West Leadership Weekly Round Up: December 3rd - 7th

Hi all!

Last week was a productive one as we worked on our final semester projects and worked through our lesson on Hot Buttons.

On our Monday and Tuesday block days we spent time in class checking grades, following up with teachers, and then working on our final projects. Students mostly worked on their Google Slide presentations, saving their write up/essay for next week. This will be a big task to complete next week with our due date being next Friday with presentations taking place afterwards.

Wednesday and Thursday we had our lessons on Hot Buttons. We began by reviewing the belief cycle from our previous lesson and discussing what hot buttons are, how they present themselves, and how to manage them. From there students began to identify their own hot buttons through both our discussion and a questionnaire followed by our pendulum activity. Using examples from their own lives, students identified ways to turn their hot buttons into cool buttons and adjusting their reactions. Most of our triggers are pretty natural so it certainly takes hard work to be conscious enough to control your reaction and behavior and students discussed practical ways to address this.

We wrapped up the week by taking a quiz over the recent material from the past two weeks, doing our Fishbowl activity, and working on our projects. Overall it was a pretty productive week which is a good sign as we head into the final regular week of the school year. Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: November 26th - 30th

Hi all!

Last week we had a busy one as we worked on our lessons about Belief Systems.

We started the week by checking our grades, looking over our work, and meeting with our teachers. From there students were given some time to start their final project for the semester. The project asks for students to pick three topics and then to complete a Google slide presentation, a 5 paragraph essay, and a 5-10 minute class activity. I wanted to give them time to work on this during our class so we will dedicate the remaining Mondays and Fridays this semester to do it - basically two class periods per product. On the week of finals students will either present their Google slides or their activity.

On Wednesday and Thursday we spent the class teaching about Belief Systems. Students reviewed the vocabulary and terms and from there we played a fun game of Musical chairs. Although our classroom is small, we were able to set it up in a way to make the game work for everyone. I wrote down different terms and words on individual Post-Its and placed them at each seat. The students then landed on a seat and wrote down how that particular thing made them feel. Afterwards we discussed what their responses were - positive or negative - and then how our belief systems are formed. We then went over the Belief Cycle and limiting and empowering beliefs by discussing examples from our own lives and how to turn the limiting beliefs into empowering actions. This is one of my favorite lessons as it is applies to all of us and is important to understand in making decisions about ones own life. Students seemed to enjoy both the activity and the discussion afterwards.

Friday we wrapped up the week by doing a quick quiz followed by our Fishbowl activity. I also informed the students of my departure at the end of the semester. I put off the announcement to the end of class in order to delay too many emotions. Students had questions which I answered and I reassured them that whoever takes my place, our classroom community that they have created will continue to be strong. I am looking forward to helping them finish their projects as we wrap up the semester and end on a strong note. Until next week! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: November 12th - 16th

Hi all!

We had a fun week before Thanksgiving break as we had our Apple Pie lessons!

Monday and Tuesday students had their normal study hall and work time with grade checks, meeting with teachers, and individual conferencing with myself and Ms. Patricia. We also had them write down some of the upcoming vocabulary for the unit in order to get a jump start on the lessons for Wednesday and Thursday. After this, the students were asked to create to do lists to help fix grades that are a C or lower and then work on completing this list. We really want students to take advantage of this time in the coming weeks as we near the end of the semester.

Wednesday and Thursday were Apple Pie lesson days. We discussed the metaphor between an apple pie and our relationships. Different types of relationships and pie eaters - controlling, balanced, victim and whole, balanced, and pie crumb eaters. The students liked and understood the metaphor but more importantly seemed to like the pie! We bought mostly apple and pumpkin pie for the students to enjoy on the day of the lessons which also fell on our last day before break.

Friday was an interesting day with no classes for high school students due to them taking the PSAT and getting out at lunch time. Middle school students had normal school so we did our fishbowl activity and played a fun Kahoot! game to wrap up before break.

With only 3 weeks left until finals the next few weeks will certainly be busy! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: November 5th - 9th

Hi all!

We were back to normal last week and were able to get quite a bit accomplished over the course of the week!

On Monday and Tuesday we spent the class focusing on grade checks, study hall, meeting with our teachers, and conferencing with Ms. Patricia. Students created to do lists with their mentors, were taken to classes to follow up on missing work, and had a chance to meet with Ms. Patricia to discuss if they need any support or help outside of school. It was a productive couple of days and I'm glad to see students take advantage of this time as we near the end of the semester.

Wednesday and Thursday classes were spent discussing Gratitude. We started by introducing the concept and vocabulary through a couple videos. From there we had our Gallery Walk where students went around the room and wrote out things they are grateful for in various categories such as: Places, Health, People, etc. It was nice to hear all of the ways in which students were grateful/thankful and many students caught on to the concept quite quickly.

Friday we wrapped up the week by taking a quiz over the major concepts of Gratitude as well as some other items we talked about in the past couple of weeks: 6 universal emotions, negativity bias, and some random questions over the midterm elections on Tuesday. Students then played a Kahoot! and then finished our Fishbowl discussion for the day. It was a good way to wrap up the week. Next week we will be having the Apple Pie lessons, just in time before Thanksgiving break. Stay tuned!

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: October 29th - November 2nd

Hi all!

We had a fun and busy week here with both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos celebrations taking place on Wednesday and Thursday!

Traditional dancing during Day of the Dead on Thursday

We started the week on Monday and Tuesday with our regular grade checks with our mentors/mentees. Students then met with teachers for them to complete missing and late work. From there we had our high school students complete the annual YoBD survey which was pretty quick and easy. After this we started discussing Emotions and began this conversation with an activity: Web of Emotions. On a piece of poster paper, a emotion was listed and then students were asked to write down everything they associate with that emotion. We had quite a few interesting examples - some reasonable, some funny, and some questionable...it was certainly a fun and interesting conversation about what makes us happy, angry, sad, fearful, etc.

Wednesday was Halloween and the school asked the students to keep it low key since we had so much going on during the Day of the Dead on Thursday. That said, our YESS classes still made sure to have fun by having a small Halloween party. I brought in plates, cups, some soda, and some chips and salsa for us to get started. Students contributed with additional sugary sweets.

Parade through the hallways during Day of the Dead on Thursday

Thursday our classes were sidelined due to the Day of the Dead activities. We were able to sign students up for Chocolate, Storytelling, and then of course the Parade and Dancing. Students really enjoyed checking out the altars that were on display (including Ms. Patricia's!) and had a good time watching the dancing and performances - it was a really fun day for everyone.

Friday we finished the week with a conversation on Negativity Bias and the 3 to 1 ratio of negative to positive thoughts. I asked students to write down 9 positive things about themselves and share something positive about another classmate so we could end the week on an uplifting note.

Another fun week here at WLA! Next week we will continue our focus on grades and getting them up before the semester as well as starting our discussions on gratitude. See ya then! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: October 22nd-26th

Hi all!

We had a shortened week here at West Leadership Academy last week due to parent teacher conferences the week before and professional development at the start of the week.

On Monday we had a district wide professional development, I was fortunate to take a day off and finish a hiking trip with a friend who was visiting.

Tuesday we had a school wide professional development where staff, community members, and several students came to discuss the school's vision and plan with a team from DPS. It was a pretty interesting conversation and discussion with fellow colleagues about how the school is working towards its goals, what we are addressing, and how we can continue to improve.

Wednesday and Thursday we were back with students and our classes focused on grade checks, finishing their presentations/Google slides about the brain, and a general study hall. This led to us wrapping up the Brain unit on Friday. Friday students did a Brain Kahoot! that I created for them. We then did a vocabulary quiz / check in before finishing the day with our presentations. Using the research days from the week prior, students were asked to create a Google slideshow about a particular part of the brain, it functions, and some facts about it before presenting to the class. Presentations are something we will need to continue to work on but several students have already improved since our last ones. That wrapped up a short week for us while this upcoming week will be another busy one with both Halloween and Dia de Muertos. It should be plenty of fun and we are looking forward to participating in all the cool events! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: October 15th - 18th

Hi all!

We had a short but busy week here at WLA as we worked on some of the early lessons in the Healthy Relationships unit and wrapped up the week with parent - teacher conferences.

On Monday and Tuesday we started off by continuing our conversations about sphere of influences and trust. We then linked it to communication and how it is integral to trusting and healthy relationships. To emphasize this, we had students play several games: telephone, Pictionary, and charades. Students got very competitive (as expected) and we had quite a bit of fun seeing the end result of both the telephone messages and drawings.

Wednesday and Thursday we dove into our lessons on the Brain and covered a lot of vocabulary, videos, and research. There is always a lot to cover with these lessons so we made sure to be thorough with introducing the many (13ish) terms and by showing a couple interesting videos that the students could gather some facts from. After this, students started their Google slideshow presentation with either their mentor/mentee or group members. Students were asked to pick a part of the brain and create a slideshow that details what it does, where it's located, several facts, pictures, and their sources. We tried to give students as much time to work on the projects together as possible and time seemed to fly by. Students got quite a bit of work done but we will certainly have to pick this back up next week!

Also on Wednesday and Thursday evenings this week we had parent-teacher conferences. Wednesday was a bit lighter on attendance but Thursday was pretty busy! It is always enjoyable to get a chance to meet the parents of our mentors and mentees. I tell the students to visit our class last in case the rest of their conferences aren't going too well. That way we can talk them up in front of their parents and help avoid an awkward car ride! Patricia and I did the best we could with our students who visited and we had quite a few positive and enjoyable conversations. We really had a good experience this year and I'm pleased with the improved turnout!

With conferences, students did not have school on Friday or the following Monday and Tuesday. Some well deserved time off. I hope they enjoyed it as we will be diving back into the Brain unit and discussing Emotions this week. Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: October 8th - 12th

Hi all!

Last week went by rather fast as we started our Healthy Relationships unit!

Monday and Tuesday we spent our class time checking our grades, discussing goals for the week, and then having our Today I Choose lesson. Students watched a video and had a discussion about the power of positive thinking and how we really do have the choice to decide how we see the world and consequently, how we behave. The most important part of these days were students sharing with each other how they've been able to overcome negative thinking and self-talk and what strategies they have used to either create or maintain a positive outlook on life. Some of the ideas suggested included talking to people you can trust, reaching out when your upset or need something, surrounding yourself with positive people, build regular healthy habits, avoid situations that cause you stress / make you uncomfortable, and make time to focus on just you. All were helpful and great suggestions for students to choose to be happy. 

Wednesday and Thursday we began our discussion on healthy and unhealthy relationships - what they look like, how they affect us, and what you we can do to make them better. From there we did a little self reflection by completing our Sphere of Influence activity. Students thought about how people influence them and impact their day to day lives and listed them in various categories to represent their life. This always leads to a conversation about trust and how the behaviors of healthy/unhealthy relationships determine how much trust we give others. Students often share how they know many people (as seen by their lists), but trust very few. Of the people we know, it is typically the balanced and healthy relationships in which we display the most trust.

Friday we wrapped up the week by completing our Social and Emotional Learning surveys and having our fishbowl questions. Students complete the surveys twice per year, once at the start and once at the end. The fishbowl questions continue to get better - more creative and oftentimes more relatable to content we are discussing in class so that was also good to see. Overall a fast and furious week here. Next week we have another busy one next week with parent teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: October 1st - 5th

Another busy week here at WLA as we matched our students with their mentors and groups and lined up our Mentor Leader interviews and applications!

Students sharing presentations about each other after mentor matching!

Monday and Tuesday were spent doing our speed matching activity where students are given the opportunity to interview everyone in the class and then decide their top 3 selections for a mentor / mentee. This is one of my favorite activities in the YESS curriculum as it offers students a chance to get to know their classmates further and really make their own decisions on who they would like to support throughout the year. Last Friday I had students complete this speed matching questionnaire in advance in order to accelerate the process and have them spend more time in their interviews. The interviews went rather smoothly with high school students encouraging middle schoolers to ask questions and participate. In addition to facilitating the process, I also got a chance to play DJ (something I could apparently work on according to the students). 

Wednesday and Thursday students were matched with their mentors and mentees. We also set up our seating charts. Several students who were not here on Monday or Tuesday were also matched and the vast majority of students got their top choice so they seemed pretty pleased with the selections. Now that students are matched, the real work begins as I expect students to be supporting both their mentees and mentors as well as their table mates throughout the year. We will be doing ongoing mentor training as well now that the matches have been confirmed. After we got this set up, I had students complete a Google presentation with each student creating their own slide for their group. On Friday students presented their slides to the class and we discussed how they can continue to support each other this school year. One of the requests for the slide was to have a picture of yourself. Many students were a bit apprehensive of this so I allowed them to include baby pictures instead, which of course many of them agreed to. We finished the week by doing our Fishbowl questions and working on our t-shirt designs. We will be finishing these designs this week as well as starting our Healthy Relationships unit. Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: September 24th - 28th

Hi all!

Last week was a busy one as we did a deep dive into our Race unit and set ourselves up for our mentor matching this upcoming week.

Watching our WLA middle school boys soccer team play Morey at Congress Park.

On Monday and Tuesday we started our Race unit by introducing students to the terms and language surrounding race, privilege, and ethnicity. Students really enjoy this unit and getting a chance to talk about it with one another, however some of the terms and vocabulary can be a bit confusing so it was important to take our time and really discuss each term and provide examples that students can reference later. Additionally, we completed our grade trackers (as is tradition at the start of the week). I am pleased to see some very strong grades with many students from the get go. I am hoping we can continue this momentum all the way through the fall semester.


Wednesday and Thursday were spent doing our privilege walk and working on our public service announcements. Students formed groups and picked a particular topic on race to research and create a PSA for.  The statistics and facts students find regarding this unit always surprise them, what is also interesting is them discussing and coming up with ways to combat some of these behaviors within their own school or community.

Decorations put up by the Freshman class is making me excited for the fall season!

We wrapped up the week on Friday by working on our public service announcements, taking a short quiz over the race unit, and completing our speed matching questionnaires in preparation for Monday. Next week we will be doing our speed matching activity and will be getting students paired with their mentors/mentees. We will also be holding interviews for our Mentor Leader positions which is always a very exciting part of the year! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: September 17th - 21st

Hi all!

Students vs Teachers Football Game. The students easily won! 

We had a fun Homecoming week here at West! The students were busy the various theme days and activities including the staff versus students football game, homecoming court, the West vs North game, parade, and of course the dance. In addition to all of the fun homecoming activities, we also had a busy week discussing Community and introducing students to the Race unit.

On Monday, Sara came back in to help with our Mentor Training and led the discussion for periods 5, 7, and 9. This gave myself and our Family Advocate, Ms. Patricia, an opportunity to spend some time with the students and have conversations with them individually and in small groups. Tuesday we picked up where we left off by having a discussion about famous mentor relationships in history. From there we introduced students to the SEL 5 Domains through a poster activity. We then used our remaining time to finish up our time capsules from last week.

Spirit Week Plans 

Lockers decorated for fall! 

Wednesday and Thursday were busy days as we discussed scholarship, what an ideal student looks like, and how we can become ideal students. I also took this time to talk to students about various academic topics such as time management, organization, GPA, SAT, and answer some of the general questions they had. We plan on continuing our conversations on these topics and take a deep dive on an individual one each week. From there we introduced students to the culture unit by discussing the vocabulary and examples from their own lives. Many of the terms can overlap and be confusing we made sure to take the time and explain and discuss each of these terms before we move on throughout the unit. Overall a fun week here at WLA and I am looking forward to diving into the Race unit next week. See you then! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: September 10th - 14th

Hi all!

Another busy week here at West Leadership Academy!

Monday and Tuesday we spent the class completing Shared Agreements and coming up with rules for the classroom. Students shared with each other and with me what they need in order to be successful in and outside of the classroom. This conversation led to an introduction into mentoring - why it is important, what it looks like, etc. Once we established the rules for the year, we filled out our grade trackers and introduced the students to their first EmoSmart goals.

Wednesday was also busy couple of day as we introduced students to the Social and Emotional Domains and had them start their Time Capsule project. Students did a fun poster activity where they wrote examples for each of the SEL domains and shared experiences from their own lives. The time capsules were also a fun activity. We started by just filling in the first portion and going over what it means and why it is helpful to reflect on this later in the year. Some of my students from last year still had theirs so they opened them up and were surprised with some of the things they had written. On Thursday we continued the busy streak with Sara visiting for some mentor training. Due to having middle school and high school students in the same classes, it is rare that we are able to split them up. By Sara coming in to meet with our high schoolers, we were able to start some much needed and helpful mentor training. I am looking forward to picking up where Sara left off this week.

Friday we wrapped the week up with some fun games and community building activities including a fun Around the World game and our Fishbowl questions. The day and week seemed to go by very quickly and students are already looking forward to the mentor matching section which is fast approaching. Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: September 4th - 7th

Hi all!

Last week was a shortened week due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday. We started the week on Tuesday and Wednesday by setting up some seating arrangements so students could interact with more than just their group of friends and expand their network a bit. From there students played a couple of fun games including the Intro Bingo game before working on their Coat of Arms/Tattoo. Students were quite engaged with both activities and many took their tattoos home with them to finish up (see examples below).

Some of the unique tattoo ideas created by students

Thursday evening was Back to School Night at West. A handful of students and parents came to my classroom at which time we discussed the course, how that particular student can succeed, and what I/YESS can do to help facilitate that process. As always, it's great to meet our parents and the siblings of our students. I'm looking forward to having our new Family Advocate help support our families here in the coming weeks as well.

Friday we were lucky enough to have Emily visit and meet our seniors to help them get started on their post-secondary planning. We have significantly more seniors this year than last year (one class has 8 seniors alone, more so than all of my classes combined last year!). While Emily was working with our seniors, the rest of the students and I completed our Fishbowl Friday activity, finished any remaining tattoos, and then got outside for some fun in the sun! Overall another good week here at West, next week we will be diving into our Mentor training and students will meet our new Family Advocate!
Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: August 27th - 31st

Greetings!

We had a fun and busy second week here at WLA as we spent time getting to know one another and continuing to build our YESS community.

On Monday and Tuesday, students reviewed the classroom expectations and were introduced to our general mentoring guidelines for the year. The purpose was to get them to start thinking about being mentors and envision themselves in the role so when we begin our mentor training they are ready to start off strong. Additionally, we spent time setting up our journals and playing a fun "Secret Identity" game. Each student has a YESS only journal that they will be using quite frequently throughout the year - everything from DO NOW's to discussing gratitude to just generally writing their thoughts and experiences. I'm very much looking forward to reading and providing feedback each week.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent reviewing our Academic Grade Tracker and if students were recently added to the class, we made sure they got theirs set up in the back of their notebooks. From there I had students choose one social justice issue they don't know much about and spend some time researching and preparing a short Google slide with a partner or small group. Since social justice is an ongoing theme in this course, it's important to gradually introduce the students to the issues and provide relevant examples throughout the school year. This way they can then find a topic that they are truly interested in and hopefully dive deep into helping solve it during our Stand Up project at the end of the year. I was pretty impressed with some of the topics selected already and the conversations that they lead to.

Friday we wrapped up the week by having some fun. Students completed their journal entries for the day and then we answered random fishbowl questions as well as played the "Remember Me?" blanket game. After that, we enjoyed the weather and got outside to Sunken Gardens for some sun!

It's been a good start at WLA thus far and I'm looking forward into diving into the curriculum next week! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: August 20th - 24th

Greetings!

We had a fun and exciting first week back to school here at West Leadership Academy! The semester is off to a fun start with new students, a new classroom, and new opportunities to grow and learn.

8th period listing out their courses and grade goals for the year

With West Leadership Academy moving towards block scheduling Monday - Thursday and all classes on Friday, students and teachers took this first week to get to know each other and acclimate to the new system. On Monday and Tuesday I was able to meet with all of my classes and introduce myself, the YESS program, and the exciting plans we have in store for the school year. Many of my former mentees and mentors returned which is very exciting and will definitely help to ensure a strong start to the semester.

 On Wednesday and Thursday our class time was spent getting to know each other through a variety of games and activities. We started with a fun "Whodunit" game where students were asked to write down something interesting, funny, or silly about themselves and then other students would guess "whodunit". It was already cool to see some new students open up and share some really fascinating insights into their lives. We certainly have some pretty awesome students. From there we had a fun general trivia Kahoot that got pretty competitive (it always does when snacks are on the line) and students seemed to enjoy some of the silly questions I wrote for them. In addition to the fun and games, some students already had questions about academics and grades so I also took the time on Wednesday and Thursday to have students write out their courses, goal grades for each course, and goal GPA. We broke down how to calculate GPA and will certainly continue to revisit these topics during our tutoring time. It was good to see students being interested about their grades already and I think with our new block schedule we will have even more time to focus on accomplishing these academic goals.

Students chatting and getting to know each other

Finally on Friday we had all classes for shortened 50 min periods. During this time we started off with our Fishbowl Friday activity where students are asked to write down a question, a topic, or just a general talking point that they'd like to be brought up anonymously to the class. Additionally we spent some time playing a social barometer game called Take A Stand where students choose a position (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree) on various topics. This was pretty fun to see students have differing opinions on the issues and explain/justify their position.

Overall a great first week here at WLA and with that I am very excited to see what's to come! Stay tuned! -Ben

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: August 13th - 17th

Snow Mountain Ranch at YMCA of the Rockies

Hi all!

We are back for another school year here at West Leadership Academy!

Over the past week we didn't have any students. Instead, the teachers met for a professional development retreat at the YMCA of the Rockies! 

Over the course of two days we participated in several workshops on various topics and also mapped out some logistical issues for the upcoming school year. The location was quite beautiful and serene so it was certainly a good place to spend a couple of days. Additionally, team and community building was a big focus so it was nice to let loose and spend time with fellow teachers and staff talking about non-school related things.

The more we get to know each other over the course of the year, the better able we will be to help each other and in turn help our students.

Our own YESS classroom! 

On Friday we got back to the school and spent our day decorating our classroom and preparing for Monday's first day! After getting a room just for YESS students this year, I am certainly looking forward to offering a space where they can visit and receive help throughout the entire day and not just during certain periods. It should be a great year ahead, stay tuned! -Ben 

West Leadership Weekly Round Up: May 28th - June 1st

Well we made it! The 2017-2018 school year has come to an end and it certainly was a successful one!

In this shortened week, we were quite busy with events such as HS graduation, 8th grade continuation, and end of year celebrations and final presentations.

Students at GrowHaus, an organization focused on
helping eliminate food deserts in the metro area.

With high school students finishing up last week, this past week was spent wrapping things up with our middle school students. Monday was Memorial Day so no school took place. Tuesday we had our final early release day so during those shortened periods students finished their final reflections and presentations for their Stand Up projects.

Our middle school students had significantly less time to work on these projects as they were gone for Explore courses last week. Nevertheless, we did have a few students who incorporated their Explore field trips with their social justice projects for my class. For example, one middle school student who was interested in food deserts was actually able to visit an organization that is combating this problem here in Denver and then share her experience with her classmates. This was excellent to see our younger students be passionate about a topic and then be active in learning how to help. What a great way to finish up the year.

On Wednesday, we had our last day with students. Most of the middle school students participated in a cookout and enjoyed some time outside at Sunken Gardens. Due to this, not all students were able to present their final projects in time, however they did finish them and most importantly, took the time to reflect upon the year. Several reflections were quite insightful and will certainly be helpful in continuing to improve the class next year.

"The most powerful lessons I learned this year were about relationships and emotions. The way I have grown this year is I have become more confident and I have grown a lot of self love." - 8th grade mentee

"I think the most powerful lesson was dating abuse because we are all in a stage where we can go through dating abuse and its good to know more about dating and understanding what to do if we are ever in that position." - 7th grade mentee 

"I have grown this year because I learned to speak up for myself even more and am able to say something when there’s a problem or bad situation. I can improve by being more social and sometimes even getting out of my comfort zone. I can offer the world my perseverance." - 8th grade mentee

It was certainly bittersweet ending the year after classes on Wednesday. Fortunately we were able to celebrate and send everyone off with bang by having our H.S. graduation and 8th grade continuation ceremonies. During the H.S. graduation on Wednesday night, two of our mentor leaders were asked to speak and did an excellent job not only being humorous and fun, but also by providing thoughtful advice and goals for their classmates. During our 8th grade continuation ceremonies, two of our 8th grade mentees also won awards for Best Math Student and Best History Student for their entire grades. It was just so cool to see these hardworking and talented YESS mentors and mentees being celebrated for all their efforts this year. I was very proud of all of them and certainly look forward to seeing what they accomplish in the years to come. 

After our continuation ceremonies on Thursday, students left for the rest of the day and staff began the checkout and clean up process. This continued into Friday as teachers packed up their rooms, posted final grades, and began getting things in place for the fall. Although everyone is excited for summer break, I will certainly miss the students and will be excited to see them again in a few short months.

On that note, I just wanted to say thank you to all of our students, parents, fellow WLA teachers and staff, and of course my colleagues at the YESS Institute for helping make this year such a successful and exciting one. I look forward to continuing our work in the fall. But until then...have a fun and relaxing summer everyone! -Ben

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