West Leadership Weekly Round Up: May 21st - 25th

A YESS student giving out McDonald's
to a homeless man at Sunken Gardens Park

Hello!

This past week was a busy one as our high school students took their final exams and finished the semester!

Our classes were very light this past week as seniors were already finished and our middle school students were away during Explore week. That said, our high school students were given each day to either work on their Stand Up project or study for their other finals. Many students chose to do one last grade check before reviewing their coursework for their other classes on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday were work days with most students finishing up before their presentations on Thursday and Friday.

Comic strip about drug and alcohol abuse
submitted by two YESS mentors.

When it came to the final projects and what the students were able to accomplish, to say I was impressed would be an understatement. Many students not only chose interesting and relevant social justice topics, but several went above and beyond to actually implement their proposed solutions to these issues. From interviewing local veterinarians for their perspective on animal rights to giving out McDonald's to the homeless - it was excellent to see some proposed solutions put into action.

Outside view of info graphic on
human trafficking submitted by a YESS mentor.

With this project, it was important that students chose a topic that they personally felt passionate about. Additionally, it was crucial that they were able to decide for themselves how to best present and educate others on their issue. The variation in their final products was really cool - from comic strips about drug and alcohol abuse to several info graphics detailing statistics about human trafficking, students did an excellent job in understanding how to best get their message across and play to their strengths. Included below is an example of students using various mediums to get their message across. A couple of YESS students put together a digital essay about immigration that covers a lot of really good information. Feel free to check it out!

As the final projects and presentations concluded, it was certainly a bittersweet end to the week and to the semester for our high school students. After seeing all of the hard work and effort being put in on their projects, I was very proud to see us end on such a strong note. While students had certainly earned their summer break, it was disappointing to see them go. However, not everyone is finished for the year - as our middle school students are back from their Explore week and will be finishing up with their presentations in the next couple of days. So stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: May 14th - 18th

Hi all! 

We had a productive week as we worked on our Stand Up projects and our seniors wrapped up for the year! 

On Monday, we had our final lesson of the year, Letter to My Graduating Self. In the lesson, students discussed goals, roadblocks, and detours and then were asked to complete a letter to their future selves in which they envision graduating from high school. In the letter, students were asked to visualize a successful version of themselves that they can work towards. We focused on what goals and dreams students want to accomplish over the next several years as well as the challenges and obstacles they may face when working towards them. The idea is for students to read these letters when they graduate and reflect on how much they've grown during their time in middle and high school. 

Tuesday we had students check their grades and then we discussed the Stand Up Project requirements in more detail, along with the final exam schedules and plans for the following week. Students had their topics set but it was important to review the requirements for their presentations, reflections, and final product. 

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we spent our class time working on our Stand Up Projects. With no middle school students next week as they will be completing their Explore courses, I wanted to give them as much time as possible to work in class. Additionally, with our seniors having their last day on Friday, we wanted to give them as much time to work as well. Seniors were able to take advantage of the time and presented their projects on Friday. It was good to see some diversity with the projects already - some students interviewed and recorded conversations with a local veterinarian to help with potential solutions for animal rights, others created a small school fundraiser to raise money for food that could be distributed to the homeless. Another student spoke about the importance of self empowerment and how to motivate young people to be agents of change. Overall, we saw some strong solutions and diverse ideas that attempt to tackle various social justice issues. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the rest of our HS and MS students come up with! Finals for HS are next week and then we will have one last week with MS students! Stay tuned! -Ben

Hola a todos

Tuvimos una semana productiva cuando los alumnos trabajaban en sus proyectos y los del último año terminaron.

El lunes, tuvimos la último lección para el año, la carta a mi cuando termino. En la lección, los alumnos platicaron sobre sus metas, barricadas, y desavios y luego tenían que escribir una carta a si mismo del futuro cuando terminaran con high school. En la carta, los alumnos tenían que imaginar un escenario de ser exitoso que podrán trabajar para este imagen. Enfoquemos en las metas y sueños que tenían y los retos y obstáculos que hay cuando están trabajando a sus metas. La idea es que los alumnos leyeran sus cartas cuando terminaran y reflejarse en el crecimiento.

En martes los alumnos revisaran sus calificaciones y platicaremos sobre los requisitos del proyecto Stand Up con más detalles, y también el horario y los planes hasta el fin del año escolar. Los alumnos tenían sus temas pero fue importante de revisar los requisitos para presentar, sus papeles de reflexión, y todo el producto final.

La demás de la semana fue para trabajar en los proyectos. Trabajamos duro porque los alumnos de middle school están en sus clases Explore y los del último año no asistan despues de viernes. Los del último año presentaron sus proyectos en viernes. A mi, me gustaba ver la diversidad en los proyectos, y que algunos alumnos hacen entrevistas con una veterinaria para ayudar con soluciones contra el abuso de animales, otros hacen un recaudo de fondos para agarrar comida para el homeless. Otro habló sobre la importancia de empoderarse y motivar los jóvenes de ser agentes de cambio. De todos modos he visto soluciones fuertes y ideas diversos para resolver asuntos de justicia social. Estoy emocionado de ver los demás proyectos en la próximas semana de High School y de Middle School en la última semana. Nos Vemos-Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: May 7 - 11

Hi all! 

Wow! Last week was such a whirlwind here at West Leadership Academy. We dove into our Stand Up projects, completed lessons on Roadblocks and Detours, and had our Year End Event at the Broncos Stadium! 

On Monday, students selected two social justice topics and were asked to identify the cause of the problem, something that is currently being done to solve it, and something they could possibly do to help. We reviewed and modeled various examples on topics such as homelessness and gentrification that could provide a template for them to implement for their Stand Up project.

Tuesday was spent checking grades and then getting our topics finalized. Basic information was transferred into a Google Doc for each student. The docs will be used for ongoing research and exploration. Students then shared their with me and I provided each student with a link or two about their topics that I found beforehand. It is important when doing a project over current issues that they are using the right information and facts from the get go. Several students were interested in the same topics but the overall actual plans and product proposals varied quite a bit which is exciting.

Wednesday and Thursday we dedicated our class time reviewing Goals, Wants, and Needs from last week as well as introducing Roadblocks and Detours. Students shared their goals with each other as well as roadblocks they have or may face. From there we discussed how to plan ahead for these roadblocks in order to create detours. By planning and creating a detour we can stay on our path and still reach our goals without compromising or settling. It is always great to have these conversations about goals and hear the students' hopes and dreams. It is even better when we get a chance to map out these dreams by breaking them down, putting them into steps with dates, and making them even more of a possibility. 

Wednesday night was also the YESS Year End Event! YESS students from West Leadership Academy, North, Lincoln, Adams City, and Westminster high schools celebrated their achievements from this past year by having an event at Mile High Stadium! The event was a great success. From the stadium tours and meeting with Miles and Broncos player Zach Kerr to the raffle, awards ceremony, and scholarships - students and families had an excellent time celebrating all of the hard work put forth this year. Our four speakers from WLA who had a role in the ceremony all did such an excellent job, particularly our Mentor and Mentee speakers who practiced and got over their nerves to give testimonials about the power of the YESS program. I was so proud of them. The biggest news of the night came during the scholarship ceremony as both of our YESS Mentor Leaders received scholarships! One of our students, Paola Rodriguez showed that hard work and humility take you far as she received YESS' largest scholarship of the night. As our West community can attest, Paola is incredibly deserving of the award and we are all excited to see what great things she accomplishes in the future. It was an honor to be part of such an inspiring event and to celebrate our YESS students as one big community. What a night! 

On Friday, we had a community day and had some fun. It was service learning in the morning so throughout the West campus students and teachers were working on cleaning up the neighborhood and Sunken Gardens. After a tiring morning, we decided to spend our class time by playing a few Kahoot! games and having a free day. Students enjoyed the silly trivia game I created and we ended the week on a fun and positive note. It was well deserved to say the least. 

With only three weeks left of school we expect each week to be just as busy as this past one. Up next will be continued work on our Stand Up projects and helping each other prepare for finals! Until next time! -Ben 

Hola a Todos.

Wow! La semana pasada fue un torbellino de actividad aquí en West Leadership Academy. Trabajamos con ganas en los proyectos “Stand up”, tuvimos lecciones sobre obstáculos en la vida, y tuvimos el evento del fin de año en el estadio de los Broncos.

El lunes los alumnos seleccionaron dos temas de justicia social y tenían que identificar algún causa del problema, algo que se está haciendo a resolverlo, y algo que podía hacer para ayudar. Revisamos y modelamos ejemplos varios de temas como estar sin hogar y aburguesamiento que podía proveer plantilla para usar en su proyecto final.

El martes revisamos calificaciones y finalizamos las temas para el proyecto. Ellos me dieron la información básica a cualquier alumno por medio de Google Doc. El Google Doc seria usado para investigacion y exploracion. Los alumnos recibieron sitios de web y más sobre sus temas que encontré antes. Es importante cuando hacer un proyecto sobre temas de ahora que tiene datos e información correcto desde un principio. Los alumnos fueron interesados en las mismas temas pero los planes fueron varios y a mi es interesante. 

En miércoles y jueves dedicamos el tiempo de revisar la tema de metas, deseos, y necesidades de la semana pasada y también introducir los obstáculos. Los alumnos compartieron sus metas entre ellos y también los obstáculos que se puede parar la habilidad de agarrar las metas. Hablamos sobre planear cuando hay obstáculos de hacer desvio. Cuando planeamos y hacemos desvios podemos estar en el mismo camino y agarrar las metas sin perderse. Siempre me gusta tener estas pláticas sobre las metas y hablar sobre esperanzas y sueños. Es mejor cuando podemos poner estos sueños en papel, dar pasos para agarrar los sueños, poner fechas con los pasos, y hacer los sueños más posible.

La noche de miércoles también fue el último evento del año escolar para YESS. Los alumnos de YESS de West Leadership Academy, y los High Schools de North, Lincoln, Adams City, y Westminster celebraron sus éxitos de este año escolar por tener el evento en Mile High Stadium. Este evento fue un gran éxito. De los tours del estadio, conocer a Miles y el jugador de los Broncos Zach Kerr hasta la rifa, los premios, y las becas, los alumnos y sus familias tenían un tiempo excelente celebrando todo el trabajo duro que hicimos este año pasado. Nuestros cuatro oradores de WLA quien tenían rol en el evento hicieron un buen trabajo, particularmente el orador Mento y también su protegido quien ensayaron y se mejoraron de sus nervios para dar un buen testimonio sobre el poder de nuestra programa. Estoy muy orgullosos de ellos. Las noticias más grandes fue que los dos líderes de mentores recibieron becas. Uno de ellos, Paola Rodríguez mostró que el trabajo duro y humildad puede ayudar mucho y ella recibió la beca de YESS mas grande. Como nuestra comunidad puede decir, Paola merece mucho este beca y estamos emocionados de ver las grandes cosas que ella podía hacer en el futuro. Fue un honor de ser parte de este evento que inspira y celebrar con nuestros alumnos de YESS como un gran comunidad. Que buen noche!

En Viernes tuvimos un dia de comunidad y algún diversión. Fue dia de servicio en la mañana entonces los alumnos y maestros de todo el West Campus fueron a trabajar en limpiar el barrio y Sunken Gardens. Después de trabajar duro, decidimos de usar el clase por jugar los juegos de Kahoot! y tener una dia libre. Terminamos la semana positivamente. Fue merecido por su trabajo durante de la semana.

Con nomas tres semanas del año escolar tenemos la expectativa que cada semana seria tan ocupada de la semana pasada. Aproximadamente continuamos a trabajar el los proyectos y ayudar todos con sus finales. Hasta Próximo!-Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: April 30th - May 4th

Hi all! 

Another busy week here at West as we got through a couple important lessons and introduced our Stand Up Project! 

On Monday, the class checked their grades and listed them on their grade tracker. From there they completed the YoBD surveys and got this submitted. Additionally, students were taught the Tools You Can Use lesson in which we went through and discussed various resources to help us with our problems such as Safe2TellColorado and the Good Samaritan Law. Students were surprised that the law existed in the first place and after discussing several scenarios, they began to see how it is important and could be helpful. 

On Tuesday, students had a general study hall and homework day. Wednesday we picked right back up and had our lesson on Goals, Wants, and Needs. Students were taught about the various types of goals: micro, short, mid, and long term. They were also taught about the differences between wants and needs and how achieving short and mid term goals we can eventually reach our long term hopes and dreams. This lesson and the conversation as well as action plans to reach out goals continued into Thursday as well.  

Thursday the class had an opportunity to finish up our conversations on Goals, Wants, and Needs. From there we moved onto our discussion and lesson on Budgeting 101. Students went over the 50-20-30 rule and the difference between fixed expenses, flexible spending, and savings and investments. Students created various financial goals and broke down how to achieve them using the 50-20-30 formula. 

On Friday the class was introduced to the Stand Up Project. We went through and discussed various social justice topics and answered any questions the students had about a particular issue. Students showed interest in a wide variety of topics which is good to see. The plan for Monday is to have students identify two or more topics of interest, write down the cause and solutions to the problem, and then come to an agreement about how to address it within the context of our project. We are looking forward to dedicating as much time as we can to these projects in the coming weeks. Stay tuned! -Ben