The Guardians: Pam, Jenny, Lacy, Ken, Timmy, Jeff, Elaine, John, Mitch, Mary…

Guardians Coach on the 1 Rule: Kathy (Timmy’s mom)

The Guardians had been coming to Kathy and Timmy’s every week to practice using the 1 Rule to help them in their roles as Guardians. They took turns bringing snacks so that Kathy wouldn’t have to feed them all, especially since their numbers were growing. They dropped the snacks off at Timmy and Kathy’s when they picked Timmy up so they could walk with him to school.

Today was Jeff and Elaine’s turn to bring the snacks. “Hey, Timmy, here are the snacks for the Guardians meeting after school,” said Jeff, as Timmy opened the door.

“Thanks, Jeff. Thanks, Elaine,” said Timmy. “I’ll be right out.”

Timmy sure wasn’t afraid of Jeff anymore. In fact, they were good buddies. Jeff had been in the Guardians for a few weeks now. Ken had invited him, just like in the demo he did. Jeff discovered how good it feels to help other people. He loved helping hand out equipment at lunch. He used the 1 Rule to make sure everyone felt good.

He no longer felt like all he was good for was making trouble for other people. Now he felt proud of himself. Now he got smiles from other kids and adults at school. Everyone knew him and called out, “Hi Jeff!”

Jeff invited Elaine to join the Guardians. She was Jeff’s younger sister. She was actually in Timmy’s class and since they were both Guardians, they had become very good friends.

At one of the weekly practice sessions, the Guardians had learned that when they saw kids who looked like they might be having trouble, they could go up to the kids and say, “Does anyone want some help?”

That was Jeff’s and Elaine’s specialty. Then the kids would tell them what was happening and the Guardians would use the 1 Rule and help them solve their problem, usually in minutes, so it didn’t cut into their play time.

Sometimes, now, kids who were having problems would come to one of the Guardians and ask them to help them solve their problem fast.

The Guardians were wondering about teaching the 1 Rule to other kids, all the kids who were interested. Then they could solve their own problems, fast.

In fact, today that was one thing they wanted to talk about before they practiced using the 1 Rule. They knew they’d have to talk with Ms Jensen. She was the teacher sponsoring their club, The Guardians. She made sure they had approval to walk to school with kids who felt better walking with Guardians. She got school approval for the Guardians to help out during lunch and even recesses. She was also the one who came up with the idea that when they were working as Guardians, they would work with at least one Guardian partner.

All the Guardians wore something that said “Guardians” on it, a vest, scarf, cap. They tried to decide on one type of clothing and color but finally realized, with the help of the 1 Rule, that the important thing, the thing they all really wanted, was that it have “Guardians” printed on it.

“Hi Guardians,” said Kathy. “Great snacks. Jeff and Elaine, those are from you, right?”

“Yes,” said Jeff and Elaine. “I thought of bringing the fruit,” said Elaine.

“And I carried it, and added the cheese and crackers,” added Jeff.

“I made lemonade,” said Kathy. “It’s all laid out on the table on the porch. Let’s have a snack, then we can get started.”

“Kathy,” said Pam, “we want to have a meeting before we start practicing. We have at least one thing to talk about, maybe more.”

“Sure,” said Kathy. “Do you want me to be part of it or shall I have my snack inside?”

“We want you to be part of it,” said Jenny. “It’s about the 1 Rule and we learned that from you.”

“Sure,” said Kathy. “Let’s eat. Then we can focus on the meeting.”

After they were all done eating and cleaning up, “Thanks,” said Lacy. “That was a yummy snack.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Pam, are you going to lead the meeting?” asked Kathy. “What’s this all about?”

“Sure, I’ll lead it,” said Pam. “We’d been thinking that there might be other kids who would like to know how to use the 1 Rule. If they knew how to use it then they won’t always have to come to us to solve their problems. We’ve asked a few of the kids. They don’t want to be Guardians but they’d like to know how to solve problems fast. Ms. Jensen said that it would be helpful if every class had at least a couple of kids who know the 1 Rule and could help out in class sometimes. That’s the first thing we want to talk about today.”

“So what do you have in mind?” asked Kathy.

“Jenny had an interesting idea,” said Pam. “Explain you idea, Jen.”

“Well, my mom is on the PTSA, the Parent-Teacher-Student Association. Sometimes she talks about the meetings. She really likes the Guardians and that I am in the club.”

“In it!?! You’re one of the founding members! You came up with the name!” said Pam.

“Yeah, you’re right. Anyway one of the things she’s always talking about is fundraising. They do things to earn money for things like the 6th grade trip, and other things. I was telling Pam about this and we came up with a great idea! Let’s do a fundraiser with the PTSA teaching the 1 Rule to anyone who wants to learn, kids, grown ups.”

“Grown ups sure need to learn the 1 Rule,” said Jeff.

“You got that right, Jeff,” said Lacy.

“Hey! I have an idea!” said Ken. “You know how we decide on the problem and then figure out our demo and then perform the demo for everyone? What if the fundraiser came in two parts? During the day we teach the 1 Rule just like Kathy taught it to us. Then in the evening, anyone who wants to can perform their demos on the stage for all the families. And they buy tickets to come and watch! What do you think?”

“That sounds fun!” said Pam. “Would you be part of it, Kathy?”

“I’ll have to make sure I’m not working on the day of the event.”

“I think Kathy should get part of the money that comes for the fundraiser,” said Mary, one of the newest Guardians.

“Oh, yes. That was part of the idea. The Guardians are going to get some of the money, too. Of course, Kathy would be paid to be the head coach on the 1 Rule,” said Jenny.

“Think of all she has done for us and never been paid,” said Lacy.

“Well, being paid for coaching at this event makes all the difference for me. I can just arrange to take the day off. So any day works for me,” said Kathy.

“Does anyone have any other ideas or questions about this?” asked Pam.

Since no one responded, “So I guess we all agree that this is a good idea. Let’s decide what we need to do next,” said Pam.

“We have to talk with Ms. Jensen,” said Elaine. “Timmy and I can do that, right Timmy?”

“Sure, Elaine,” said Timmy.

“Pam would you come over and talk with my mom with me?” asked Jenny.

“We can do that today, after practice,” said Pam.

“That sounds good,” said Jenny.

“I think we should all talk with some of the kids who have said they want to learn the 1 Rule,” said John, another of the newer Guardians. “We can tell them about our plan and see what they say about it.”

“I think that’s a good idea for any of us who want to do that,” said Jeff. “We can all report to the group next week.”

“Oh, yeah. Any of us who want to do that,” said John. “I’m learning about agreement. It’s the best, but I’m still learning.”

“I just had a thought,” said Mary, “what if kids from other schools or groups what to learn how to be Guardians for the kids they are with and start their own Guardians club?”

“Great thinking, Mary,” said Pam. “That sounds like it could easily happen. Well, we could teach them. It would be great if Kathy could coach them, but you have to work, don’t you Kathy?”

“I’ll have to think about this,” said Kathy. “It sounds just like what I’ve been wanting since our first meeting. I’ll say yes. I will be the coach even for other groups and maybe put on other events like the one you thought of, the one we’ve been talking about. This is like a dream come true! This is a dream come true. A dream coming true. It’ll work out somehow. It’s too good not to.”

“Okay. Before we start our practice, let’s get clear on what we are doing next: Elaine and Timmy are going to talk with Ms. Jensen. Jen and I are going to talk with her mom and anyone who wants to is going to talk with the kids who are interested in learning the 1 Rule. Right?” asked Pam.

“Right!” shouted the Guardians.