Terry Ann Kelly has an expansive background in public speaking, radio and television. Over the past twenty years she has been the host for numerous local, regional and nationally syndicated radio programs. She has taught public speaking and Business Communication classes at the university level for Baylor and Dallas Baptist University.
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Inspiring audiences to impact their world, Terry Ann enjoys speaking to organizations and women’s events across the country on topics varying from home and family life to moral and social issues. She has appeared on programs such as Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, seen by over 5 million viewers. She is the co-author of the book, The Power of a Positive Friend (Howard Publishing) and writes articles for magazines and newspapers. She founded Students Standing Strong in 2004. Terry Ann, however, finds her greatest fulfillment in meeting the needs of her husband and five children.
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Students Standing Strong (S3) was born in the spring of 2004 when Terry Ann Kelly had an idea she hoped would help her 11-year-old son. She wanted him to be more equipped to face the challenges he would encounter as he entered middle school. She understood that he would have choices to make regarding alcohol, drugs and sexual promiscuity and she wanted him to be surrounded with like-minded friends. Hopefully, together they could stand strong against negative peer pressure! She thought she would simply invite every fifth grader in her son's public school to a party in a local park where she would serve hot dogs and talk to them about how they could resist middle school peer pressure by living according to God's word.
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As Terry Ann began to mention her idea to other parents it dawned on her: Catholic and Protestant parents all want the same thing. We all want our kids' faith to be so personal that it affects the way they live. We want our kids to not only have beliefs but to also have the conviction to live those beliefs out in their everyday life. As a result, that one fifth-grade event, which began as a party in Terry Ann's home, has taken off. Today, Students Standing Strong fifth-grade events are now being organized by moms and dads representing many other elementary schools.
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S3 HIGH SCHOOL EVENTS
After tremendous support and success at the elementary school level, Terry Ann sensed the need to organize at the high school level. Terry Ann's oldest two children attended public high schools in which most students adopted a very godless approach to life. The stakes were high, even for Christian students. She was amazed as she saw Christian kids, who had been taught the truth of how a Christian teenager should live, were making the same moral compromises as non-Christian students. Christian teens were living defeated Christian lives. Moral compromise, from drug and alcohol abuse to sexual promiscuity was rampant in those teenagers who claimed the name of 'Christian.' In July of 2004, the Lord inspired Terry Ann to organize a group of students who were interested in forming a Christian based club on their school campus. There were two high schools in the local district and the students wanted to organize student-led clubs on both campuses, but would then hold joint chapter meetings. Therefore, in the fall of 2004, Students Standing Strong was birthed at the high school level. An opportunity was then created for these students to come together in order to:
- Meet other Christian students
- Encourage one another stand strong in their faith
- Make great and positive friends who will help them make good choices while in high school
Utilizing the Federal Equal Access Act, students organized Students Standing Strong chapters at both of the local high schools. The legal concept of 'equal access' prohibits any public school to deny club status based on religious reasons. The students wrote a constitution and began the process of selecting officers and class representatives. They held numerous meetings where they planned four large chapter meetings. Every high school student in the district (over 4,300 students) received an invitation through the mail inviting him or her to the four at large chapter meetings. Over 1,000 students came to each of the first two meetings and approximately 700 students came to each of the last two chapter meetings. Invitations, hand-addressed by students, were sent out for each event. The addresses were gained by using the PTA school directories. The chapter meetings were completely organized and conducted by the student leadership council that is completely comprised of only students and a teacher/sponsor who is required to monitor the organization. (All student-led clubs are required to have a teacher who acts as a monitor.) At each of the chapter meetings students listened to a band and a speaker. Each student in attendance was served a free meal that was provided by a team of about eighty mothers. Student organizers raised the funds needed for each event through personal solicitation. Parents and local businesses generously gave money when they learned of the newly formed student-led club. No school funds are ever used to finance any event because it has no direct affiliation with the public school other than having club status under the protection of the Federal Equal Access Act. Other students in different parts of the country who want to organize their own chapters in their local high schools are currently contacting Students Standing Strong.
S3 MIDDLE SCHOOL EVENTS
The first two Students Standing Strong middle school events took place on August 14th and 17th, 2005. The purpose of these events was essentially the same as the purpose for the high school and fifth grade events: to encourage students to make wise life-style choices based on a Christian belief system and to help them to identify other students who share the same faith in order to help one another to stand against the peer pressure that might otherwise lead to a life of moral compromise. Funds were generated through parent and local merchant donations. The donations were used to fund the printing of invitations, postage, and a pizza lunch. Students Standing Strong t-shirts were available for purchase. The first two meetings drew some 500 middle school students. After eating and hearing a dynamic speaker, high school Student Standing Strong officers and representatives led the middle schoolers in break-out sessions, where they were able to discuss the pressures of middle school life and how a relationship with Jesus Christ will help them to successfully navigate through the sometimes difficult teenage years.
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