About the Authors 

Charlene R. Kamper

Charlene Kamper holds a Master’s Degree in Family Studies for Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA. She is a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) with the National Council on Family Relations. Ms. Kamper is a lifelong educator having taught at the elementary, junior, and senior high school levels. For the past seventeen years she has taught Introductory Psychology and Advanced Placement Psychology at Redlands High School, Redlands, CA. She is a frequent speaker at national and state conferences, works with teen pregnancy prevention programs and other youth organizations, and trains instructors around the country in the effective use of the Connections teen relationship programs for their youth populations. Ms. Kamper has been a member of the San Bernardino County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition, and currently serves on the San Bernardino County Child Advocacy Board.

Inspired by the needs of her students, Char Kamper authored Connections: Dating and Emotions, and Connections: Relationships and Marriage, youth relationship education programs that are widely used throughout the U.S. and in several foreign countries. These programs were chosen by the Oklahoma Healthy Marriage Initiative for adoption in all high schools statewide. Research on the programs by Dr. Scott Gardner of South Dakota State University have shown them to be effective in reducing teen dating violence and pregnancy prevention, and improving peer/peer and parent/teen relationships. Additional research finding can be accessed from Dibbleinstitute.org.

Char Kamper is also the co-author of the Being Yourself, Experiencing Success in Relationships, a self-regulation behavior and assessment program for adolescents aged 12-15. This ten lesson program helps teens understand motivations behind their own behaviors and how those behaviors impact others. The program also guides adolescents in developing an understanding of differences in behavior patterns and how to work together.

Dennis Macha

Dennis is founder of HPower & Associates, LLC, a training and development company based in Muskegon, MI.  He serves clients in education, business and industry, government, and non-profit organizations.  Dennis teaches these groups the skills necessary to be successful in today's business-oriented environment.  He is currently developing additional learning units for the BEING YOURSELF ^TMcurriculum series.