Southwestern Advantage Blog

Southwestern Advantage is honored to have an official partnership with END SLAVERY TENNESSEE . ESTN promotes the healing of human trafficking survivors and strategically confronts slavery through training, aftercare, advocacy and prevention services. ESTN is the single point of contact for all human trafficking referrals in Middle Tennessee and provides comprehensive, holistic, trauma-informed care to every survivor in their program. We are honored to be partners with ESTN and to stand with our student reps against human trafficking. Learn more about our Share The Advantage initiative:  http://www.southwesternadvantage.com/Share-The-Advantage

Is Southwestern Advantage a pyramid scheme? Is Southwestern Advantage an MLM? Many people mistakenly assume that direct selling is the same thing as multi-level marketing (MLM). Even worse – some confuse direct selling with illegal pyramid schemes. The fact is, they're extraordinarily different. Pyramid schemes are extremely rare, as they are quickly dismantled by law enforcement. In the past, pyramid schemes have tried masquerading as MLM or direct sales, which has caused confusion with many people. There are clear differences that we felt are important to share, because the spreading of misinformation helps no one.  Southwestern Advantage is the oldest direct selling company in America.  The focus of participants is on selling educational products directly to consumers without the expense of traditional advertising or a retail storefront.  There are no recruiting requirements or start-up purchases. The profit participants make is the difference between wholesale and...

If you have a child in school today, chances are you’ve heard something about the Common Core State Standards . Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have decided to align their instruction to these standards, promising sweeping changes to classrooms across the country over the next several years. What are the Common Core State Standards? Why are they important? Where did they come from? What is Southwestern Advantage’s connection to the Common Core? The answers to these critical questions will help parents understand exactly what the Common Core is all about, and what it means for your child’s education. WHAT ARE THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS? Common Core State Standards are a set of standards, not a curriculum . The Common Core State Standards are a common set of educational standards defining the mathematics and English language arts knowledge and skills all United States students in grades K-12 need to be successfully prepared for college and the workforce in the 21st...

Recent events in the news  reinforce the notion that any child can fall prey to sexual predators. Such a horrifying notion makes most of us cringe and quickly change the subject. But the responsible parent faces this possibility squarely and takes steps to keep children safe. As a parent, here is what you must be aware of: 1. Notice that sexual predators are most often known personally by their victims. They are not “strangers.” Most predators do not snatch children off street corners. Most predators get to know their victims very well. So don’t teach your children to distrust strangers. Teach your children to distrust anyone who acts strangely. 2. Predators often are counted as family friends and are trusted members of the community. This is not an accident. Predators carefully craft their image so that adults admire and trust them. Pay attention if an adult friend seems too friendly and takes too much interest in your child. 3. Predators act like children to cover up th...

value (val-yoo) noun 1. a fair or proper equivalent in money, commodities, etc, for something sold or exchanged, for a fair price in return 2. worth, or degree of worth 3. that which is desirable or worthy of esteem for its own sake; thing or quality having intrinsic worth value, by definition,  requires  sacrifice. you give me money. i give you milk. you wouldn’t buy the milk if you didn’t think you would derive at least the same  value  in drinking the milk that you are paying me for it. and so it is with our work. and our lives, for that matter. the things worth having (or achieving) are not the easy things to achieve. that’s why they’re  worth  achieving in the first place. they must be sought after. they must be  earned.  you’ve got to be willing to give something of yourself in order to get them. life doesn’t go around just  giving  away success to people who are not working for it. you’ve got to shel...

what’s the best way to get better at ping-pong? hitting against a wall won’t do much. playing with your 4 year old nephew will entertain him for sure, but won’t do much for your game. the only way to get better at the sport is to play someone that’s better than you are. period. and so it is with life. if we would like to improve ourselves in a particular area, we’ve got to find people who have mastered whatever it is that we are looking to be better at! ask them questions, observe their behaviors, analyze their attitudes, values, and habits . how do  they  prioritize? how do they communicate? how to they carry themselves? having a mentor – whether an official mentorship, or a more casual one – is remarkably beneficial. not only can we learn from them and the things they have accomplished, but mentors are great to bounce ideas off of (no pun intended). they help us decide where to focus our energy, and they help to keep us motivated and focusing on ...

it’s a bummer to see people who believe that their lives, or their jobs, are not exceptional enough to be impactful; that they’re not BIG enough to make a difference.  FISH!  is a story of the philosophy of real-life fishmongers in seattle’s pike place fish market. it’s a touching tale about personal choice, energy, service, and culture; and our ability to make an impact. the beauty of its story, really, is that you can be extraordinary – at ANYTHING . you don’t have to be president or prime minister, or rich or famous to make a positive difference in the world. you can be the BEST garage attendant in town. the BEST therapist. the BEST sister-in-law. the BEST broker, or salesman, or cube-mate, or customer, or teacher, or garbage man, or HR specialist, or nurse, or movie-ticket collector!  whatever it is you spend your time on (regardless of whether or not you get paid for it), you touch people daily.  you may not touch millions of people at one time, but your ...

"There are two types of people in this world: One finds an excuse; the other finds a way. It doesn't take guts, gumption, or determination to find an excuse; anybody can locate one. It takes quality people to find a way over, under, around or right through any obstacle that stands in the way." -Spencer Hays Executive Chairman of The Board  Southwestern Family of Companies

Thaddeus Wert,  M.Ed., Vanderbilt Review of Southwestern Advantage: Math Content As I went through all of this material, I tried to think of topics that were left out, and I honestly couldn’t think of any. This is the most comprehensive presentation of elementary, middle, and secondary level mathematics that I’ve ever seen. Students can potentially find math examples by searching on the Internet, but there aren’t any websites that are this organized and easy to navigate. There certainly isn’t one single website that provides as much content as what is available in these books. Special Features This is where I am most impressed with this product. Southwestern Advantage has managed to bring a “hypertext” feel to the static pages of a hardcover book. Students today are turned off by linear presentations of content, and they have shorter attention spans. The problem is they still have to learn a lot of math concepts! I believe the Advantage books will appeal to students who...

Ernest Schiller Iowa Teacher of the Year "I believe that this Biology section could be used as a resource for advanced middle school kids, especially if the 8 th grade students were taking a Life Science class. In terms of the adaptability to high school, it would fit in quite well as a General Biology course or even in an Advanced Biology class. [It] is interesting enough for most students to even want to read as a science book. And that is probably this book’s strength: having an interesting point of view in the reading, articles, diagrams, side pieces, and even the tables with pictures. I have never seen a book take on the view that it does. Highly interesting and stimulating and hopefully the students that will use this book will feel the same as I do. Very good use of FYI ’ s for the reader. I do like the streamlined approach to this book. I think it is clean and neat and a great organized approach from the student’s point of view. Of particular interest to me was the ...

One of the things I enjoy about working as a Student Leader in the Southwestern Advantage Program is that I get help college students save more money in a summer than they ever thought was possible. Seriously, how many college students SAVE over $5,000 in a summer?  Even if a student were to make that much in a different internship, it's common to end up spending most of it by the time the fall semester gets rolling. Unfortunately, many students have never been taught how to handle that money in a smart way. Very few high schools teach money management, and a lot of parents never cover these topics with their kids either. So, the celebratory spending begins in August and ends when the money is gone. Granted, it can be fun to spend money this way, but it certainly is ineffective for building any kind of long-term wealth (which, thanks to the rule of 72 , is incredibly easy to do if you start at 19 - 22 years old). Good news: you can start being sm...