June Catch-up: Working at the office!

It has been quite the busy month here at the YESS office as we all have been hard at work on our new curriculum and have attended several informative trainings. I have been working with the rest of our middle school team- Sara, from Scott Carpenter, and Joe, from Ranum- to adapt the lessons of our new YESS curriculum for our students this fall. We are so excited about all the additional information and lessons, which include a unit on the brain and a unit on drugs. There are several cool new projects, including one on identity and masks, and even some new lessons and projects for our mentors. We have worked hard to ensure these lessons are inclusive and fun for our mentors and mentees and we are all eager to get back to our classrooms with these great new plans!

Sara works to adapt lessons in the new curriculum.

Joe grabs a sit at the potluck after filling his plate.

We have also had the benefit of attending multiple trainings this month while at the YESS office. Dr. Karen Timmons hosted a great training on trauma and PTSD and the various ways in which we can help those who are suffering from trauma. Dr. Jerry Yager also came to speak to us about trauma, and we learned a lot about the brain and how trauma affects adolescents. Both trainings on trauma were excellent and provided us with a ton of new information that we can use to better serve our students. We also had Mary Haniwell in to speak to us about non-profits and the various components necessary for a nonprofit to succeed. Becky Kelleman, who is joining the YESS team to help with data, provided two trainings and spoke to us about the ways in which YESS collects data on our students and what sort of changes we will be making going forward in order to better assess the success of our programs. Finally, we had two of our amazing board members, Nancy Maguire and Diane Bassett, who provided trainings on Love & Logic (a book that we all use as one of our main teaching resources and on which Nancy happens to be an expert), transparency at YESS, and a guided evaluation of the new curriculum (with Diane's expertise leading the way). These trainings have been invaluable to our continued professional development at YESS and we are very grateful for all those who took the time to come and speak with us this month.

Emily and Mariah dish out the awesome food at our potluck.

Though we have been hard at work, we have certainly squeezed in some fun and (lots) of laughter. YESS provided several lunches and a delicious breakfast during the month, and all the staff came together for a very tasty potluck lunch. Joe, Sara and I were glad to have so much time together to work as a team to strengthen our programs and our understanding of the new curriculum. We will break for the month of July though I know we are all eager to greet our students come August!

Joe, Sara and I at the YESS office.

Joe, Sara and I strike a silly pose in the style of our students! 

Wishing you a wonderful summer on behalf of the YESS middle school program mangers!