Keys to
Excellence, Inc. has integrated into one curriculum, Keys to
Innervisions, the
most current thinking, information, and research in the field of cognitive
restructuring, violence/drop-out/drug prevention, character education, and
goal-achievement processes. The result is the most powerful change program available in the
field of juvenile and adult corrections, education, alternative education, and
other programs for high-risk clients.
Keys to
Innervisions is
a fifth generation curriculum built on 20 years of research and development. Written and implemented in 1990, the
content and design are routinely revised to respond to the changing needs of
our clients. Thousands of clients, staff, and families across the United
States, Puerto Rico, England, and Canada have found KIV to be a valuable tool
for empowering change.
Keys to
Innervisions is
designed specifically for at-risk adolescents and adults.
* Facilitators
are trained in multi-sensory and interactive learning styles to ensure that
those who have failed in traditional learning situations are engaged in KIV.
* It
is an excellent prevention tool that provides skills for evaluation and
self-directed changes in values and behaviors.
* For
those with substance abuse issues/dysfunctional behaviors, it can be the
catalyst to break their denial and move them toward a choice for treatment.
* For
adults and youth in recovery/aftercare programs, the curriculum is an excellent
deterrent to relapse and recidivism.
*
The design of the Keys to Innervisions curriculum materials enables agencies
and schools to make one purchase to provide multiple services.
* Delivery
to the identified clients.
* Empowerment
Team Training:
Delivery to the staff, teachers, family members, and others who work and
interact with the clients.
* Empowerment
Milieu: Continuity of
intervention tools and language, which provides clients with consistent practice
and application of KIV
concepts to daily life situations and problems.
* Possibility
Parenting: The
parenting component of Keys to Innervisions is a powerful intervention and
prevention tool to add parents and siblings to the circle of continuity and
support for clients.
* A
dynamic staff development curriculum: Assists staff in developing a common vision of mission, promotes teamwork, and decreases stress and burnout.
Keys to
Innervisions
has been researched and cited as a model curriculum. In 2001, The New Jersey Safe and
Drug-Free Schools, Violence Prevention Institute, evaluated and cited KIV as a
model program. Three research studies have shown Keys to Innervisions to be a highly effective
intervention with probation and alternative school clients. In two federal consent decrees, KIV
has been required and cited as a model program that enables state facilities
to meet federal guidelines for treatment. In 1993, Keys to Innervisions was presented as a program that
works to reduce violence
at a conference sponsored by the Federal Departments of Justice and Education,
"Safeguarding Our Youth: Violence Prevention For Our Nation's
Children."
Background
Working under the belief that self-concept is at the core of human behavior and motivation, Keys to Excellence, Inc. has developed cognitive restructuring processes that enable individuals and groups to positively alter their self-concept by changing their thinking patterns. The measurable results in behavior and motivation are often staggering in their magnitude:
* Violence
is reduced in schools and other institutions. Write-ups, fights, and physical
confrontations between staff and students are often reduced 25%-60%.
* Student
academic performances increase dramatically as students monitor their own
behavior and achievement levels.
* Staff
turnover is reduced as is use of sick leave.
* Staff
training rises to a new standard of participation, enthusiasm, and subsequent
program implementation, which translates into long term use of money spent.
Keys to Excellence, Inc. provides educational curricula that include video presentations, facilitator, and participant manuals and on-site staff training. Purchase of video programs also includes free follow-up and consultation services for our clients.
As thousands
have discovered when you do business with Keys to Excellence, Inc., you get quality
materials, quality training, and quality service. We feel these are the keys to
good business, the keys to our clients' success, and the Keys to Excellence.
"Our
investment in Keys to Excellence, Inc. is proving to be the most influential
investment our organization has made in the last decade."
-Seattle,
WA
Keys to
Excellence, Inc. empowers people to change the way they think, so they can
empower themselves to change their behavior.
Keys to
Innervisions (KIV)
is an educational curriculum about change, specifically changing the beliefs
and behaviors that lead to school and social failure, violence, drug
abuse/dependency, and criminal behavior. We believe that for anyone to make lasting and
meaningful changes in behavior, there is one critical element: they must want
to change. Before we can help a person develop an attitude of wanting to
change, five fundamental ingredients are necessary.
1. They
must believe that change is possible for themselves. Many students have experienced so many
cycles of failure that they have lost hope that change is possible. At the
foundation of this belief that change is not possible, are dysfunctional
thinking skills that lead to low self-concept. Keys to Innervisions helps people understand the power that
their thinking has on their self-concept and their behavior. Within this curriculum are processes and
information that promote self-concept and the belief that change is not only
possible, but accessible to all. Students begin to experience hope and a sense
of personal power that they can create an alternative to classroom failure,
violence, criminal behaviors, and using chemicals to handle their lives.
2. They
must know how to change. Keys to Innervisions teaches people how to change. It is one thing to want to
change and to believe change is possible, but quite another to know how to
create change. The
curriculum teaches specific, step-by-step, easy to learn and use processes for
making significant changes. These processes are directed at changing the
behaviors, attitudes, comfort zones, and personal beliefs that perpetuate the
cycles of school failure, drug abuse, violence, incarceration, and personal
failure.
3. They
must know what to change. All people, but especially at-risk populations, need guidelines on
where change should start, what to do first. Keys to Innervisions focuses on these critical issues: School
and learning issues, substance use and abuse, criminal issues, family issues
about dependency, emotional balance, personal accountability, decision-making,
and special attention to transitional issues. By the time a participant
finishes this curriculum, he or she will have selected goals in 14 different
areas. The "what to change" and "where to start" questions
will be resolved.
4. They
must be able to practice changing. Learning the concepts and thinking skills in KIV is the
first step in the change process. However, in order to get lasting, meaningful
change, students must apply what they have learned daily to their personal
issues. The KIV ToolBox was specifically created to make daily practice easy
for staff and students. The ToolBox consists of simple processes, easily
integrated into existing programming, which focus on changing thinking
patterns.
5. They
must have support from significant people. In order to ensure that consistent
practice occurs, the KIV Implementation Plan includes the creation of the KIV
Empowerment Team. Specific follow-up and aftercare strategies are designed for
schools, community based settings, probation and parole, detention,
residential, and families. All significant persons who interact with students
become part of the Empowerment Team. They are taught to integrate the KIV
ToolBox in their
interactions to solve everyday problems, enhance communication, safely handle
emotions, and improve decision-making skills.
Phyllis R. Antonelli,
M.Ed.
President, Keys
to Excellence, Inc. and
Co-author, Keys to Innervisons.
Ms. Antonelli
earned a Master's Degree in Counseling from The Pennsylvania State University
and completed a year of doctoral study, Education Psychology, at the University
of Pittsburgh. With 25 years of experience as a therapist, program developer,
and administrator of programs for at-risk adolescents, she is a specialist in
the treatment of juvenile offenders and in the field of chemical dependency.
Ms. Antonelli has been a trainer and consultant for numerous agencies,
programs, and states and is a featured speaker at state and national
conferences. She is an expert in analyzing systems and adapting the Keys to
Innervisons curriculum
to the needs of high-risk youths and adults.
Ms. Antonelli
co-authored the curricula Focus on Alcohol and Unlocking Your Natural Resources. She has earned certification as an
Addiction Counselor and has been published in several professional journals.
Since 1990, Dr.
Kuhn and Ms. Antonelli have trained facilitators and implemented the Keys to
Innervisions in hundreds
of agencies across the United States. Their follow-up work resulted in Possibility
Parenting, a companion
curriculum for families, the Keys to Innervisions Supervisory/Implementation
Manual, the Master
Facilitation Training Manual, and a Spanish translation of the adolescent curriculum.
Ronald G. Kuhn, DMA
Founder, Keys
to Excellence, Inc. and
Co-author, Keys to Innervisions.
Dr. Kuhn
received his Doctorate in Education from the University of Washington in 1979.
He taught for 15 years in elementary through university level education. He
wrote, produced, and was the featured educator in the Keys to Excellence for
Youth video curriculum
and implemented this program in hundreds of sites across the U.S., Canada, and
Australia. Dr. Kuhn also co-authored and was the featured educator in the
curricula, Focus On Alcohol and Unlocking Your Natural Resources.
Dr. Kuhn's
public service activities included participation on the boards of several
organizations and volunteering his services to high school and college athletic
teams, youth groups, and social service agencies. His expertise was recognized
by frequent speaking engagements for universities, national, and state
conferences.
In December
2000, Dr. Kuhn made his final transition, leaving a legacy of empowering
programs that continue to touch lives, that touch lives, that touch lives...
As the blossom cannot tell what becomes of its fragrance, so no one can tell what becomes of his influence.
Keys to
Excellence, Inc.
believes that an individual's thinking and beliefs that lead to violence, substance
abuse, school failure, and other anti-social behaviors can be changed. The cognitive restructuring skills in
KIV address the high-risk factors that predispose youth and adults to cycles of
failure. KIV is easily integrated as an education, prevention, intervention,
and aftercare program. The curriculum is designed to be sequential, uses
repetition of concepts in a variety of interactive processes to reach all
learning styles, and is applied to daily living issues.
Cognitive
Restructuring Foundation Concepts - Units 1-5
* Recognizing
how thinking creates behavior
* Promotes
internal locus of control and personal accountability
* Decision-making
skills
* Problem-solving
skills
* Building
and maintaining high self-concept
* The
importance of personal language in success and failure
* Belief
Systems:
* Identifying
habits, attitudes, comfort zones, and beliefs that block change
* Permanent
change requires going beyond behavior to thinking patterns
Specific
Application to Risk Factors - Units 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16
* Addiction
and pharmacology
* Chemical
dependency - psychological and physical effects
* Influence
of culture and media on choices - alcohol and nicotine
* Identifying
and managing emotions - anger management, the grief process, and forgiveness
* School
Performance - skills to improve learning, grades, and participation
* Co-dependent
family roles, enabling
* Evaluating
values, character development, and role models
Skill Building to Enhance Protective
Factors - Units 9, 14,
15
* The
Keys to Self Management - Thinking that changes behavior
* Goal-decision
and goal-achievement skills
* Six
Steps to Successful Transitions and Performances
Implementation: An Empowerment Team Approach
People change
by learning and practicing new information and skills. Keys to Excellence, Inc. recommends
an implementation plan, which both teaches and surrounds clients with a common
language and approach for change through the creation of an Empowerment
Team. Keys, Inc.
provides assistance in customizing the plan to ensure that KIV is integrated
with existing programming in a goal-oriented, flexible manner. The plan may include any or all of the
following:
* Training
staff to deliver the curriculum to clients, staff, and parents
* Training
staff in the use of the KIV ToolBox in daily interactions with clients
* Providing
follow-up, application, supervisory, and evaluation strategies
* A
companion curriculum, Possibility Parenting, caretakers, and foster parent programs
* Assistance
in large system planning, to develop continuity of programming along the
continuum of care and across state and county departments
Testimonials
Public
Education
Use Keys to Innervisions for every student! KIV teaches effective decision making, an exceptional life skill needed by every human being. Feedback from students assures me KIV is making a terrific difference in their lives.
Dr. Donald Lemon,
Professor of Educational Leadership
University of North
Dakota, Northeast State Project Evaluator
Possibility
Parenting
How do I help a parent
role model high self-esteem when he/she has none? How can we encourage parents
to leave their victim status and start to control their lives? No other single
curriculum accomplishes what KIV Possibility Parenting does. The safe and
engaging design of the classes and focus on self, keep parents coming back. We
have combined parents and teens for certain classes with great results. When a
family has a common language and problem solving skills, dramatic change
happens.
Cheri Langei, Family Services
Consultant
Minnesota
Probation
The Mohave County
Probation Department in Arizona has been using Keys to Innervisions since
January 1995. Over the years, we have expanded the use of the program from
weekend workshops for adolescents, to specialty classes for parenting, anger
management, domestic violence, and substance abuse. Probation officers are
enthusiastic. Several have stated that, "It's the best program we
have." Our clients demonstrate that KIV empowers them to change their
behaviors, ideas, and attitudes. Teachers who assist with the facilitation of
the curriculum are sold on KIV and are promoting its use to their schools.
Al Rosen, Assistant Chief
Probation
Officer for Juvenile
Division
Mohave County Probation
Department, Arizona
Juvenile
Justice
Keys to Innervisions is a
powerful and effective curriculum for use with juvenile offenders. It teaches
tools that students can directly apply to changing the behaviors that got them
into trouble in the first place. As one student summed up, "The concepts
and tools learned in KIV helps me to think and plan before I go back to the
street.
Mary Richter,
Comprehensive Health Coordinator
Juvenile Justice
Commission, New Jersey
New Jersey: Thank you for showing me the right way to live
and educating me in the way that has helped me change my life. My affirmation
is, "There is no limitation with education."
Louisiana: I thought my life was over but I guess not,
thanks to KIV.
Kentucky: KIV really helped me keep my power inside, so I
don't lose my temper. KIV is for everybody, 15 to 50!
Kansas: I loved that my KIV class was all girls. Thank
you for the chance to talk and help others.
Arkansas: I want to thank you for making KIV because if
you had not made it, I would still be stuck in the old picture but now I'm not!
Arizona I have been in a lot of treatment programs, and
nothing has helped me more than KIV. When I first did your book, I ripped it
up. Four months later I cherish it with my life.
Louisiana: I thought my life was over but I guess not,
thanks to KIV.
North Dakota: KIV helped me see I am the one in control of my
life.
Kentucky: KIV really helped me keep my power inside, so I
don't lose my temper. KIV is for everybody, 15 to 50!
New Jersey: I really changed my behavior and other hard
heads, too. I use T-Charts and positive self-talk all the time.
Minnesota: Possibility Parenting classes taught me that I can only control me. It
was a real self-esteem builder.
Arizona: I have been in a lot of treatment programs, and
nothing has helped me more than KIV. When I first did your book, I ripped it
up. Four months later I cherish it with my life.
New Jersey: KIV helped me have major improvement in my
biggest goal - tolerance. Living in a state prison can make you a stressed out
and bitter person. Now I use my internal power and don't let others bother me.
Professional
Staff/Administrators and Teachers
North Dakota: Keys to Innervisions has really given me some valuable tools to use
with at-risk students. KIV empowers them to see how positive and negative
choices effect every area of their life. It has helped our kids become
accountable for their behavior.
Minnesota: I am very excited to step into the classroom and
start working with the students in my local community. I am also going to apply
this in my life.
Georgia: My staff consumed the KIV concepts. Some changed
their thinking overnight and shared powerful stories. I can't wait to
facilitate my next class. I thank you for the wonderful gift of KIV.
West Virginia: The most significant reason we use KIV is that
it REALLY works. It has literally changed the culture in our schools. KIV is an
incredibly powerful program that literally transforms lives and that's what
education is all about.
New Jersey: I really am passionate about KIV. The program
has worked in my life and in the lives of many individuals creating lasting
changes.
Arizona: The Keys to Innervisions classes that my co-facilitator and I have taught
for the probation department have been some of the most exciting experiences in
my 12 year teaching career. It is exciting to be even a small part of
"Keys."
West Virginia: I participated in a three day KEYS facilitator
training over four years ago, and it changed my life profoundly. "KEYS
talk" has dramatically decreased incidents of "put downs,"
physical violence, and vandalism. I urge any administrator who supervises KEYS
classes to "walk the talk" and become a facilitator.
Professional
Staff/Administrators in At-Risk
Georgia: My correctional staff consumed the KIV concepts.
Some changed their thinking overnight and shared powerful stories. I can't wait
to facilitate my next class. I thank you for the wonderful gift.
Virginia: My probationers are asking to bring their
friends to their KIV meetings.
New Jersey: The four steps to getting smart about anger are
a tremendous help in dealing with adjudicated youth.
West Virginia: I love the creativity I can add to the KIV
classes. I use the curriculum myself and have lost 65 lbs. using the tools.
Virginia: Keys to Innervisions has helped me maintain a positive attitude and
approach in a negative environment.
New Jersey: I really am passionate about KIV. The program
has worked in my life, and in the lives of many inmates creates lasting
changes.
Arizona: The KIV classes that my co-facilitator and I have taught for the probation department have been some of the most exciting experiences in my 12 year teaching career. It is exciting to be even a small part of "Keys."