Chuck Norris' Nonprofit Foundation Gets ``KickStart''.Entertainment Editors/Education Writers HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2003 New Name Better Reflects Mission of Foundation Started In Houston Utilizing The Character-Building Benefits of Martial Arts This is a list of martial arts, broken down by region and style. African martial arts Eritrea
At-Risk Kids Chuck Norris' "Kick Drugs Out Of America Foundation," which he created with the encouragement of former President George Herbert Walker Bush Noun 1. George Herbert Walker Bush - vice president under Reagan and 41st President of the United States (born in 1924) George H.W. Bush, President Bush, George Bush, Bush in 1990 to help young people resist drug-related peer pressure through martial arts training, has been renamed "KickStart" to better convey the wide range of benefits the in-school program is currently providing to more than 5,000 boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. . "As one who has practiced Martial Arts for the better part of my life, I knew the benefits of this training to youngsters would far exceed the prevention of drug abuse," said Norris, the popular motion picture and television star and Foundation's Chairman and Founder, in making the announcement. "At the time I formed the foundation, drug abuse in this country was reaching epidemic epidemic, outbreak of disease that affects a much greater number of people than is usual for the locality or that spreads to regions where it is ordinarily not present. proportions and was a major concern. It was the primary focus of the program at the outset to seek out inner-city youngsters whose parents couldn't afford martial arts classes, knowing that such a program would raise self-esteem and instill in·still v. To pour in drop by drop. in  stil·la tion n. the self-discipline and respect that so many children are lacking today. When a child develops a strong sense of self-awareness and inner strength, they are able to resist peer pressure -- including drug and alcohol use and involvement in gangs. Their goals and dreams become achievable. Today, we view ourselves as a character building, life skills program that empowers students in many environments with tools to enhance self-image, as well as providing them with essential core values. `KickStart' more accurately reflects this enhanced mission." Among the many success stories to emerge from the program are Gerardo Esparza and Angeline Beltran. With failing grades in middle school, Esparza joined the program shortly after its inception. He was soon using the principles and discipline of the program to motivate himself toward academic success -- a journey recently completed with his graduation Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, (MIT MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) with a degree in finance and economics. After three years in the program, Beltran not only recently became the first person in her family to graduate from high school, she graduated first in her class, was named Valedictorian, and now attends college. Launched with a pilot program to teach martial arts to high-risk children in four inner city Houston area middle schools, today this martial arts program is taught in 38 Texas schools. The vision is to one day take the program nationwide. For more information on "KickStart," visit www.kdooa.org or call 713/868-6003. |
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