To further imbed and research our initiatives in relationship violence, school bullying, and workplace bullying over time, we looked to the beginnings of “boots on the ground” pilot programs happening already with our hometown community of Sioux City, Iowa.

We slowly expanded these programs to create seamless violence prevention initiatives pre-k through 12, and built up efforts throughout the community to support this. Although we began implementation of bystander programs (MVP) in 2000, in our pilot school, and followed with two other high schools in the next few years we escalated our efforts starting in 2006 and 2007, and began yearly surveys of over 5,000 students in 2008.  By 2011, all school buildings k-12 had violence and bullying prevention curriculum.

Our partners in this research, Dr. Alan Heisterkamp, and the University of Northern Iowa Center for Violence Prevention , were essential in assisting us collect and  analyze the data gathered over the years.

What we have learned over the years is summarized in the PowerPoint, the 2011 White Paper written by Dr. Alan Heisterkamp and Dr. Michael Fleming, the film clips by Lee Hirsch, Astrea Productions and Markay Media, and a short video bt Natalie Heisterkamp, a former Mentors in Violence Prevention leader and mentor.