Empowering Students to be Change Agents Poudre High School Ambassadors Poudre Valley School District Contact Derrict Searle dsearle@psdschools.org “More than role models, peer educators, mentors, friends and passionate students, we LEAD by example an follow through INSPIRATION. As Ambassadors, we strive to do more than listen, we HEAR. We are the Poudre High School Ambassadors. “ The Ambassadors Program at Poudre High School is a year-long peer-facilitated program that trains upperclassmen students to be peer mentors, classroom educators and role models. Juniors and senior students go through a rigorous application process based on their commitment to pro-social principles, interest in building their own leadership skills, desire to be warm and welcoming role models to entering freshmen students and ability to lead by example with all their peers. Ambassadors are chosen based on character, social-emotional skills and personal commitment to the work rather than their GPA or membership in other student clubs. Although the Ambassadors work specifically with freshmen for one year, the program is intended to reach beyond the freshmen class by building cultural competencies and a solid sense of community necessary for ensuring a safe and productive school environment. Through participation in the program, freshmen will be more likely to work productively in groups, demonstrate increased tolerance and acceptance of diversity, build their own social, emotional and leadership skills and feel proud and attached to the school community. During the school year, 30 Student Ambassadors go into Freshman Seminar classes every other week to implement a curriculum developed by PHS staff. The curriculum is made up of 90-minute lessons on diversity, acceptance, tolerance, bullying prevention, reputation management, how to be successful in high school, goal setting, values identification, depression, suicide, teen dating violence, sexual assault and harassment. Lessons are taught in small group format; each Ambassador is paired with a small group of freshmen that they stay with for the entire year. The Ambassadors, as a group, work through the lessons, practice the activities and prepare for their teaching and mentoring roles each week as a class. They also debrief how the lessons went and explore their own feelings about the content, improving the lessons and working with each other to build their own teaching and communication skills. The Ambassadors also receive specific training from outside professionals in leadership, community activism, sexual assault and teen dating violence. Ambassadors use the lessons they teach to create a strong bond with younger students, serving as support, advocate, mentor, friend and trusted connection to the school. Ambassadors routinely report that their mentees reach out to them when they need help, are in crisis or need to share very personal information. Ambassadors often help their mentees work through problems and connect them to additional professional support when appropriate. Is it working? In two years, Poudre High School has seen a decline in their “F” rate among freshmen students, a key factor in keeping students on track for graduation. Their dropout rate has decreased, the median growth percentile increased with every subset of students, particularly those with an IEP, and they have doubled the growth projection for 9th graders in math. Their average ACT scores have increased in all categories and disciplinary incidents have decreased markedly. Between last year and this year alone, PHS has seen a decrease in bullying, verbal abuse, threats and use of profanity of 50% and a decrease in harassment and detrimental behavior of 30%. Although it is hard to isolate the effects of a single program when other instructional improvement strategies are also happening, it certainly appears that the social, emotional and academic functioning of Poudre High School students, particularly freshmen students, is increasing. And perhaps the best news? Applications from upperclassmen to become Ambassadors has increased from last year by 100%.
Rangeview High School Diversity Student Alliance and Multicultural Class Aurora Public Schools Contact: Eryn Osterhaus elosterhaus@aps.k12.co.us Rangeview Pledge of Respect I pledge from this day forward to do my best to combat prejudice and to stop those who, because of hate or ignorance would hurt people or violate their civil rights. • I will think about specific ways Rangeview can promote respect for people and create a prejudice-free zone. • I will try at all times to be aware of my own biases and seek to gain understanding of those I perceive as being different from myself. • I will speak out against all forms of prejudice and discrimination. • I will reach out and support those who are targets of hate. As demographics shifted from a middle class white student population to one that is poorer and divided equally between white, black and Hispanic, administrators and teachers at Rangeview High School began to notice increasing conflict, disruptive behavior and marginalized students which was having a detrimental affect both on morale and academic success. Believing that an affirming and positive school culture combined with culturally competent instruction is critical to academic achievement, the initial effort was led by adults. Teachers and parents alike were trained by the Anti-Defamation League to combat bullying and increase diversity education. All teachers in the school participated in a “No Place for Hate” training, which was customized for the school in order to increase its effectiveness. Staff members deepened their commitment, engaging in professional development that focused on strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of students with unique cultural and ethnic perspectives. To engage students in the work, an afterschool club called the Diversity Student Alliance was created. Although it started very small, the activities led by the students were popular and membership continued to grow. Students were also asked to work directly with teachers and became valued partners in professional development, learning diversity lessons provided by ADL and teaching those lessons to teachers to use in their classrooms. As this student-adult partnership grew stronger, discussions of how to embed diversity and cultural competency work in the curriculum grew as well. In addition, students wanted to teach the diversity content to their peers directly. As a result of the close working relationship and the trust between DSA students and administration, a new Multicultural Studies class was created which is credit-bearing in social studies. The class has allowed students to actively participate in the equity work in the building, and as a result, students have gained a deeper understanding of each other and have improved the entire culture of the school. While the class has an adult teacher and rigorous multicultural content, many of the components of the class are student-led, and the projects in the class are focused on planning and organizing school-wide events building student understanding of diversity and equity. On these Diversity Days, students in the multicultural class serve as the teachers in classes across the school. “Diversity Days,” include guest speakers about topics such as: homelessness, poverty, gangs, sexuality biases, disabilities, inequity, individual rights, achievement and inclusion. These speakers engage students in conversations about ways the school could address student safety and create environments for optimal learning. Additionally, as part of each Diversity Day, students research and deliver three different school-wide lessons that promote self-efficacy and increase student-driven examinations of school issues and solutions through student-led advocacy activities. The class continues the focus and vision of the Diversity Student Alliance by creating opportunities for more understanding; allowing for student voice; and improving relationships with teachers and students. In addition to Diversity Days, students also plan and lead other activities aimed at improving student social emotional skills, resilience and self-concept as learners and change agents. Students participated in a program called “The FIRE Within,” which challenged them to be innovative entrepreneurs and to address peer interaction. Through this program, students made a connection between bullying, stress and suicide, and the students created campaigns called “I Choose to Live. I Choose to Love.” Students also plan and organize the annual “Believe in You” assembly. Every year at this assembly, students commit to graduating from high school and sign their name to a pledge. This ceremony for every freshman class focuses on students believing in themselves and viewing themselves as future high school graduates. This assembly has fostered relationships between students and teachers, and now, teachers use the information from the assembly as talking points with students to encourage them and keep them motivated to graduate.
Is it working? Annually, Rangeview conducts a student climate survey to capture measureable data about school climate and safety perceptions. Results show that students’ positive feelings about school safety increased by 15%. There was a decrease of 17% in students being harassed, and a decrease of 12% of harassment for racial reasons. The “F” rate for freshman has decreased, the dropout rate declined from 7% to 4%, and the graduation rate has increased to 79%. One teacher shared, “Allowing for student voice to be recognized and giving them an adult to channel that voice and need has been really central. Teachers noticed what their students needed. Then the administration put the structure in place to allow change to happen.” Rangeview High School continues to be committed to students leading culture change and will be implementing deeper and more frequent use of students providing direct instruction and mentoring to other students.