Dannikka Blog from North

My name is Dannikka Frazzini, I am the program assistant for YESS at North. This week has been full of self understanding. We have worked on understanding the root of our emotions; where they come from, how they cause us to behave as well as how to control them. We spent some time looking at forgiveness and learning about how a lack of forgiveness can be toxic to our personal lives. These lessons have helped students connect to each other as well as to Tracie and myself. Throughout a typical school day most high school students are never given an opportunity to really evaluate themselves in this manner. Our students used these lessons to create Emosmart goals and refocus themselves. As we are a few weeks into the semester its important to make sure that everyone is staying on top of their school work. At this point of the semester many students start to fall behind in classes, setting Emosmart goals are a perfect way to ignite desire to be successful.

Dannikka Frazzini
Program Assistant    

January 23rd, Jan 27th

This week students in YESS mentoring at North worked on their emotional sculptures/ art. Students were to create art based on an emotion they often feel. So if they are sad, they must create art that will demonstrate what sad looks likes to them. Students have had all week to create their master piece. Students will present their creation on Friday. Overlall this was a creative week where mentees and mentors were able to discuss their emotions and learn more about each other.

Jan 15th- Jan 20th

This week was a fun week full of learning. This week students came back ready to reflect on the work of Martin Luther King as well as how today many people are still fighting against social injustices. We looked at how musicians use their fame as a platform to talk about real issues. For example Billy Holiday's "Strange Fruit," Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth," Then we looked at music today, for example J Cole's "Be Free" song, which is about the Black Lives Matter movement. Students were to reflect on issues that are important to them and write a song about it. Many students wrote about gentrification in their neighborhoods, racism, wealth inequality, police brutality, and how they can be a catalyst for social change. We talked about how their voice and leadership is needed and how it starts in the classroom!

Also this week we began to talk about healthy relationships which is the Unit we will be working on for now. We talked about miscommunication, code-switching, and we had fun doing some team-building by playing charades and "stand up if."

Overall, this was a great week here at North.

January 9th- January 13th

This week was our first week back at North High School. We spent the first day back discussing what we did over break as well as our goals for this semester. Many seniors' goals included: to earn more scholarships for school, and to end with a high GPA. It seems that many of the seniors are anxious for their graduation day.

On the first day of class I introduced rules and expectation for the semester. These are rules from Love and Logic. It seems that the students really liked the rules because it is not a list of "do's and don'ts."

This week we did a short lesson called, "who is your tribe." Students reflected on who their communities are as well as who they can turn to for extra support. We examined if these were healthy relationship or unhealthy relationships.  We talked about finding new members of our "tribe" and what may hold us back from finding out new members of our tribe. Many students had issues with trust and deception. We discussed ways we can let people into our lives. This was a really good lesson for all mentees and mentors.

Also this week we did a team building activity so that students can bond and get to know one another. We had fun playing charades and doing a "Guess Who." game. Students were to list 5 facts about themselves. We then mixed up the cards so students could read another student's card. After the card was read the class would guess who it was. This was a fun way for us to get to know knew things about each other and welcome the new students into YESS.

Dec 12- 16th

This week students prepared for finals by using YESS  time to support one another. It was great to hear mentors asking other mentors for calculus help, and mentess asking their mentors to review and edit a paper. Students really went into finals being as best prepared as possible.

At the beginning of the week the North mentor leaders did presentations on DACA. Leonel went to a conference at Metro state called "Here To Stay".  He went representing YESS. He took many notes and complied the information he got into a presentation for students. Maybe some students are undocumented and are not sure if they should continue to apply for DACA. Maybe there is a student in class who has a friend  or family member that is thinking about doing DACA. Now they are wondering "Should I"? Leonel broke it down to students about what can happen to DACA come January since it is an executive order.  We talked about other programs that support undocumented students and schools in Colorado that allow students to go on in-state tuition.

Students enjoyed breakfast burritos provided by YESS and took some time to eat, relax, and study!

Breakfast burritos and Juice! 

DACA presentation 

12/5/16-12/9/16

This week students focused on making up missing assignments for their core classes. Mentees worked with their mentors to talk to teachers and to create a plan on how they can complete missing work before they enter finals week.
On Tuesday we did a lesson called, "Recognizing Hate Speech". Students discussed what is hate speech and how is this different than freedom of speech? We discussed how sometimes freedom of speech can be considered bullying. We looked at examples like SNL (Saturday night live) vs racial slurs and jokes.  Students reflected on their jokes and how they will try to be more aware of their audience and promote a community where hate speech is not tolerable.

In engagement center many of the students are caught up with their school work and are going into finals with excellent grades. Today, students used the day to relax and to participate

in a chess tournament. Overall, this was great week!

Engagement center chess tournament 

Homework support days 

November 28th- Dec 2nd

After returning from Thanksgiving break, many students have been preparing for finals. Many of the students have requested extra homework days. YESS students have been diligent about using YESS class time to finish missing assignments, talk to teachers as well as study material from earlier in the semester.

Also this week, some students needed a little extra inspiration. We watched a classic empowerment film called, "Stand and Deliver". This movie is about Jamie Escalante, a Chicano educator who takes a class of students with a 3rd grade math level and teaches them the skills it will take to pass the AP calculus exam their senior year of high school.

I love showing this movie to students because this movie shows the struggles each student has and how they didn't let problems get in the way of them from achieving their goals. This movie shows that even if you are behind, you can still make it!

Overall, we had a great week back from Thanksgiving break!