13 Reasons Why Not Continued + NP4H!

Last week was a quiet week yet at the same time it brought some great news!

I say quiet because we spent all of last weeks finishing projects and doing mini bonding activities that helped the mentors/mentees get to know each other and did a few rounds of gallery walks to share what everyone was up to with their project. The example I drew to show them what I was looking for regarding the project product was totally blown out of the water, so many of them took their creativity to the next level, representing their 13 reasons in such unique and fun ways. I begin grading them this week and so far I am totally taken back by the students I serve - their zest for life and humor they put into this allowed me to get to know them on a new level. The letters they attached to their projects were written to friends and family, but often I found that a lot of my students were writing letters to themselves to thank themselves for being strong during dark times, for never giving up. This really shifted my perspective toward understanding how resilient, strong, and mature these young people really are. They are such an inspiration to me and I am glad they were able to take a moment to thank themselves, to show some recognition and some self love for how far they've come while also using their drawings to represent how far they have yet to go- there are so many accomplishments left to be experienced in the future and I look forward to following every single one of them after they graduate to keep up with all the magnificent things they accomplish. They are little world changers in the making.

The great news I received was that I will be taking over as sponsor for the No Place for Hate Club! The club stands for everything the YESS program represents, and personally, I feel that my personality represents everything the club represents as well. I am happy to take over to help them organize events, raise money, and raise awareness, acceptance, and spread love during this politically depressing time for many of our students.

Here are some of the finished products I really loved:

This student included the YESS program in her reasons, it made me smile.

Until next week,

Ms Castro

13 Reasons Why Not

I hope everyone has been keeping warm and staying safe in this wild weather!

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

The Meaning & Impact of Harassment

In high school's all over the country there lies a silent yet viral problem plaguing student bodies. The topic of bullying can often take a cheesy turn at the 9-12th grade level, but through careful planning and presentation by myself and my mentor leaders, we made room for a safe space in which people could express their own experiences with feeling different & enduring harassment.

We did an exercise similar to the privilege walk except this time we were in the comfort of our own classroom. We dimmed the lights and got on either side of the line and stepped up to it when a situation related to our own lives.

Example:
Step up if...
You were raised by a single parent
You have ever been the subject of a racist joke
You have ever experienced sexual harassment
You have struggled with depression
You have participated in a racist, sexist, or homophobic joke
You have been the victim of cyber harassment
You have lost a friend due to suicide
You have been affected by someone struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction
You love someone who has been, or currently is in, jail

The students were to stay silent throughout the whole activity, showing respect to the people who were brave enough to be vulnerable and step to the line. None of the students were pressured to step up if they did not feel comfortable, I let them know that they could stay in one place the entire time if they chose to do so. After the activity they did a reflection by themselves and then with each other, expressing the feelings that this activity brought up in them. The concluding thoughts they shared related to being surprised that so many people had been through/are currently battling such difficult emotional struggles because of trauma. It was a much needed reminder to treat everyone with respect and kindness because you never know what someone is going through. This activity also brought us closer as a family, they seem to share more and more each day and they handled the activity with such maturity I was so proud.

We also explored the 4 different types of harassment and did group activities prompting real life examples for each. After each block I put up a slide with all of the contact information belonging to the school counselors and social workers, explaining where their offices are in the building. I feel that there can often be a negative stigma attached to seeking out help when you're struggling with mental health (I too experienced this in high school) so I wanted to normalize it and open up the door for students to make that first step of seeking help. I plan to aid this further next week by having the counselors come by my classes and introduce themselves.

This lesson was our introduction to our upcoming project diving into the issues belonging to the controversial yet popular show called 13 Reasons Why. More on the progress of this project next week!

See you next time,
Ms. Castro

Belief Systems and Little Moments

Last week's lesson was imperative in shaping the direction of our semester as we explored what it is that empowers us and what limits us. Belief systems were the topic of discussion as my students came up with their own definition of belief systems- they defined it as a thought that comes up over and over again.

This related to a past lesson about implicit biases, we revisited the beliefs tattooed onto our brains by our environment, some tattoos were put there without permission and we talked about how some of these ingrained ideas can be negative. It takes a lot of repeated sessions of tattoo removal to erase the beliefs that are holding us back from achieving our full potential and blocking us from succeeding educationally and personally. We also analyzed how our thoughts of others can be related to ourselves because when you think mostly negative beliefs about others, there's a pretty great chance that you harbor negative beliefs when looking into the mirror. Attitude shapes everything and, most importantly, whether you believe you can or you can't - you're right!

To wrap up the lesson, each pair created a PSA with a message representing what they learned during their research and incorporated a colorful visual image that helped to get their message across. They used their teamwork and creativity to create beautiful messages of informational empowerment such as this one:

At the end of the week, each mentee and mentor completed 2018 Surveys for the new year. In these surveys the kids were to answer questions thoughtfully that helped myself and their partner to get to know them even better and help to express what they want out of this second semester. Mentee's expressed what they needed help with most and Mentors expressed obstacles and experiences they have overcome that has lead them to be in this role of leadership. They poured their hearts into sharing more about themselves in order to improve the relationships and make their future time together as partners productive in this class.

It's little quiet moments like this from unsuspecting students that let me know that I am doing something right. I love these kids with everything I've got and I can't wait to tackle the rest of the year with them and continue to watch them grow.

Until next week,
Ms. Castro

Empowering the Masses & Healing

The week before last we focused on empowering women between MLK day and the Denver Women's March. Last week we hit the other side of the spectrum and focused on my students who identify with masculine energy. I feel that in this class it can sometimes be challenging for the boys to express how they feel, whether that be with their mentee/mentor, with the class, or even in writing. Getting in touch with their emotions has been an uphill battle so before getting into the curriculum I wanted to lay a foundation of empowerment for girls, boys, everyone in between, and even for anyone who does not identify with either gender.

I did this by showing a 30 minute episode of a show I found called We Are Man Enough. On this show is a panel of self-identified men who eat dinner while discussing issues related to the current and traditional idea of masculinity. They discuss what it means to be a "real man" vs. a "good man" and as the episodes progress, they discuss issues with body image, mental health, the pressure to display aggression outwardly, and continued subjection of women or sexual violence and other forms of abuse. It is a well rounded panel of straight, gay, transgender, white, black, and brown men of all ages who contribute to the conversation, it is super raw and definitely engaging! The discussions that we had around gender roles, the media, and our environment was really telling considering their own ideas of masculinity and femininity. We talked about why showing emotions can be seen as being weak or giving away power as a male and how it can be quite the opposite for women- empowering. We discussed how we can change that narrative and related it to past and upcoming lessons (Apple Pie, Belief Systems). It was a great segue into this week's lesson as well.

Episode one (PG) can be found here:
http://www.wearemanenough.com/
P.S- Prince EA is one the panel! He is the inspirational spoken word poet on youtube who is shown for a lot of our lessons.

Our week 2 of guided meditation went amazing, more students are becoming comfortable with meditating in the traditional way - sitting facing up with hands resting on their thighs, straight spine, and eyes closed. We meditated on emotional and physical healing which talked us through picturing the painful area and imagining it becoming lighter, releasing toxic negative tension with each exhale, and eventually healing itself.

Healing meditation script found here:
http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/healing-relaxation.html

Until next week,
Ms. Castro

Getting Into ~The Groove~ & Pressing the Reset Button

What a wild few weeks it has been already! Last week my students and I worked hard to recruit mentees and mentors to fill in the gaps that were created by the inevitable roster changes. It was the number one stress of my week but in being scrappy and resourceful, I found success by reaching out to counselors, social workers, clubs, ACHS via flyers and simply by word of mouth.

It is Monday the 22nd now and it is safe to say that all of my rosters are evened up! There is not a single Mentor left without a Mentee or vise versa, a few groups of 3 but I have strong mentors who were happy to take on the challenge. Due to us trying to solidify our partners for the year/interviewing that has been happening each block, we have been holding off the start up of the curriculum and re-introducing what this program really and truly means and can offer them. We broke down the acronym belonging to Youth Empowerment Support Services and discussed what youth empowerment can look like, both inside and outside of the classroom. We watched clips from an inspiring film called Hidden Figures and how the women of color in the movie overcame adversity with leadership, patience, perseverance, motivation, and strength. We related the film to Martin Luther King (which was the Monday of last week) and how he empowered others, and the courage and struggle that came along with his motivation to create a more equal world where justice reigned and where actions/laws were made out of fairness, love, and understanding. We related it to the lessons we have done in this class and the lessons that are to come- Why are we in here? Why did I choose you to be a part of this class? What have I received from this class and/or What am I looking forward to taking away from this social-emotional curriculum and from mentoring? We talked about resetting our brains and hearts for the new year with a revitalized outlook driven by what each of us ultimately wants out of life - love, health, happiness, and success.

We took this resetting button moment to learn something new - meditation. For the first time I lead a guided meditation with each class at the end of the week. For a lot of students, it was the first time they had ever done this. For anyone who is reading who would like to know where I got the meditation script for yourself or your class, the link I used can be found here: http://www.innerhealthstudio.com/meditation-scripts.html We decided that we are going to meditate for 10 minutes at the end of each Fam Friday in the future, we will choose a different topic to meditate on each week. I was so shocked at the number of students who gave positive feedback about how it felt, I even had two of them come back at lunch to try another one. Turns out, thinking about not thinking at all is hard, ha! But so rewarding to feel centered and present in this life.

P.S - Still absolutely LOVING my classroom! Here is a full panorama of our new magical space. Making it feel like home is improving with each passing day, so thankful for this opportunity and the loved ones in my life who donated to fund my classroom decor and supplies.

Be well everyone,
Ms. Castro

NEW YEAR, NEW ROOM!

The year is off to a GREAT start! Words can't describe how happy we are to finally have a home in Adams City, no more rolling the contents of my entire classroom on a tiny cart!!! The school now has a place for the misfits and the marginalized, the boys, girls and every individual in between. The gay, straight, black, white, younger, older, introverted, extroverted. A safe space for social-emotional learning to flourish through leadership and relationship building. We could not be more happy and excited as this gives us the opportunity to take the YESS program to the next level!

Over the past week, I have been working on re-introducing what Youth Empowerment looks like and can offer. I gained a lot of new students and lost a handful as well, but we are doing our best to bounce back and recruit as a team. I am working with the counselors every day and I've been surprised by all of the students approaching me in my off time to join the program because of positive word of mouth my students are spreading. I have been putting in the work to get organized in a short amount of time and make our space feel like home, working from sun up to sun down getting all my ducks in a row. I can't believe how lucky we got with a space away from all the noisy chaos in the school. A space with windows lining an entire wall! We have an in-room bathroom, fridge, and office. Even some more computer stations and moving white boards! I can even arrange my desks how I want to! This is a privilege I will never take for granted, it fuels my fire to create an anxiety-free room of love. I can't wait to get my rosters solidified and the curriculum up and running!

Last week we were also lucky enough to have a familiar face, Angel Trujillo-Gomez, who is a ACHS alumni and a first generation college attendee. It was such a treat, highlight, and perfect way to begin the motivation of the year by having her come speak about her current experience and journey regarding continued educational success. My students had many questions answered and some anxieties relieved, she was able to speak so eloquently on the differences and the transitional experience related to the road from Adams City to College - it was so special to hear for both the students and myself- they had the opportunity to see themselves in her. It was inspiring to say the least.

P.S - With the new space, I now have a room for the GSA club to meet which is in the process of getting assembled, WAHOO!

Happy 2018 everyone,
Ms. Castro