March 20th - 24th

This week was all about wiping the slate clean before Spring Break. The students worked hard to complete any and all assignments early in the week. The mentors did a great job of helping their mentees with work. Later, we watched Inside Out, which we will revisit after break in order to create emotion sculptures.

Throughout the week, our mentors read their writings on Cesar Chavez. Some of them were nervous about reading in public, but nevertheless they persisted. I am so proud of their efforts and can't wait to continue their leadership training!

March 13th - 17th

This was an extremely busy week! The mentors have planned to celebrate Cesar Chavez before Spring Break by dedicating the Pledge to him for a whole week, as well as making posters for our school. They did a wonderful job and I'm excited to let their work shine!

The scholars are seeing the value in Tutoring Tuesdays, as several students have informed me that they are catching up in their classes. I'm so proud of their efforts.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent creating Love Cups. As usual, the students' creativity was impressive. The goal of this assignment was to devise an artistic representation of things in their lives that fill them and drain them. Take a look at some of their works below!

Friday was fun, too! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day by making Leprechaun Trail Mix (cereal, white chocolate, and sprinkles) and making crafts. The kids even had a chance to share their snack with all the staff in the building, although we didn't catch any leprechauns.

March 6th - 10th

We continued our lessons on accountability this week by writing letters to our teachers. Students were challenged to select one teacher they have wronged in some way, then write a business letter taking ownership of the error and apologizing. They did a phenomenal job and I'm excited to distribute their works to the teachers in the coming days.

Friday, students completed a team builder called Heart. Mind. Soul. In this activity, teams worked together to create a character and discuss topics like their hopes for the future, challenges they face, and place they'd like to go someday. Here are some of their creations:

February 27th - March 3rd

The focus this week was on accountability. When we discuss this topic, we like to use the metaphor of a ladder, which is based on this graphic:

The students always enjoy thinking of examples of times when they functioned lower on the ladder and this year's group was no exception. Some humorous stories they shared included breaking a window and blaming it on a sibling and tripping a cousin, then blaming it on someone else. Because the whole school is talking about an uptick in bullying and discipline issues, we were able to bring those topics into the conversation, as well. We talked about how we might wait and hope the kid who sits by him/herself at lunch makes friends, but fail to be the one to take action. We also discussed how our actions or acceptance of other peoples' actions might negatively affect those around us. The students then came up with solutions for some of the negative behaviors they're seeing in the building. Overall, I was impressed with their ability to observe their surroundings, identify areas for improvement, and come up with a plan to address problems. I'm looking forward to our upcoming lesson called Accountability Letters, in which students write letters to their teachers to take accountability for their actions in the classroom. Here's the second period kiddos with the activity they completed on Wednesday!