Ben
Smith is a Program Manager
for Aim for Success. He speaks at about 400 programs per year to
over 30,000 people! He creates and produces all Aim For Success
video. He supervises the technology of Aim For Success
presentations. All of that is in addition to his management and
training duties of the Aim For Success speaking staff.
Ben is a native of Toronto, Canada.
He brings
his experience and passion for speaking to youth to his programs.
He enjoys sharing with students his
story of remaining abstinent:
"I've been married several years, and have
four great kids. My wife and I both, in
7th and 8th grade, decided to choose abstinence. We did
not know each other when we made that decision, I lived in Canada,
she lived in Florida, we did not know each other at all. It was just
a coincidence that we both made the decision to wait around the same
time in our life.
One of the reasons we made that
decision was because we were both in a program like the one you are
in today. We heard about all the chances you take when you have sex
and thought 'If any of those things happen to me then that will hurt
my chances of reaching my dreams and goals'. So, that's why we
decided to wait.
We finally did meet in our
twenties, we dated, got engaged, and then got married, and had sex for
the very first time on our wedding day. The great thing about
waiting was that it gave us freedom from having to worry about a
teenage pregnancy, paying child support, and STD's, and it gave us
freedom to pursue the dreams and goals that we had."
Ben and Annell have been married for 13 years, and
have two sons, Austin and Joel, and two daughters, Kristiaunna and Jada.
Because of the impact that this decision had on his life, he feels a
passion to share this important message with the next generation.
Ben enjoys spending time with his family, going to
Texas Rangers ball games, playing table tennis, and watching the
Dallas Cowboys.
Ben earned a bachelor's of arts degree
in Wake Forest, North Carolina before he began working full time
with students for the past eight years. He strongly believes in
teenagers and has a contagious passion for the abstinence message.
"Ben was awesome. He showed
some very important things. This program definitely affects my
future choices. Thanks."
- 13 yr. old girl,
Sherman, TX
"Ben is an excellent
presenter. The students responded well to his style and
delivery."
- School Board
Commissioner, Memphis, TN
"Ben's funny. He makes
learning about things interesting and easy to understand."
- 14 yr. old girl, Corpus
Christi, TX
"Ben is so enthusiastic and
catches the kids' attention. The students seemed engaged and I
sense they learned from the program."