Motorcyclist brings positive message to Bronaugh students

A student offers his back as a easel for the autograph of freestyle motorcyclist Tim Wilson, during a Dec. 15 assembly at Bronaugh. The event aimed to educate students about implementing positive character traits in their lives.

By Jennifer Johnson

Nevada Daily Mail

Bronaugh students had the opportunity to witness a rare occurrence in their school gymnasium Friday Dec15.

Students received certificates in recognition of their participation in character development activities at Bronaugh schools, during an assembly in which a motorcyclist and skateboarder performed, bringing an entertaining message of important character traits to the students who attended.

With the smell of burned rubber in the air and the sould of students applauding, teachers and parents lined up in a row to become human obstacles over which Brad Bennett would fly on his motorcycle -- part of his performance in a special assembly. Prior to taking a jump over the willing participants, mayor Sherry Brown volunteered her time to receive an unscheduled "hair cut," a stunt which Bennett performs by driving his motorbike closely around the volunteer's head while they are lying on a mat.

Although the setting sounds unusual, it is the normal atmosphere for one of Brad Bennett's character building Real Assemblies. Bennett, the executive director and president of Real Encounter Outreach out of Springfield, Mo., is a former professional motocross racer who now utilizes his skills to help him communicate "how just one student can have a positive impact on their peers and their school."

The Real Assemblies are high energy says Bennett, and "are meant to send a message to children about making the right choices." Bennett added that "there are so many media driven electronics and games today, that sometimes you have to use different tools in order to capture a youth's attention."

Professional skateboarder Brett Moser offers a prelude to Bennett's motorcycle jump over Sherry Brown, mayor of the city of Bronaugh.

And capture the attention is just what Bennett and his crew were able to do on Friday with exciting motorcycle tricks and jumps. Also in attendance was skate-boarder Brett Moser, who performed many skills and tricks for the students. The students in return also listened quietly as Bennett and motocross freestylist Tim Wilson delivered messages about "positive attitudes, personal integrity, and encouragement."

Julie Forkner, the teacher with the Bronaugh School District who contacted Bennett and his crew about performing at the school, works with the Character Education program that was implemented at the Bronaugh school almost six years ago. Forkner said the focus of the program is to encourage kids to "strive for more, by building skills that lead to self confidence and determination" and that "Bennett with his character building message is fun for the kids, and carries the same message as our character education program here at the school."

Bennett said he "loves how excited the kids get when they come to perform, that's the main reason why we like to perform mainly for smaller rural communities."

The Real Encounter crew usually targets smaller rural communities where "professional events are far from a commonplace."

It is obvious that Bennett loves what he does, and when asked why he choose to leave the professional motocross scene and begin performing for schools, Bennett stated that he "had a talent for something, and decided to use that talent to help make a difference in kids' lives."

After the performance Bennett and Wilson stayed to pose for pictures with Bronaugh students who had been given awards at the assembly which celebrate their outstanding character and kindness to other students and faculty at the school. The Real Encounters crew is off to Liberal Mo., next, and then to other rural community schools to deliver their messages of encouragement, and most importantly to have fun.

With the smell of burned rubber still hanging in the air as students filtered out of the gymnasium on Friday, the consensus was unanimous in that "fun" was definitely not lacking from this performance.