While Jamestown Public Schools students had the day off Monday, their teachers were busy working on the arts of motivation, leadership and cooperation.
Chappale Linn Burton, a 1986 Jamestown High School graduate, presented a workshop for the district's educators at Persell Middle School on Monday morning.
Burton, the author of ''How to Choose Happiness ... Most of the Time - 30 Ways in 30 Days,'' said the workshop was meant to reiterate to teachers the power they have to influence young people.
''I was influenced positively by a lot of people - teachers, coaches, people in the community. ... I wanted to influence (the teachers) and say not only this is what happened to me, but now I'm going to share with you how you can help affect people in a positive way.''
Burton started his life in Chicago, where he witnessed the murder of his mother and stepfather while playing at a playground at the age of 8. He says the tragic event is what prompted him to make positive choices in his own life.
''I had ask myself some really tough questions,'' Burton said. ''One of those questions that I asked myself was 'can any good come out of this situation?' ... When I asked that question, unfortunately, it was affirmative. Then I thought, well, there's good and bad in everything.
''I could (have gone) one way - I could have been a negative influence, be this person that's had this bad experience in my life and use a lot of excuses. Or, I could go the positive way, and use my life as an example of what someone can achieve through adversity. ... It starts with choosing positive, productive thoughts. That's what the whole philosophy is about.''
Burton also attributes his move to Jamestown as a childhood event that helped him keep his life on a positive track.
''My grandmother moved us all here,'' Burton said, ''I came into a much more 'community' environment. I had a house that was like a home, with a backyard. ... I was a sports person, and it was through Ron Graham, Chautauqua Striders - that's when I became motivated to go to college, because of athletics.''
JPS teachers came away from the workshop with many new ideas about how to work together to connect with their students and how to get their students to connect with each other and their community.
''It was a good time to share and connect ... about how to regenerate some thoughts and concerns and to go about trying to find some ways to change some things,'' Paul Mammoser, Thomas Jefferson Middle School physical education teacher, said following the workshop.
''(The workshop) encouraged camaraderie to try to put teachers from different disciplines together, and that's kind of where education needs to go,'' Kirk Frink, high school art teacher, said. ''What the school district is trying to do is put teachers from different subject areas together.''
After graduating from JHS, Burton earned a psychology degree from the University of Pittsburgh and became a therapist at a leading psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh. He is now based out of Los Angeles, where he offers personal and professional coaching through a self-development organization called Monday Smiles.
''It's about giving back, using some of the shortcuts, tools and techniques that I've learned to actually help these kids,'' Burton said of his work. ''Now, because of JHS and (Principal Joseph) Yelich, who said 'we should have our teachers learn this as well,' we made this program to influence the teachers, students and also some parts of the community, because it is a holistic approach.''
Burton will present an adult workshop at Jamestown Community College today from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., give an assembly for Jamestown High School students at 2 p.m., and interact with youth at the Chautauqua Striders Teen Center from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. At 9 a.m. Wednesday, he will give an assembly at George Washington Middle School, which he attended nearly 30 years ago.
For more information about Burton and his programs, visit www.mondaysmiles.com.
