Article by The Sanders County Ledger:

Local high school students got a lesson in resiliency at a presentation last week in Thompson Falls.

Thompson Falls High School welcomed speaker John Parker Monday, October 30. Parker is a motivational speaker who is the president of his own company called People 1st. His motto is “Discovering Purpose and Unleashing Potential.”

Police Chief Chris Nichols served with Parker in the military and is familiar with his work. “I wanted him to come to Thompson Falls to speak to our high school students especially in light of current events,” Nichols said.

Parker gave a presentation to the both the high school and junior high. Hot Springs and Plains schools brought 20of their high school students to hear what Parker had to say. “I plan to talk about resiliency,” he said.

Parker began his presentation with choices. “The choices you make show your true character.” What matters most is what’s inside you, he said. He used two balloons and two volunteers from the audience in a demonstrations. One balloon was filled with air and the other with water. Parker asked one student to kneel down while the other student stood behind holding the air-filled balloon over the other student’s head. Parker said he was going to light the balloon on fire. When he did it popped. When the second water-filled balloon was lit nothing happened.

“You can impact the world around you. You matter. It’s the inside of you that counts,” Parker said. He added that bullying can be stopped. “Always doing the right thing is not easy.”

Parker added that kindness and respect for parents, siblings, teachers and classmates is important. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. A video on bullying was shown depicting a teenage girl who is bullied by other girls in her school. The bullying spreads to social media. The girl bought razorblades and was going to take her own life when another girl who knew what had been happening finally stepped in to help. Parker said that being a friend and helping others can save a life.

“Statistics show that there are 13 million kids bullied every year. One hundred sixty thousand of those students skip school to avoid being bullied. And 4,000 kids commit suicide each year as a result of bullying,” Parker said.

Character choices can limit who you are, Parker explained. Allowing social media to influence your behavior, judging others, and bullying all affect who you are inside. Parker says don’t give into peer pressure. Build your self confidence and always stand up for what you believe in. “Don’t put a reduced price tag on yourself. What you value yourself as is what others will see,” he said,

Parker related his own story of when he was 15, poor, and working hard to be on the football team. His family was living in a poor part of town with adult gang members in his neighborhood. “I often did not have food to eat, so staying in football was hard,” he stated. “One night a gang who was into bad drugs stopped me on my way home. They told me to go with them. I told them ‘no, I don’t drink or do drugs, I am going home.’ They persisted,” Parker said. He did as well and walked away. The gang let him go.

“What would have happened if I had gone with them?” Parker asked. He said his whole life could have changed for the worse. He could have been beaten up by the gang members, but he said he was willing to take that chance in order to stand up for what he believes in.

To be a person of influence and a leader you must care for others, and follow the 30-second rule, which Parker explained is saying something positive within the first 30 seconds of seeing someone. Be a role model to others. A second video was shown of a man who was negative and complained about everyone around him. He was given a pair of glasses that showed him how everyone was feeling. Though the video was cheesy, Parker said, it shed some light on how we tend to treat people and that everyone has issues in their lives. How we treat others matters. “Our goal should be to wake up in the morning and say, ‘I want to help someone to be happy today.’”

Nichols gave Parker a coin that is often given in the military to show gratitude. The words on the coin, in Latin, translate to “Never give up.”

Superintendent Bud Scully said that having Parker at the school was inspirational. “I have been in the schools for several years. It is always great to have speakers like John Parker to teach us something new.”

Parker says that he coaches adults for a living and does school presentations for free. “You can’t put a price tag on helping kids,” he noted.