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This book "can change lives,"
avows Dr Denis Waitley,
internationally recognized
authority on human potential,
stress management and
wellness.

Revised edition in paperback
by Margaret Broadley

Special testing programs

Now more than ever, many students are faced with rising college costs and an often confusing array of school majors and career options from which to choose. The fortunate students who have benefited from the following special testing programs can use their self-understanding by making more informed choices among these options and capitalizing on their natural strengths throughout their lives. The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation wishes to express its gratitude to the benefactors and program coordinators profiled here.

College Students

Dallas Baptist University

In the mid-1980s Dallas businessman Robert L. Foree and his wife Della presented a $1 million endowment to Dallas Baptist University (DBU) to provide career planning and testing services for students. In funding the trust, he said, "It came to my attention that a majority of freshmen entering college do not know where they are going or what to choose as their major course of study." He stipulated that part of the money was to be earmarked specifically for the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation's aptitude testing program. Since 1987 interest from the Bob and Della Foree Student Aid Fund has been used to provide a number of student services, including Johnson O'Connor aptitude testing for more than 600 DBU students. Jamie Lash, DBU campus liaison for many years, has contributed much toward the program's continuation and growth. The school pays a reduced testing fee for the students who receive need-based financial aid from DBU; approximately two-thirds of those students tested in the Dallas-Fort Worth office have received such partial scholarships from the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation.

Oklahoma State University

Grants from the Fourjay Foundation have funded Johnson O'Connor aptitude testing for students from Oklahoma State University (OSU) since 1991. To date, more than 400 OSU students have benefited from this program. The grant monies cover the testing fee as well as travel, lodging, and meal expenses. This program began with 10 students a year and expanded in 1995 to provide for 40 students annually. A main contributor to the program's success has been its enthusiastic on-campus director, Dr. Mary Y. Mandeville. She selects the students for the Fourjay Career DecisionMaking Scholarships based on needs, interviews, and testing, then joins them on their trips to the Dallas-Fort Worth office. Once back on campus, Dr. Mandeville meets with the students, referring each to appropriate resources for further investigation into school majors and career possibilities.

Note about the Fourjay Foundation: This organization has also generously sponsored the testing of students from several other schools, including Gettysburg College, Ursinus College, and the University of Tulsa. The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the Fourjay Foundation, its late founder and Chairman, Mr. Eugene W. Jackson, and its current Executive Director, Mr. Geoffrey Jackson.

High School Students

Whitefield Academy

Since 1999 the Johnson O'Connor office in Atlanta has been testing high school students from Whitefield Academy. The testing is part of a 10-week course in Life and Career Planning taken by all juniors. The course is the joint creation of Whitefield Academy and the Leadership Development Company whose staff teaches the course in a small group discussion format. Parents strongly endorse the Whitefield program and participate in their student's summary conference at Johnson O'Connor. Additional follow-up sessions with the school counselor and a Leadership Development Company consultant round out the program. Initially funded by a benefactor as a pilot program, the parents now share in meeting the cost of the program.

Gwynedd Mercy Academy

For the past six years, the Fourjay Foundation has provided grants for aptitude testing of high school senior girls at Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Pennsylvania. The school's director of counseling selects the recipients by evaluating their essays concerning how the information generated by aptitude testing will help with their career planning. The twenty students each year are brought to Johnson O'Connor's Rockville, Maryland office for the testing. At a later date, Johnson O'Connor staff members visit the school to discuss the test results with the girls and their parents.

Youth Self Development, Inc.

Youth Self Development, Inc. (YSD), an organization founded by the late Rev. John R. Collins in Paterson, N.J. and now run in part by his widow, Ms. Mary-Elizabeth Collins, has been sponsoring high school students for aptitude testing at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation for more than ten years. The goal of the organization is to help intelligent, motivated, inner-city youths in Paterson earn their college or technical school degrees and then return to assume leadership positions within their community. To achieve this goal, YSD provides tutoring for proficiency exams and SATs, college tours, annual scholarshipsof up to one thousand dollars, and funds for testing at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation. Funds are raised by the YSD executive board to cover the costs of the program. According to Ms. Collins, "The Johnson O'Connor testing program helps these students know themselves better and make wiser decisions about school and work."

Paul Anderson Youth Home

In May of 2003 the Atlanta office completed nineteen years of scholarship testing with the Paul Anderson Youth Home (PAYH) in Vidalia, Georgia. This home was founded in 1961 by Paul Anderson, the 1956 Olympic Weightlifting Gold Medalist, and his wife, Glenda. It receives boys referred from juvenile and adult courts as well as private placements. Many of the boys come from broken homes; some have struggled with alcohol and drug dependency, and others have been in trouble with the law. The Foundation first visited the home in 1984 at the suggestion of a Foundation benefactor, the late Gerry Achenbach, who was the third incorporator of the PAYH as well as a trustee and benefactor.

The Paul Anderson program emphasizes spiritual, emotional, physical, social and academic guidance as the preparation for a productive and meaningful life. The PAYH staff members have even integrated the Foundation's vocabulary-building program into the regular curriculum, emphasizing the fundamental importance of word knowledge to school and career success. Many of the boys are good examples of individuals with aptitude patterns that make areas of traditional schooling more difficult and, therefore, less rewarding. The Foundation's program helps each boy see himself as a unique individual with special talents; staff members encourage the students to develop and use their natural gifts to find happiness and fulfillment in their lives.

If you wish to know more about any of these programs or would like to start a similar one, please contact Wendy Bigelow by phone 800 355-3672; by fax 972 991-8381; or email wendy@jocrf.org.