Dear Mr. And Mrs. Goodner,

I have wanted to write to you so many times to tell you what an amazing impact you and your program at Carson ATA have had on our family, but have never felt that I could justly articulate my feelings.

Six months ago I was at my wits end with my eldest son, Elijah, 9 years old. We had been to therapist, psychologist, and a psychiatrist.  I had even entertained the idea of military school because his behavior was so outrageous. People had been telling me for years to get him involved in a karate program. I thought it was inappropriate to give a child with no self control the tools to fight. How wrong I was. Elijah has learned self control, self defense, and self worth. Elijah has had to travel a long road of abuse and neglect in his early years and has a long way to go to learning respect towards others and his family, but you have provide the tools and environment that will give him an opportunity to succeed not only as a child but as an adult.

After watching your program with Elijah, I decided that Kevin, 5 years old, would greatly benefit from your encouragement and care.  Kevin too has odds against him.  Kevin was born at 2lbs. He was placed in foster care upon leaving the hospital. His foster family neglected and abused him while he was in their care. By the age of 18 months he was unable to rollover, sit up, or walk because he had no muscle tone.  He had sensitivity to light, noise, and food textures. When we first brought Kevin to Carson ATA 5 months ago he did not speak to anyone and never looked anyone in the eyes. When he did speak to us, we could hardly understand him because he spoke so softly.  He was shy and intimidated.  Kevin now speaks with a loud voice and wishes Mrs. Goodner a good day each time we come into Karate. I have confidence that Kevin will continue to find success here at Carson ATA.

Our other 5 years old, Mowgli, watched as his brothers participated in karate. He immediately started to beg for the opportunity to join Carson ATA. We had concerns that karate would interfere with gymnastics and baseball, both of which he excelled. We finally caved and enrolled Mowgli just a few weeks ago. We were surprised how he absorbed the positive feed back from the coaches and realized that although he excelled at other sports he was relentlessly being pushed to improve. Carson ATA has been an opportunity for Mowgli to find fun back in a sport. We also enrolled our eldest daughter, Bryanna. We did this because at the age of 7 she is already tall and beautiful. I would not mind if she were a ninth degree black belt by the time she starts to date (when she is 30 years old). We are excited to see what positive changes the program at ATA will have in her life as well.

We have one more child, LauraAnne Doodle Bug, 2 ½ years old. We will be enrolling her the day she turns old enough to participate in the Tiny Tigers' class.

Although Thank You just does not seem enough. Thank you for your kindness and enthusiasm for EACH student in EVERY class. You are truly a roll model for my children by not only teaching them positive values but positively living those values.

The McKeon’s