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You
are here: The Olympian Initiative:
Training Kids to Think Like Olympians
by Marilyn King
After watching Olympians from all over the world competing in Athens, Greece this summer, imagine what would happen if every child in your community had the same skills and tools that the Olympians used to achieve their goals?
Imagine a city full of young people who are daring to imagine that they can be the carpenters, computer experts, choreographers and business executives of tomorrow. Young people can acquire the same powerful thinking skills Olympians use and transcend challenging environments, overcome destructive daily behavior patterns and actively seek the resources they need to achieve their goals.
Ten years ago New Horizons featured a pilot program in Oakland called "Dare to Imagine" where inner city youth were taught "OlympianThinking"™, a high performance framework developed by Olympic Pentathlete Marilyn King. Many of the young people from this program beat the odds, graduated from high school, and went on to college. JB, who envisioned being in the NFL, played for San Diego State and has returned to Oakland to coach high school football. (See On The Beam, Fall 1991) Another participant received a scholarship to the school of her dreams, The University of San Francisco, graduated and is in the Peace Corps in Swaziland.
These results prompted The Northern California Olympians (NCO), a regional alumni association of Olympians, to target Oakland as the next step in developing a program so all young people can have the inspiration, tools and support to envision and achieve their own gold medals in life. "The Olympian Initiative-Training Kids to Think Like Olympians" is designed to be a replicable model. The NCO intends to make the program available to young people throughout Oakland and then through their network of Olympians across the United States and internationally. Imagine linking young people in your community with young people from around the world who are using these "Olympian Thinking" skills to achieve success in their own lives and to positively impact the world around them.
Teaming up with existing programs, Olympians will deliver inspirational messages, provide access to success skills and present awards to inspire young people to engage the same skills that allowed the Olympians to achieve their lofty goals. By 2010 the program will be available to Olympians returning from the Games and through Olympian alumni associations.
While The Olympian Initiative will make a major contribution to the proliferation of critical thinking skills, it is designed to expedite the structural changes that must occur as our schools confront an array of challenges. The Olympian Initiative is a comprehensive program that attracts and aligns existing resources to support youth in envisioning and achieving their goals. It increases the effectiveness of current activities and incorporates bringing community expertise into the school campus in the form of role models, tutors and mentors, as well as making career enhancement opportunities available to students off campus. It provides teachers with training in new technologies and offers opportunities for cross- curriculum teaching approaches. The program provides outreach and training for parents and directly engages the community in supporting local school programs.
The NCO has always been committed to youth empowerment continues to exhibit leadership in their efforts to fulfill the original purpose of the modern Olympic Games. According to the founder, Pierre de Coubertin, the purpose of the Games is "to educate youth through sport to create a better and more peaceful world." Olympians, teaming with the community, will fulfill the original purpose of the Games by delivering to the youth of the world, beginning in Oakland, the skills that will allow young people to think like Olympians.
Marilyn King is a two-time Olympian ('72 '76) in the grueling five event Pentathlon. Her 20-year athletic career includes five national titles and a World Record. An automobile accident rendered her unable to train physically for her third Olympic Team. Using only mental training techniques she placed second at the Olympic trials for the 1980 Moscow Games. This extraordinary experience and the resulting research led to a 23-year career as an expert in the field of exceptional human performance. In addition to her extensive corporate work Marilyn has presented at over 200 national and international education conferences. Her most pioneering work, called the Peace Team, prompted two invitations to speak at the United Nations.
See an article about Marilyn at this site: http://www.newhorizons.org/future/king.htm
©December 2004 New Horizons for Learning
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