Baby goes green. How ‘bout you?

We know you are friendly because we’ve been talking to you for awhile now. But are you environmentally friendly? We’ve been on better terms with Mother Nature ever since Baby kicked the battery habit in 2006 with RealCare® Baby II-plus. The earth deserves a break, and so do you!

Facilitators appreciate this model for the ease of recharging (just like your cell phone!), the wireless programming features (program all Babies at once!), automatic data download (Babies check themselves in!) and detailed reporting (Babies tell you exactly how they were cared for!). RealCare Baby II-plus users save time, money . . . and the future. Wow! Our customers are amazing! These Babies are amazing! Have you ever seen so many exclamation points?! We think not!

Consider RealCare Baby II-plus for its educational and environmental value. And speaking of value and the environment, we still offer trade-in deals when you return old Babies for recycling. If you recently invested in RealCare Baby II (with batteries), it’s easy to upgrade the features to a “plus” model using our economical Upgrade Kits.

Need some green to pay for these improvements? We have some creative ideas about funding your purchase that have worked for other facilitators. Ask your environmentally-and-ever-so-friendly Product Consultant about this today!

Susie Dudenhoeffer gets real and gets free
RealCare for it!
RealCare Curriculum Survey Winner

Susie Dudenhoeffer from Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri won a pair of RealCare® Baby II-plus infant simulators for telling it like it is.

She participated in our February survey and was chosen from a random drawing. She shared with us how she uses the RealCare Program curriculum at her school, and about other supplemental materials or activities she combines with the curriculum.

Congratulations to Susie and her team at Hazelwood East High. Keep up the great work! A special thanks to all that participated in the survey—your input is what keeps our products working for you!

In the mailbag . . . a testimonial about the advantages of rechargeable RealCare Baby II-plus

“We have 20 of the new simulators, which I used for the first time last month! Our educational cooperative, DeQueen Mena Educational Cooperative, provided them and the training for us back in the fall to use them. Indeed, they are AWESOME. I would highly recommend them AND the tech support provided by your company.

Thanks for great improvements on a wonderful product . . . with an eight-period class day, six preps and two LARGE classes of family dynamics students using the simulators, I needed all the help I could get.”

Annette Hays
FACS and FCCLA
“Don't leave school without it!”
Acorn School, Ouachita River District
Mena, Arkansas

“Pregnant” teens and RealCare Babies prompt double-takes in Texas shopping mall, surprising parents and Realityworks staffers

Kortnee Lamarre recently received the Texas Excellence in Education Award and was then selected as one of five finalists in the “Rising Star” category out of more than 1,000 educators. It’s easy to see why she was singled out. Kortnee takes her advanced child development classes on field trips to hospitals and shopping malls to illustrate the social impact of teen pregnancy and parenthood.

The twist? Her students wear pregnancy simulators so they really look pregnant. They “shop” the baby supply aisles with infant simulators in strollers. They pass out literature about teen pregnancy, abstinence and other prevention options. They invite their parents to join them for lunch—documenting the surprised and often emotionally-charged reactions to their burgeoning midsections.

Coincidentally, on one February outing they also surprised two of our Product Consultants who happened to stumble upon this exercise while attending a conference.

“She purchased RealCare® II-plus Babies last year,” said Joe Frank, Realityworks Product Consultant. “We lunched at a nearby mall food court, where a small crowd of pregnant girls approached us. Turns out the girls were wearing the pregnancy vests and maternity wear as an assignment to educate the general population about teen pregnancy. This means they all appeared to be nine months pregnant.”

“Kortnee saw the Realityworks logo on our shirts, realizing who I was—‘the nice sales guy that helped her get the school to purchase a more usable 20-pack rather than a 10-pack’.”

According to Kortnee, these outings are a way for her to be creative with the lessons, and do something memorable and meaningful beyond the classroom walls.

“We need to do something to make an impact on teen pregnancy. Since this course is not required, I do everything I can think of to utilize the students I have, and make an impact on as many people as possible,” she said.

We talked to Kortnee’s 4th hour class and they knew their stuff. They said things like, “Now my mom is extra strict on me because she realizes I am at a high-risk age.” Another said her parents trusted her more because they felt she had adequate preparation for what it would be like if she became pregnant. Either way, the class resoundingly agreed that they had better dialogue with their parents on the subject because of this experience. They know that they shouldn’t have children until they are emotionally, physically and financially prepared to have them, and the simulation hasn’t changed the way they feel about having babies eventually, as adults.

Some commented on the stares, disapproving looks and their own feelings about “being” a pregnant teen when they were out in public. Some realized upon visiting the hospital that they could work in health care and take care of babies. Most commented that they were tired from being up at night with Baby (Was that a student lying down in the back of the classroom? It was hard to tell over the phone.)

They all get stars on their foreheads as far as we’re concerned! Nice work, Kortnee.

Kortnee Lamarre
FACS teacher
East Central High School
San Antonio, Texas

Volunteer puts Shaken Baby Syndrome
Simulator to work
Product sighting on CNN led to purchase for community-wide awareness

Helen Passantino is the volunteer president of a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect in and around Newnan, Georgia. Prevent Child Abuse Coweta is part of a statewide network providing professional education and resources to families and children affected by abuse.

Helen’s daughter, a foster parent to a child affected by SBS, saw the Realityworks SBS™ Simulator on the show “Nancy Grace” and told her mom about it.

“I was immediately sold on it,” says Helen, who purchased one for her agency and took it around to area nurses and educators who will incorporate it into their work with parents and caregivers. Prevent Child Abuse Coweta plans to purchase seven more simulators using grant money. They will make them available to the local Red Cross for babysitting courses and to the local department of family and children services.

“Nothing else in the way of providing education and information comes close to hearing the doll cry and then seeing the lights come on to show the damage at different levels of shaking,” says Helen. “It’s the perfect educational tool for any person who takes care of a child—to show that you never, ever shake a baby.”

“I can’t say enough positive things about it.”

Read a recent report from one Children’s Hospital about evidence of increasing cases of child abuse by shaking.

Enter and Win—New Contest for 2008

We print your story and you get a chance to win free product! Tell us a little bit about your program and what makes it special. Send us a photo with some chicken scratch next to it. Draw us a picture. Call us and we’ll take the notes for you like we did with this article.

Winners will be chosen by random drawing at the end of the year. Lots of great products from us to you, just for bragging up your program and showing other program leaders how you git ‘er done (Editor’s note: rednecks are people, too). Share the love, won’t you?

Include your name and contact information, and a photo if possible—of either you or your program in use—and email your story to newsletter@realityworks.com.

1. This contest is open to all organizations (not individuals) who are involved in educating people in life skills and health programs that could benefit from Realityworks products. The author of the story must be 18 years or older.
   
2. One story per organization may be submitted for entry into the contest. An organization may submit additional stories but they will not be entered into the contest. The first story received by Realityworks, Inc. from an organization will be deemed the entry for the contest.
3. All entries must be received via e-mail no later than midnight on December 31, 2008 for entry into the contest. Entries must be submitted to newsletter@realityworks.com.
4. All entries must include the name of the author of the story, the name of the organization submitting the entry, the organization’s mailing address and telephone number and the following acknowledgement that the author wrote the story on behalf of the organization and that any prize won from submission of the story will belong to the organization and not the author of the story. Failure to include this information with the story will disqualify the story from entry in the contest.
5. The winning organization will be announced in the January 2009 newsletter.
6. Shipping costs are included in the prize.
7. Realityworks, Inc. reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal value.

Do you have a teen pregnancy prevention program?

If your teaching objectives are in line with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy, you may be interested in their Teen Quiz. During the month of May all teens are invited to take a survey about attitudes and choices relating to their sexuality at www.stayteen.org. Results of this survey may also inform your work. You can read more about this on a private page of our web site.

Product Support Tip O' the Month

Have a question but don’t want to call?
Realityworks web site is unquestionably helpful!

Ever wonder where you can get information about your Realityworks products in a pinch? Ever have a technical question, but can’t find it in your operating handbook? Ever wonder why we ask so many questions? Ever try to write this many questions in a row?

Unquestionably, it’s helpful to consult our web site for the answers to your burning Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)—especially if they are keeping you up all night.

When in doubt (or in a hurry), just click on http://www.realityworks.com/support/index.html

FAQs for ySTART™, Control Center software, RealCare® Baby and more are all at your fingertips. It’s like having your own personal Product Support representative at your service 24/7.

Now the question is, who’s going to keep our friendly Product Support staff busy with all this self-help going on? Don’t be a stranger. They like to hear from you once in awhile.

Product support hours are Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time. Call 800.830.1416 or +1.715.830.2040.