Monday, April 30, 2018

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: April 23rd - 27th

Hi all! 

Last week was a busy one with our YESS Breakfast as well as our lessons about the War on Drugs. 

On Monday, the class checked their grades. As with last week, if they had a grade of a C or lower, they were to come up with a plan on how to fix it. As we near the end of the semester, these plans and their execution will become increasingly important. Additionally on Monday we also started the War on Drugs unit by going over the general timeline of marijuana leading up to today's policies. Students were introduced to some new vocabulary and we had discussions as well as provided examples prior to diving too far in. 

On Tuesday, students were given an article about the history of the War on Drugs that gave them a better understanding of the timeline and context of what occurred. Students primarily focused on how marginalized communities were the target of many drug laws and the various consequences that stemmed from these policies. 

Wednesday we had our YESS Breakfast fundraiser which was a great success! I was fortunate to sit with various administrators from West and talk about the program while also having the help of 5 of my YESS students. Our Mentor Leaders and a couple additional students helped out at the event and did an excellent job being strong representatives of the program. I was really proud of their willingness to help out and get involved. 

After Wednesday's breakfast, the class dove back into the content and we showed various clips from the documentary, 13th, while having conversations about the War on Drugs and its effects on society today. We continued this review and conversations on Thursday as well by also sharing statistics that we found from the DEA and Drug Policy Alliance websites. Students were surprised to see the number of arrests, the costs associated with fighting the drug war, and how drugs are perceived in different parts of the country. Overall I was very pleased with the robust conversations we had and how engaged students were in the content. 

School was out on Friday at WLA. The day was originally intended to be a professional development day with additional culturally responsive training. However, due to the teacher walkout, teachers were given the opportunity to plan which I took advantage of as we gear up for the final push of the year! Another a good week in the books, stay tuned for next week as we near the end of our curriculum and approach the final Stand Up Project! -Ben



Hola a todos!

La semana pasada fue ocupada con el desayuno de YESS, un recaudación de fondos, y los lecciones sobre la guerra contra drogas.

En lunes la clase revisaron sus calificaciones. Como la semana pasada, si tenían un C o peor, tenían que hacer un plan para mejorarlo. Como estamos casi al fin de semestre, estos planes serían más importante. También en lunes empezamos la tema de la guerra contra drogas y empezamos de hablar sobre la historia de marihuana del pasado hasta ahora. Los alumnos aprendieron vocabulario nuevo y platicamos sobre ejemplos antes de continuar.
En martes los alumnos leyeron un artículo sobre la guerra contra drogas que dio un mejor entendimiento del tiempo y contexto de lo que pasó. Los alumnos se enfocaron en cómo los comunidades marginalizados eran blancos de acosto con los leyes de drogas y las consecuencias que afectan la comunidad.

El miércoles tuvimos el recaudacion de fondos para YESS con el desayuno, que fue un gran éxito. Fue afortunado de asistir con algunos directores de WLA y hablar sobre la programa y tambien 5 de nuestros alumnos ayudaban a servir. Los alumnos líderes y otros alumnos nos ayudaban y hicieron un trabajo excelente de representar la programa. Estoy orgulloso de su disposición de ayudar e involucrarse.

Después del desayuno hubo clase. Usamos el tiempo para mostrar partes del documentario, 13th, y platicamos sobre la guerra contra drogas y sus afectos a la sociedad hoy. Continuamos la plática y revisar la materia en jueves también compartimos estadísticas que encontramos de los sitios de la DEA y Drug Policy Alliance. Los alumnos fueron sorprendidos de ver los detenciones, los costos de la guerra contra drogas, y como las drogas están percibiendo en las áreas diferentes del país. De todos modos, estoy orgulloso con las pláticas grandes tuvimos y cómo los alumnos participaban en la tema.

No hubieron clases en el viernes pasado. Originalmente, el dia fue diseñado de ser un día de desarrollo para los maestros con capacitación de cultura. Sin embargo, por medio de la huelga de los maestros, los directores nos dieron de planear par el fin del año escolar. Me aproveche del tiempo para terminar el año exitosamente. Fue otra semana bien, manténgase informado cuando terminamos y tendremos el proyecto final! -Ben

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