Last week was intense yet fun in our YESS class over at ACHS. We began our 13 Reasons Why Not project where the students were to come up with 13 Reasons Why they enjoy being alive, 13 reasons they get out of bed, 13 reasons that make life enjoyable. These reasons can be memories, people, future events they want to live to see, or little silly moments in life like smelling a good candle!
This ties into our bullying/harassment lesson because it is important to analyze the consequences of disrespecting people. It isn't only wrong, but it could lead to a lot of trauma for someone else and lead to mental health concerns and potentially push them to harm themselves. We talked about teen suicide and it was astonishing to learn about the statistic that 3 out of 4 high school students contemplate taking their own life at some point... how ASTONISHING and disturbing is that fact!? This is why schools need to take on tough subjects that have otherwise been taboo, we need to prepare them for the real world as best as we can and help them to understand themselves enough to help them realize when they are having these feelings and how to reach out for help when they need it.
With that being said, while my kids worked on their projects last week I had all of the social workers, school based therapists, and counselors come introduce themselves to each of my classes. There can sometimes be a negative stigma attached to reaching out for emotional help from school staff but I wanted to clear that up by having them come to make their presence more personal. They gave their location in the building and we gave out the suicide hotline and text line number as well. I also made sure to reiterate my open door policy and explain that their journals can always be a form of communication with me if they are not comfortable reaching out another way.
The second part of their project requires them to write a letter/ make a card for someone who has been there for them during a dark time. This can be someone they are close to personally or someone who lifted them up when they needed it most but they never got the chance to express their thanks. If the student feels as though they have been alone through dark times and that they are the ones who get themselves through it all, I encouraged them to write a letter to themselves. They need to acknowledge the strength and resilience it has taken for them to have pulled themselves through it. When they are done I am just grading for letter completion - what is in the letter is not my business - but I am passing them back out for them to give out to the people they wrote them to or to keep as a piece of remembrance that they can get through anything.
The projects are still in progress but they're coming along amazingly! I plan to make a giant collage outside of the class door when we are done at the end of this week.
Oh! And the past few weeks have been pretty intense with different exercises requiring them to step out of their comfort zones and reveal heavy things about themselves, so to pick up the mood I bought bagels for all of my classes on Friday! They loved it. We played a combination of heads up and pictionary on Friday as well, the week ended on a positive note for sure.
Until next week,
Ms. Castro
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