Last week was jam packed with Year End Event tasks as well as project presentations for each of my classes, we were busy around the clock!
For our projects, each student was instructed to present an individual reflection expressing their favorite lesson from Unit 2 and why. They were expected to connect it to their lives, both inside and outside of the classroom, as well as to a social justice issue they care about. Many students chose the Bullying lesson but overall I feel that most students were impacted by the Dating Abuse lesson based on how many pairs chose it. In addition to the written reflection, they were allowed to create a PSA poster with their mentee/mentor if they both agreed on the same lesson to present on.
Below is Mentor (former Mentee) Janette A. presenting on her favorite lesson, Bullying/Mental Health. She spoke about her own experience with bullying, depression, and suicidal thoughts and how the symbol of a semi colon has had a deep metaphorical meaning for her... So much so that she went and got a tattoo of it! Which, of course, was a part of her presentation.
Going up in front of your classmates is never an easy task, especially with all of the insecurities that being a high schooler may bring, so before presentations we took the time to clear the air and set the stage up with positivity and re-established the room as our judgement free zone, our safe island. The kids shared many personal thoughts and experiences in their written reflections and I was inspired by the courage they had to share all of their feelings with us in such a raw and true way, they really stepped outside of their comfort zones and felt accomplished because of it. Not only that, but I was completely blown away by their writing abilities. It is one thing to read their journals by myself after they have left the room, but to hear them articulate themselves in their own voice and dialect was really moving for me and, most importantly, empowering for them. at the end of each presentation there was one "question master" (everyone took a turn) where they asked a unique and engaging question for their peer's lesson/presentation. There was also 1 person who was the "positivity peep" who said something that they enjoyed about their reflection or poster. For most presentations there were observers who had more than one question or positive comment, it was very sweet to be an outsider looking in on them build each other up. I'm going to miss these classes dearly!!!
Some examples of some outstanding PSA visuals below:
My mentor leaders and myself also had a meeting at Lincoln to go over the script for the Year End Event once more. Turns out there's a LOT of prepping that goes into events involving students, there are so many moving parts that they are fully responsible for committing to and we are doing our best to stay on top of due dates, transportation coordination, permission slip legalities, and mostly just attempting to remain calm and optimistic about the big day (TWO DAYS AWAY!!!). Diane even came in this morning to help our Mentee speaker of the year, Shalayah Davis.
She told me just today that she, not only has never given a speech before, but has never been recognized for anything regarding academics before... not once in her life. Watching her rehearse her speech for the first time today made me teary eyed as it was really a full circle moment, she has come SO FAR from the time I met her 2 years ago... ditching class, without a place to call home, and a report card reading all F's. My how things have changed, she'll be in a graduation cap before we know it. I am so proud of her and excited to watch her kill it on stage on Wednesday! Wahoo!
Until next week,
Ms. C
Yes, Shalaya is going be great! I can hardly believe this young woman who would not even make eye contact at the first of the year will be giving a speech in front of so many people. She is our courageous Wonder Woman!
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