April 27th - 30th

The kids' energy levels are rising right along with the temperatures this week, which makes me happy to be working with such mature mentors. Most of them are doing a wonderful job of keeping the mentees focused and working, though I have had to speak with a few kids to remind them that school isn't over, yet.

Monday, the mentors and I began our first round of interviews for next year. Each candidate was asked to answer five questions, four of which were posed by current mentors. Everybody was very serious during the process and I'm excited to meet with the next round of candidates. So far, I've received more than forty applications, as well as dozens of teacher recommendations. Next week, the mentors and I will meet with more applicants and speak with the students referred by teachers.

The bulk of class time was spent working on our YESS Superheroes. As usual, I'm impressed with the students' creativity and workmanship. For this assignment, they were asked to identify which EmoDwarfs and Hot Buttons they fall victim to most often and invent a superhero that can help them overcome their issues. Take a look at their efforts below:

April 20th - 24th

I can't believe how quickly this semester is going! It seems like just yesterday that the mentors and mentees met each other for the first time.

This week, we focused solely on Emotional Dwarfs in class. The students practiced looking at pictures and identifying the EmoDwarf on Tuesday, then created comic strips that highlight the behavior of one EmoDwarf. Check out some of the their creations below!

They really did a fabulous job on this project and I can't wait to hang these up in the hallways. Plus, they've been using the lingo in their conversations, which demonstrates that they're learning!

I've begun the recruitment process for the '15-'16 school year and have received more than 40 mentor applications. Most of these students will be interviewed by current mentors and me on Monday. The teachers have been extremely helpful with this endeavor, so far. Next week, I'll be collecting teacher recommendations and working with the students they suggest. Not only are the teachers supporting the YESS Institute, but the administrators have been supplying me with books and a DVD about emotional wellness.

April 13th - 17th

Even though we had more testing this week, the kids were marvelous little learners, in part because the subject matter was so relevant to them. The topics we covered included Hot Buttons and Emotional Dwarves. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we explored which Hot Buttons they had and then discussed ways to turn their Hot Buttons into Cool Buttons.

On Thursday, I had the privilege of introducing the Emotional Dwarves to the students and we completed an activity to learn how each EmoDwarf behaves. Next week, we'll be continuing our discussion and identifying Dwarf behaviors in ourselves and others.

April 7th - 10th

What a wonderful week here at Scott Carpenter! Many of the students came back from spring break feeling refreshed and ready to learn. In YESS, we reviewed the accountability ladder and created skits that demonstrated various levels of accountability. They did a wonderful job of writing and acting out their pieces and audience members were given the chance to guess which level of accountability they were witnessing. The kids had fun and solidified their knowledge of accountability.

Today, the students discussed what makes them happy, then they decorated hot air balloons to show what lifts their spirits.

The highlight of the week occurred on Thursday morning when two YESS students from SCMS were featured in the YESS Institute Road to Success Breakfast. The young men that spoke demonstrated maturity and grace while presenting their personal stories to a crowd of over 200 people. Naturally, the staff and students at Scott have given these two boys more kudos than they know what to do with and I couldn't be more proud of them.

This week also marked the beginning of recruitment season. The mentors and mentees have helped me distribute over 100 mentor applications and it seems that many of the current participants will be returning to YESS in the fall!