figures 19 out of 35 54.2 % Business 8 out of 16 50.0 % Science / Art / Authors 7 out of 21 33.3 % Sports 11 out of 47 23.4 % Broadcasting / Entertainment 20 out of 111 18.0 %

16. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Politics / World Figures Kofi Annan Jean Chretien Tony Blair Bill Clinton Barbara Bush Gerald Ford George H W Bush Rudolph Giuliani George W Bush Billy Graham Laura Bush Jennifer Granholm Roslyn Carter Alan Greenspan Dick Cheney Carl Levin Jacques Chirac Prince Harry Prince William

17. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Business Warren Buffett Bill Gates Richard Branson Carlos Gutierrez Michael Dell Gary Omernick Michael Eisner Donald Trump

18. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Science / Art / Authors Julia Child Dav Pilkey Jim Davis J K Rowling Homer Hickam Bill Watterson Sir Edmund Hillary

19. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Sports Lance Armstrong Mike Kryzewski Lloyd Carr Dan Marino Tom Izzo Arnold Palmer Magic Johnson Cal Ripken Jr. Michael Jordan Al Unser Jr. Greg Louganis

20. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Broadcasting / Entertainment Paula Abdul Toby Keith Barney Jay Leno Ron Boyd George Lucas Jimmy Buffett Jesse McCartney Ray Charles Mark Pellerito Kelly Clarkson Arnold Schwarzenegger Vin Diesel Robin Williams Rupert Grint Walter Cronkite Paul Harvey Richard Hatch Alan Jackson Jennifer Lopez

21. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT The Project On Display Created custom display panels for each person, which typically included a biography, a photograph, and the letter. Sometimes included flags, guitar, hat, or other prop that helped give interest to the display. Mr. Bartholomew (School Principal) introduced each person during Monday morning announcements. Each display was changed weekly.

22. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT The Project On Display

23. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Examples of “ Words of Wisdom” Letters

24. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan

25. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Barney

26. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT British Prime Minister Tony Blair

27. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Musician Jimmy Buffett

28. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT First Lady Barbara Bush

29. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT President George H.W. Bush

30. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT First Lady Laura Bush

31. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Michigan Football Coach Lloyd Carr

32. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT First Lady Rosalynn Carter

33. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Master Chef Julia Child

34. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT French President Jacques Chirac and former Canadian President Jean Chretien

35. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT “ American Idol” Kelly Clarkson

36. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT President Bill Clinton

37. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT “ Garfield” Creator Jim Davis

38. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Actor Vin Diesel

39. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner

40. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT President Gerald Ford

41. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates

42. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

43. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Reverend Billy Graham

44. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Governor Jennifer Granholm

45. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan

46. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Kellogg Company Chairman Carlos Gutierrez

47. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Survivor Richard Hatch “ You can never eat too much rice!”

48. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT News Commentator Paul Harvey

49. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Aerospace Engineer and Author Homer Hickam, Jr.

50. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Mountain Climber Sir Edmund Hillary

51. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo

52. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan

53. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski

54. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Comedian Jay Leno

55. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Senator Carl Levin

56. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT World Champion Diver Greg Louganis

57. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Movie Director George Lucas

58. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino

59. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Musician / Actor Jesse McCartney

60. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Golfer Arnold Palmer

61. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.

62. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada

63. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Author J.K. Rowling

64. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

65. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Race Car Driver Al Unser, Jr.

66. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Financier Donald Trump

67. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Actor / Comedian Robin Williams

68. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT All types of responses

69. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Some form letters too …

70. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Good words from the Battle Creek Enquirer

71. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Kalamazoo Gazette

72. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT

73. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Future Project Recommendations Mail new request letter to specific non-respondents Add more people to the solicitation list Include local people of influence – mayors, police, fire, and business Include teacher “words of wisdom” at end of school year

74. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Thank you for allowing me to share this project with you!!

75. “ WORDS OF WISDOM” PROJECT Closing Thoughts: “ Good words are worth much…and cost little” George Herbert Welsh Poet 1593 - 1633 “ Short words are best - and the old words, when short, are best of all.” Winston Churchill British Prime Minister 1874 - 1965