Sidekicks Focuses on Acceptance During Holiday Season

News Report

December is Acceptance Month as part of Sidekicks Family Martial Arts Center’s Powerful Words Character Development program.

Students will be studying, developing and experiencing powerful life lessons focusing on becoming accepting and open-minded people in a fun and powerful way that benefits everybody in our community, said Manny Cabrera III, chief instructor of Sidekicks, 16633 FishHawk Blvd., Lithia.

In addition to all of the physical skills that they'll be working on this month, students will be discussing and practicing the following concepts that will help them to appreciate the value and benefit of becoming a person who respects and appreciates the unique characteristics of people and their
cultures—including their ideas, beliefs, and ways of life. 

Students will be focusing on the following topics both in and out of class:

• Acceptance Defined: Accepting ourselves and our differences.
• Accepting others: How are others unique? How can we respect
  differences?
• Accepting differences in cultures and celebrations: Celebrating holidays.
• A year of character: What are you proud of?  What are you grateful
  for?

“While most young children are not able to grasp the philosophical dimension of acceptance, it is important for these youngsters to learn simple concepts such as 'it’s OK to be different,'" said Dr. Robyn Silverman, Sidekicks’ child and adolescent expert, and creator of the Powerful Words Character Development system used at the facility.

"As the holiday season approaches, I’m really excited to help our members to focus on acceptance this month," said Cabrera. "When they become more accepting and open-minded, they’ll really be able to reach their potential and become the leaders we know they can be. Personally,
I enjoy seeing our community recognized as a place with Powerful Character, and seeing our students lead the way. We’re thrilled to help our
students and our community to thrive and succeed, and Acceptance month is going to help us to do just that.

"Sidekicks’ strong curriculum and the Powerful Words Character Development system provide our students with the opportunities to
become unstoppable in life," continued Cabrera. "These lessons will remain with our students for life and we're honored to help them achieve the success that they deserve."

For more information, call 813-661-2224 or visit the center's website.