By Mary O’KEEFE

Learning life through the art of Yo-Yo. That is what Fremont Elementary School children learned at a recent NED assembly.

“NED stands for Never give up. Encourage others and Do your best,” said Chris, the Yo-Yo man. [He did not want to give his last name]

“It’s interesting. The Yo-Yo spans the generation gaps. Teachers and their students love it,” Chris said.

It was obvious as the students entered the Fremont auditorium that some had heard about the NED show and were excited.

The focus of the assembly was learning how to make the right choices. With a cardboard cartoon of “Ned” standing on stage, Chris began telling the story of how Ned made his way to Fremont.

At first Ned did not want to go to school. He made a bad decision, Chris said. He pointed out that many of the students might have made bad decisions in the past.

“But when you mess up change your attitude, say you’re sorry and do it right the next time,” he advised.

The students were asked to hold their hands out, palms up. In one hand they were to think of something they could do better at school and in the other hand think of something they could do better outside of school.

“Now take your two hands and bring them to your ears. Smash those two thoughts into your brain,” he said.

Chris reminded the students to Encourage each other by turning to their neighbor and say, “You rock!”

The auditorium was filled with “You rock!” screams from students to students and from students to teachers.

Students were told to do their best and in order to do that they may need help and support from parents, teachers and friends.

“Listen and trust them and do your best,” Chris said.

At the end the students took an oath to: Never give up on themselves, their classmates or their future.