Final two weeks

For the past two weeks students have been working hard to get their grades up, and to complete missing assignments for all of their teachers. It has been amazing to see and hear mentors motivating their mentees to work hard.  Yesterday I was signing senior check out sheets and a student told me, "Ms. I can't believe I am graduating! If I had to do it all over again I would have tried harder. I didn't really care and I only wanted to get by. I try to tell my mentee to not be like me and to really make an effort." I was surprised that we were having this conversation, and what made this conversation even better, was that his mentee was listening to the conversation.  This student went on to tell me that his "ah- ha" moment was when teachers, counselors, and Emily asked him about what college he was going to. That moment made everything real. He had to start thinking about his future.

He went on to tell me that he was looking at school requirements and he did not meet these requirements. He then looked at his mentee and said, "don't close all the doors for yourself now, you don't want to be a senior and wish you could go here or there."

These last two weeks have been long and very busy, and something I have learned while being at North is that mentors really own up to the role of being a mentor. These mentors care for their mentees, not just academically, but really care for their future and life.  I am very impressed with these students. It has made my transition from Shaw Heights Middle School to North High School easy.  I am excited to see many mentees become mentors next year!

5/8/17- 5/12/17

This week was a very busy week for students at North. Many mentors were busy taking AP tests, and many students were finishing projects, taking tests, and turning missing assignments in for their core classes. Luckily a few students got the opportunity to see Chris Brown, thanks to tickets that were donated to YESS.  Sabrin, Lupe, Hannah, and Julianna went to see Chris Brown on Monday evening. They had great seats and a great time!

Mentor leaders worked very hard in preparing for the YESS End of the Year Celebration. Mentor leaders talked to Mr. Wolf about speaking at the event, made arrangement with one another to finish tasks such as interviewing Todd Davis #51, and also assisted in putting together the script.  I am very proud of all the work they did in making the event successful. From North main campus we only had 9 students absent from the event!

At the event we had four scholarship winners. The winners were: Leonel, Sabrin, Marivel, and Jaquikeyah. North High School had the most winners. I am very proud of all scholarship winners. They deserved it.
Sabrin won a 2,000 dollar scholarship.  She mentioned to me that she was shocked that she won. However, she did not think she should take the scholarship since she has all of her college costs taken care of. She felt in her heart that she should give Leonel, mentor leader her scholarship since he will be attending school of mines. Sabrin has such a big heart in giving her scholarship to Leonel. YESS has honored her wish and is allowing her to give her scholarship of 2,000 to Leonel. Leonel will be the second student in many years to attend School of Mines! It is moments like this that make me proud to be apart of YESS and moments like this! Overall, this was a great week in the YESS classroom at North!

5/1/17- 5/5/17

This week students began their final project. Their final project is to create a personal brand that represents them. Students are to reflect on all of the material they have learned through the school year and create a brand that represents them, Students are to create a resume, a business card, a log, and a presentation that states their personal mission and vision statements. These presentations are due next Friday. I am excited to see their presentations!

This week students worked hard on their homework support day. I noticed students were more focused and ready to get those grades up because there is not much time to turn in work. I am glad tht students are ending the year focused.