Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

GOOD WORKS:

Three days to a focused, empowered teenager

Sam Nicholson

Mikayla Whitmore

Sam Nicholson, Executive Director of the Keep It Alive Foundation, poses for a photo in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 7, 2017.

Sam Nicholson

• Title: Executive Director

• Agency address: 6841 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 103, Las Vegas

• Agency phone number: 702-492-5330

• Agency website: keepitalivefoundation.org

• Hours of operation:9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• To volunteer: Contact Keep It Alive about training, scholarship opportunities or to donate, by phone, in person or through their website. All volunteer applications must be approved by the organization’s board.

What is Good Works?

In Good Works, an occasional series, we highlight nonprofit groups that are making a difference in our community. If you’d like to nominate an organization, email [email protected] with details.

You started this organization in 2009 with your daughter, Sonora, and wife, Ann. What inspired you to do so? When my daughter was in high school, she and her friend attended a leadership and personal development training that gave them both greater self-confidence and self-esteem. After the training, I volunteered with her and her friend to assist the trainer with logistics in the training of another class. After witnessing just how powerful the training was for the teens and watching the class of 20 transform over three days, we decided to start a foundation that would make this training available to teens who would not otherwise have the financial ability or means to attend. Since then, we have sent more than 100 students to the training and have worked with other nonprofit organizations to provide the leadership and personal development training to teens in foster care facilities and other organizations that benefit children. For some students, to offer those tools can drive them to continue their education and give back to the community, and for some it simply provides them the self-confidence to overcome the hardships they may have experienced, to break the cycle and give them hope for a brighter future.

Why did you call it the Keep it Alive Foundation? The name was coined from what it provides — those who graduate achieve the self-confidence in “keeping alive” their hopes and dreams, “keeping alive” the fire within them to succeed and having the confidence to prevent anyone from raining on that fire. ... The foundation provides grants for the leadership and personal development training, along with sponsoring the Dr. Rosemarie Rothe Scholarship Grant Program to graduating high school seniors entering college in the field of education.

Why did you choose to focus on teens? We believe that teens are in a critical stage in their lives, when the decisions they make can affect them for many years to come — decisions that can affect themselves, their families and their community. I have witnessed some remarkable transformations in these students, including my own daughter.

How does the training work? We outsource the training to two organizations. The teen leadership training consists of three days that often takes the participants far out of their comfort zone, where the best learning takes place. It gives them the opportunity to develop a strong team with other participants, to show themselves how much more they have within themselves when they learn how to tap that internal resource to be stronger and more confident. The training helps them develop higher priorities with their family, their education, and empowers the students to be more engaged with their families, their friends, school and community.

What’s an example of an optimal result? One of many stories comes to mind. It was a teenage girl, 15, who was attempting to look much older. She had run away from home and was later found in another state and returned to her adopted family. Her family had sent her to many counselors for help, which she resisted. She was a participant in the training but clearly did not want to be there and was only going through the motions, at first. I saw the transformation start on the second day. What walked into the training was a stubbornly resistant child, who then graduated to a different person entirely.

Both parents attended the graduation ceremony, and when she stood up to speak, they did as well. You could visibly see the anxiety in their eyes of what might come. The young lady confidently stood up in front of a crowd of more than 100 students, parents and family. The defiant young girl was gone. The words that came from her were honest and powerful. She looked her father straight in the eyes and with tears streaming down her face, said that she loved them both, that she did not mean the hateful words she said when she was dropped off, and apologized for her bad decisions in the past. It was an immensely powerful moment and there was not a dry eye in the house. I am confident that her perspective on her life and family had changed.

Talk about the Rosemarie Rothe Memorial Scholarship and why this woman inspired you. I had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Rosemarie Rothe and, sadly, was in the hospital room when she died. Rosemarie was a remarkable woman with a deep sense of community, family and wisdom. She was the matriarch of a large and successful family and a good friend.

She was a believer in lifelong learning and received her doctorate in education at the age of 52 after raising several successful children. She had been a teacher, an administrator, a volunteer, a mentor, a mother, grandmother and great grandmother when she passed. She devoted her life to helping others.

The scholarship grants are in honor of her, her achievements and her family. The Dr. Rosemarie Rothe Scholarship Grant Program is awarded each year to a student going into the field of education, and awards are based primarily on what the student has done to give back to the community.

How can people get involved with Keep it Alive? Anyone can apply to volunteer by contacting our organization. There are limited openings and their application must be approved by the board. Anyone can contact me about the training, scholarship opportunities or to donate, by phone, in person or through our website.

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