4 minute read
CHALLENGE SUCCESS
A PARTNERSHIP WITH CHAMINADE
Blessed William Joseph Chaminade
Fr. Chaminade often expressed these insightful words when addressing his early followers and teachers-in-training, and his words perfectly embrace the 2019-2020 school-wide Characteristic of Marianist Education – Educate for Adaptation and Change – upheld as the theme for the year. Especially today, in a world filled with many uncertainties and fears, his words resonate with relevance and vision.
How timely for the Chaminade Vice- President of Mission and Strategic Initiatives, Brother Adam Becerra, fsp, DMin, to heed Fr. Chaminade’s wisdom by exploring a partnership with Challenge Success, a non-profit organization that seeks to help schools improve the wellness for all of their constituents. Affiliated with the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, the program has serviced over 180 high schools and middle schools with a year-long program promoting change for the better (Challenge Success School Program). According to Brother Adam, “The primary mission of Challenge Success is to create opportunities and develop strategies to improve student well-being and engagement with learning.”
With an important action item on the Chaminade Strategic Plan addressing the need for an improved Wellness Program for students and also for families and staff, Becerra found Challenge Success. Chaminade needs to take action to better serve the mental health of its community, and Challenge Success is a dynamic step to make this happen. With so many external and internal stressors on students today, students are experiencing a host of potentially dangerous symptoms, and
Chaminade has the resources to help alleviate these problems. Over the past few years, counselors and teachers have seen a dramatic increase in such areas as depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, and over-scheduling, and the larger society has also experienced a rise in suicidal ideation. Director of Guidance, Laura Cuneo, shares that “Kids cannot escape the societal pressure, and we cannot ignore it. With an ever-changing student demographic and as a college prep school, Chaminade straddles a fine line: we need to both challenge our students while not overstressing them, and we need to meet them as individuals where they are in the moment. The Challenge Success program will aid us in discernment and follow-through with a focus on each student’s individual success – however his or her path looks.”
The year-long Challenge Success Program is a rigorous one, including an initial Leadership Conference to introduce a school to the program. In the summer of 2019, a high school team including Principal Brother Tom Fahy; Brother Adam; Vice-Principals, Lisa Magorien and Jennifer Poole; and Math Department Chair, Monica Halverson, traveled to Stanford University, and they were impressed with their experience. Chaminade engaged Challenge Success as a partner, and a team of ten from the high school and middle school will attend two conferences at Stanford, hopefully, this fall and next spring. Thus far, Brother Adam, Laura Cuneo, high school therapist Kathryn Howard, and Vice-Principal Lisa Magorien are scheduled to attend as is Director of Guidance, Heather Eaton, from the middle school. Other attendees including a student and parent are still to-be-determined.
- Brother Adam Becerra, fsp, DMin Chaminade Vice-President of Mission & Strategic Initiatives
Providing schools a framework with the acronym S.P.A.C.E., Challenge Success taps into all aspects of student life and wellness. The “S” stands for Students’ Schedule; the “P” for Project and Problem-Based Learning; the “A” for Alternative and Authentic Assessment, the “C” for Climate of Care; and the “E” for Education for the Whole Community (Challenge Success Overview). Featuring student, parent, and teacher surveys as part of an extensive, data-driven dashboard, Challenge Success analyzes findings with the school team during the fall conference to determine needed improvments from possible changes in the bell schedule to consistently implementing best practices to time spent doing homework to addressing student anxiety and stress. Brother Adam explains: “Each school is assigned a coach for the year, and he or she is available in person and through teleconferencing to help create action plans and strategies to improve student learning and engagement based on our data. At the time of the spring conference, we discuss and reflect to see if we met our goals and successfully addressed our action plans. We are trying to improve all throughout the year while staying closely aligned with the S.P.A.C.E. framework”.
Beyond students, Challenge Success also offers support for teachers through Professional Development Workshops and for parents through Parent Education Sessions. Challenge Success will help educate the entire Chaminade community in an effort toward continuing support of the Wellness Program. “This is not a one-year long project”, Brother Adam shares. “This is an instrumental part of our strategic plan, closely tied to our mission to love, learn, and lead, which sets Chaminade apart from other schools. This is about being transparent and reflecting upon and improving our best institutional practices. If we are cultivating compassionate leadership in our students, we cannot be stagnant. We have to efficiently use our resources and live out Fr. Chaminade’s words: ‘New times demand new methods.’”
