Special Edition- Nuggets Night

On Friday November 20th 2015, Five Shaw Heights students attended the  Denver Nuggets Vs. Phoenix Suns game. One mentee and four mentors were able to enjoy a night of fun at the Pepsi center. In order for the students to attend the game they had to have no missing assignments, no suspensions, and have been dedicated to their success this school year. The students had a great time meeting some Denver Nugget cheerleaders, and even had a moment with the Mascot on the big screen. I missed this moment because it happened so quickly, but it was definitely a memorable night the students will not forget. 

Nov 16th - 20th

Thanksgiving is approaching and the YESS students of Shaw did a week of reflection. On Monday the mentors looked at a women's immigration story. They learned how this women came to the United States to give her children opportunities she did not have in her home country. The mentors then discussed their personal family immigration story, weather it was their grandparents, parents or themselves. Students discussed  how they are thankful for their parents and grandparents' decision to come to the US. Students came to the realization that their success is their family's success.  This gave the YESS mentors motivation to succeed and to help their mentees succeed.

On Tuesday the students did a house building project called "Poverty and Wealth." The students where divided into three teams. One group was considered the wealthy group, another was the middle class group, and the last group was the poverty group. Each group was given different supplies according to their wealth.  The wealthy group had access to paint, a cardboard box, all supplies in the art cabinet. The middle class group had scissors, glue, and all scrap paper (which was a lot), markers, crayons, and colored pencils, and no brand new art supplies. The poverty group was given an envelope full of a handful of scraps, no glue, no scissors, and 5 crayons. All groups had a goal of creating a home.

In this project students could get more supplies, as long as the whole group decided on going to college. If they decided as a group to advance themselves through education they could earn more supplies to build their home.

Poverty

I was very amazed as I watched the students build their homes. Some students donated supplies to the poverty group as well as assisted the poverty group with ideas on building their home. On Wednesday the students did a group discussion on what they learned. Here are some of the students' responses:
"It wasn't fair seeing some students have more school supplies than others."

Middle class 

" Even though we were in poverty, we still built a better house than the middle class and wealthy group. This just shows that you can be successful no matter where you come from."
"Education can give you more opportunities, when we said we wanted a bachelors we got more supplies."

To finish up the week, the students made cards for people they are thankful for. Overall, this was another successful week at Shaw.

Wealthy 

November 2nd- 6th

Belly Breathing, Time management, Goals, and Self-Reflection

This week was a week of reflecting on our goals and dreams, setting goals to reach our dreams, and to learn about healthy alternatives to relaxing. 

On Monday the students had groups. Mentees went to the "Why Try" class, while mentors stayed with me and learned about a boy named Amar. This boy is 14 years old and lives in India. He works two jobs, with a total of three shifts per day, attends school, and still manages to get his homework done. The young boy starts his homework at 10:15pm every night. Students listened to this boy's story and reflected on their time management, and compared their schedule with Amar's schedule. 

Students discussed how they felt watching this short 9 minute film. Students said things like, " I feel so lazy."  Some students also said, " I have no excuse in not doing my school work. If Amar can do it, so can I." 

The next day the mentors helped their mentees schedule their day and better plan their evenings. Some students realized that they spend more time playing video games than studying, some realized that they nap too much.  It was great having the mentors talk to their mentees about scheduling more time for studying and school work. One 2nd year mentor taught the class, which he enjoyed doing. 

On Wednesday the students did belly breathing exercises and listened to medication music. After students focused on their breathing students reflected on their daily stresses and weather or not it was out of their control.  Students realized that parents getting divorce, family dying, moving, and family dealing with sickness is out of their control. Students realized that the need to take more time for themselves, even if it is 15 minutes a day to just breath and be alone. Students loved this activity and have requested that we do it once a month.  

Thursday, the students made ESMART goals and decided if it was a good goal, or if they need to set new goals.

Today students will be doing an activity called "Heart. Mind. Soul." Students will label a human body and answer the following questions:

Head: dreams or goals we have

·         Graduation?

·         What you want to be when you get out of school?

·         What you want for your future?

Ears: things we like to listen to

·         Types of music?

·         Singers? Bands? Rappers?

·         Sounds? Wind, water, city noises…

Eyes: How we like other people to see us

·         A good friend?

·         Funny?

·         Smart?

·         Tough?

·         Beautiful?

·         Talented?

Shoulders: problems you may have to face.

·         Balancing work and school?

·         Gossip?

·         Staying caught up with school?

·         Taking care of family?

Right Hand: things we like to make or do (with our hands)

·         Art? Poetry Music?

·         Winning passes?

·         Food?

Left Hand: the things & people we rely on for support/help

·         Family?

·         Teachers? Coaches?

·         Friends?

·         Church?

Stomach: things we like to eat

·         Favorite dishes?

·         Snacks?

·         Restaurants?

Heart: things we feel strongly about

·         What is important to you?

·         Who/what do you love?

Right foot: places we go

·         Where do you go now?

·         Your neighborhood? The park? Favorite places?

Left Foot: places we WANT to go

·         Where do you want to go in your life?

·         Anywhere in the world: for vacation, to live, to visit