We are excited to announce that Mike Donahue and ValueUp will be coming to DPS at our Open House and first days with school and staff in the 23-24 school year. Mike Donahue is the founder and director of Value Up, an Omaha Nebraska based motivational company that focuses on positive school culture. He has spoken to over a million students throughout the last three decades in live settings. He has worked with young people all over the world including the United States, Asia, South America, and Europe. Mike has authored four books:
- Reinventing My Normal
- Hidden Scars
- Talking to Brick Walls, and
- his latest book, Value Up.
He is a highly sought-after speaker and one of the best about respect, bullying, resiliency, and other school climate issues. His candid style and authentic persona keep students engaged throughout the entire presentation and leaves them inspired.
After partnering with thousands of schools and speaking/listening to educators and students, Mike has come to understand that so many teen issues are directly related to how students view themselves. If a student believes they have high intrinsic value and identify with that high value, they make life choices that match their perceived value identity. Students who value and respect themselves make positive life choices and show greater value and respect to others. Value Up was created to amplify value in every student, resulting in strengthening a positive school culture.
Three Main Messages
1. EMBRACE YOUR VALUE- The word intrinsic means, built-in. It belongs to itself. Just like
you can’t take the value out of gold, you can’t take the value out of people. Human value is
intrinsic, and it can’t be taken away. Social media puts a strong emphasis on social worth
over true intrinsic worth. If you see yourself and identify as someone containing true
intrinsic value and have a strong self-worth, it dramatically affects your personal life
choices and it gives you a baseline of value to build a healthy life on.
2. MAKE CHOICES THAT MATCH YOUR VALUE– Mike believes that there is a belief
before there is a behavior. He often says in his presentations to young people, “I’m not so
concerned about what you’re doing as much as I’m concerned about why you are doing it.”
People tend to act the way they feel about themselves. Once a person can see their true
value and potential, it brings desire to choose more positive influences. We take care of
what we value. If we value ourselves, we will naturally make choices that are positive and
life giving.
3. VALUE OTHERS– Through the powerful metaphor of holding up shoes and telling
stories of others who struggle with their own self-worth, the message of empathy and
compassion for others comes through very strong by the end of the presentation. Often
after hearing these stories and walking in other people’s pain for a moment, many students
come up to Mike vowing to apologize to someone they’ve mistreated. In many of the
presentations, Mike will give the opportunity for students to apologize directly to one
another right in the assembly. We have many emails from students and administrators
testifying to long-standing negative relationships being mended.
Our schedule for the ValueUp presentations include Mr. Donahue talking with staff and parents on August 15th and to our K-12 students on August 16th (first day of school).