On Shore! The third book in the trilogy is here!

On bookshelves! On radio! On billboards! On signs around town!

Senior Success Student, Ashleigh Edwards, Is Going Places!

This is senior, Ashleigh Edwards. Ashleigh attended South Charleston High School for four years. She will be graduating with high honors. Her junior and senior years she also attended West Virginia State in the Collaborative Program and was on the Dean’s List both years. She was a member of Beta Epsilon. She founded her school’s dance team and was captain for three years. Ashleigh also has traveled abroad to South Korea and England. She has worked as a intern for the Kanawha County Commissioner’s Office for three years. Ashleigh is passionate about dance, doing makeup, drawing art, traveling, learning about new cultures and learning languages. She is trilingual, speaking Mandarin and Korean. 

Ashleigh was accepted and will be attending Johns Hopkins this fall majoring in International Relations and Economics with a double minor in Mandarin and Korean. Afterwards she plans to attend law school to become an international law attorney. 

Ashleigh is not only hardworking and driven, she is also kind and loving and always looking out for others. I am so proud of the young woman she has grown up to be, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her!

Success Student, Connor Mann, Makes No Small Plans!

Meet Connor Mann-- a student in my fifth grade leadership class and a member of my Saint Albans Success Club! Pay attention to his name-- you will be hearing it many times in the years ahead! This fall, Connor will be a senior at Saint Albans High School. He has maintained a 4.8 GPA these last three years and ended his junior year with a 5.0-- first in his class! He has been president of his class all three years, holds leadership positions in Interact Club, BETA Club, Mu Alpha Theta, science bowl team, soccer team, and community advisory panel, National Honor Society-- and represented SAHS at HOBY last summer. He just completed his seventh consecutive math field day, and this active student works on several school committees. He attended Boys State and was elected and sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice! Connor scored 1520 on his SAT, missing only 7 questions on the entire test! Wow! His mother wrote to thank me for "loving him, supporting him, and reinforcing a love for learning and community service. He soaked it all up, and we only see great things for him! I know you don't always see the fruits of your labor as a teacher, but Connor is definitely living his best, most successful life!" Samantha and Matthew Mann, thank YOU for sharing your remarkable son with me! I learned so much from him! In Success Club seven years ago, he made a poster with his own success message, "Make No Small Plans." That is EXACTLY what he has done with his life! Way to go, Connor! I am so proud of you! You make this world a better place!  And congratulations on being selected Senior Class President and as Valedictorian of the Saint Albans High School Senior Class of 2020!

Connor's Success Strategy... In His Own Words!

Connor, age 10

 

Make no small plans!

This is a great and inspiring success strategy.  I often think about this success strategy.  It reminds me to think of the endless possibilities in life-- such as what I can be, what I can do, and what I can give.  It teaches me that average is easy and to challenge myself.  I can relate this to the success strategy, Aim high!  

 

This strategy means more than just a few words on a page.  In life, we should follow this strategy and dream big, think big, love big, and give big.  If you choose to follow this strategy, when you are older and look back on your life you will not look back with regret for what you could have accomplished.  This is my favorite success strategy because it is just four words that can change the world-- starting with you.

First Success Scholarships Awarded!

Saint Albans High School seniors Jarred Carter and Hunter Atkins were awarded the first Saint Albans Success Scholarships on May 5, 2017.  These two remarkable students were recognized for their visionary leadership and hard work in creating and supporting the Saint Albans Success Club from 2008-2016.  Under the direction of their teacher, Deb Austin Brown, these two students inspired over 250 students at Alban Elementary, McKinley Middle, and Saint Albans High schools to participate in the service learning club.  The club motto is Dream big, work hard!  Over the course of club membership, the students made hundreds of success posters, broadcast the success strategies on V-100 radio each week for three years, made and distributed 100 success pillows, designed and posted a success strategy billboard, and designed and posted success signs around town for three different years.  The students also made indoor signs in partnership with Toyota of America to post in schools, churches, business, and government offices in and around the Saint Albans community-- teaching everyone that it is important to be both smart and good! 

New!  Compass Conversations will help you chart direction!

Five-Week Series of Character-Building Conversations: September 17 - October 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Saint Albans Success Club presents Compass Conversations, 

a five-week series of meaningful conversations

about the things that really matter

in charting direction for a good, successful, and happy life!

 

Thursday evenings, 6:30-7:30

September 17 - October 15

Saint Albans Public Library

For adults, ages 16 and up

FREE!

Everyone is invited!

 

 

Conversational Lessons

  • September 17     Cultivating good character/Growing in wisdom
  • September 24     Using success strategies to achieve excellence in all things
  • October 1           Harnessing the power of goal setting
  • October 8           Learning from the world's great thinkers and leaders
  • October 15         Looking for the lessons of each new day

 

Conversational Format for the hour

  • Character quotes (0:03)
  • Lesson of the day (0:07)
  • Success strategies (0:05)
  • Community conversation (0:40)
  • Summary/Call to action (0:05)

St. Albans High School Students Learning The Success Strategies 

High School 101 Class Adds Success Strategies To The Curriculum

 

For the new 2015-2016 school year, Principal Jeff Kelley and teacher Jason Fox asked Deb Austin Brown to come as a guest speaker to teach The Success Strategies to the freshman class.  Humbled and happy, Deb said YES!

 

She donated books to the team of teachers teaching the course so they could use them in their daily lessons-- and they were off on the exciting journey to teach students to be smart, good, and successful in school and in life!

 

Three hundred freshmen gathered in the high school auditorium on September 23 for Deb's first class.  Her second class on October 7 brought Nashville songwriter and SAHS alumni, Doak Turner, to speak to the class.  All throughout the school year, Deb will continue to go back to her Alma Mater to teach the strategies that will become a compass for the students as they navigate the seas of life.

 

For Deb and success friend, Doak Turner, this is a dream come true! 

Success Club Logo!

Saint Albans: Community Support for Good Character!

Join Us! Get A Success Sign For Your Yard Or Storefront! 

Success Signs Dot The Community Landscape!

Billboard Is A Success Club Dream Come True!

Success Club Ceramic Tile Mosaic: An Alban Legacy

Kids Teaching Future Generations About The Success Strategies!

Made by students in the Alban Success Club of 2012

New!

Student Letter About The Success Strategies and Success Project

Letter from success student Ryan Broderick to success teacher, Deb Austin Brown

 

Dear Ms. Brown,

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of the success strategies and opportunities that you have given to me.  It is hard for me to express into words just how much your teaching has impacted me.  I know that I am a more confident and goal-oriented person because of you.  I feel like I want to make a difference in the world and realize the importance of setting goals and trying to fulfill them.  I know that I am going to be successful when I grow up because of the foundation that you have started for me.  I know that it will be hard work, but I am ready to attack any obstacles that get in my way.  Thanks again, and wish me luck for a successful future.

 

Ryan

(At age 11 in 2009)

Success Club Member Hits The Streets of Saint Albans

Success Club member posts

success signs around town!

 

Meg is a good-deed-doer! For the last six years, Meg has helped deliver the Alban Community Ink newsletter and the Success Club newsletter to businesses around town.  On a recent sunny day, Meg spent several hours posting success signs around Saint Albans to help remind citizens about the importance of good character. Thanks, Meg, for your dedication and effort! Saint Albans is a better place because of Meg and the kids in the Success Club!

Alban Success Club Featured In Toyota's PowerTrain Magazine

Toyota's PowerTrain Magazine

January 2013 issue

 

Thanks to Toyota for publishing the story of the Alban Success Club's success sign campaign.  Together, we did a good thing for the community! Teamwork in any community is always the best work!