mentor

Student born with no hands wins national handwriting contest

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Chesapeake third grader Anaya Ellick had her sights set on winning the 2018 Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest for cursive, and the hard work payed off in May when she took home the trophy.

What makes the feat all the more amazing is Ellick was born without hands, WVEC reports.

“Anaya is a role mode to everyone,” said Sarah Cannaday, Ellick’s teacher at Greenbriar Christian Academy. “Her classmates see her and see her doing the same tasks they are and they are often amazed that she can do just as well as they do, sometimes even better.”

Ellick was honored with the Zaner-Bloser 2018 Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Penmanship during a May 9 presentation with her teacher, parents, classmates and administrators at her school. The Nicholas Maxim Award is for students with cognitive delay or intellectual, physical or developmental disabilities.

A team of occupational therapists review entries and pick a winner. The annual award is part of the national Zaner-Bloser handwriting contest, which has recognized the outstanding penmanship of K-8 students nationwide for more than three decades, according to the news site.

Ellick, a soft-spoken and humble 9-year-old, said her key to success is simply not giving up, despite some who doubted her ability. She won a similar handwriting contest for printing two years ago.

“People said I could not do it,” she said. “I would tell them I could do it.”

What is apparent in this story is Ellick’s total lack of victimhood, of not being defined by her disability. What it also shows is that the pendulum in some schools is swinging back from self-expression to self-discipline. This research can be found in The Death of Character, written by James Davidson Hunter. Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture are encouraged by this shift.

Ellick said it felt good to be recognized for her hard work.

“I felt happy, excited, and proud of myself,” she said.

Cannaday told WVEC Ellick’s personal drive is infectious, and not just for her classmates.

“She’s just really inspired me to work harder, because I look at her and she never says ‘I can’t do it,’” Cannaday said. “She never makes an excuse.”

Teachers with younger children will find this resource, from the UK’s The Jubilee Centre helpful for teaching students about virtues they should be acquiring at a young age.

California school district works with nonprofit to fight ‘culture of go, go, go,’

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The Newport-Mesa Unified School District is considering recommendations from a California nonprofit about how to de-stress students in an increasingly competitive academic environment.

Challenge Success, based in Stanford, helps more than 150 schools across the country strategize ways to reduce the burden on students and allow them to focus on other aspects of building a successful life, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We’re fighting against a culture of go, go, go where schools are busier than we ever have been before,” Challenge Success program director Margaret Dunlap told Newport-Mesa school board members.

The Challenge Success website contends the “largely singular focus on academic achievement has resulted in a lack of attention to other components of a successful life – the ability to be independent, adaptable, ethical and engaged critical thinkers.”

“The overemphasis on grades, test scores and rote answers has stressed out some kids and marginalized many others,” according to the site.

Dunlap is working with several high schools in the Newport-Mesa district to collaborate with parents and students to develop their own plan of action to address the issue, through things like reduced homework policies, no homework nights, limits on time spent on sports, revised grading policies, and “dialogue nights” between students, parents and school officials, the Times reports.

“We don’t have a one-size-fits-all curriculum,” Dunlap said.

Other potential changes, such as an earlier start to the school year, will require district officials to negotiate with union leaders to modify the district’s collective bargaining agreement.

Teams of volunteers – eight to 10 parents of school faculty – will also attend Challenge Success conferences in the spring and fall to brainstorm ideas and craft action plans. In the meantime, district officials are distributing information from Challenge success about research on homework and cheating, with ideas about how to limit stress on students.

“Parents are anxious to learn – they have their own stress built in,” said Charlene Metoyer, vice president of the Newport-Mesa school board.

James Hunter at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture supports this sentiment: “One cannot understand character outside of culture, and culture matters decisively” (The Tragedy of Moral Education in America, p. 6). The question then becomes what is the shared vision of moral goods shared by a particular community.

Teachers and principals in thinking about whether academic studies override the school’s efforts to instill positive moral and character development in students can find useful information at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre by reading the Jubilee Centre’s document, Character Education: Evaluation for Schools.

Iowa college students help middle schoolers create videos to highlight their heroes

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What began as a conversation between Bettendorf Middle School teachers over lunch has evolved over the last three years into a program that allows students to highlight their heroes, under the mentorship of college students they admire.

“It all started with a lunch discussion among teachers about how factual the movie Apollo 13 is,” language arts teacher Lisa Barnes told Iowa Now. “It kind of snowballed from there, and we decided to ask students, ‘Who has a story that deserves a Hollywood blockbuster?’”

The project tasked eighth-graders with creating movie trailers for fictional films about real heroes, in their lives or in history. Some students looked to their relatives, others highlighted passengers on the Titanic, Holocaust survivors, and civil rights leaders.

In the first two years, students at the University of Iowa’s Department of Cinematic Arts watched the trailers and picked winners for different categories. The middle schoolers who won were invited to the UI campus, where they toured the school, sat in on classes, and ate lunch with cinema students.

This is a beautiful example of the informal and indirect means of teaching moral development. A fun assignment is reinforced with older mentors and role models to the end that heroes are honored and students inspired. Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture stress the importance of this informal articulation of a moral culture through the example of others.

Over the last two years, Bettendorf has issued Chromebooks to all students, and invested in better video editing and recording equipment. And this year, UI students expanded their role by visiting with the 150 Bettendorf students participating in the program to help them perfect their videos.

“I was blown away by how, at their age, they understood what images to use to pull at the heartstrings, what elements to use to create suspense, where to cut music out and where to put music in, and really just understanding how to entertain within a few minutes,” UI student Sam Kessie said.

Barnes told Iowa Now the time UI students spent with the middle schoolers not only helped students improve their fictional movie trailers, and gain skills they can apply in the real world, but also exposed them to opportunities some may not have considered otherwise.

“Every student left that room feeling as if they had done something well and there was something they could work on,” Barnes said of the UI mentorship.

“It opens their eyes to the fact that the University of Iowa is more than a football team,” she said. “That’s what many of them think at this point in their lives. But to go and see the things you can do in college opens your eyes to all the opportunities that exist and the world of careers available to you. It brings out a whole new side of college.”

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students will find information, strategies and teacher lesson plans at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre.

Immigrant custodian honored for positive influence at ID elementary school

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Mustafa Ocanavic wears a lot of hats at Boise’s Taft Elementary School – custodian, counselor, cafeteria DJ, student safety monitor, mentor and friend.

But most people at the Idaho elementary simply refer to Ocanavic as the “heart” of Taft, where he’s worked as a custodian for the last 11 years.

Ocanavic was born in Bosnia but moved to the U.S. and gained American citizenship before landing his school job. Since that time, he’s worked to treat the students and staff at Taft as “family,” and his efforts have not gone unnoticed, KTVB reports.

“This person greets a lot of you every morning when you come in before school,” Principal Tim Lowe told students who recently gathered in the cafeteria for a special ceremony for “Mr. Mustafa.” “This is our chance to tell Mustafa thank you, so give him a big round of applause.”

Mustafa demonstrates the moral influence of an involved adult in the lives of students. Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture argue that case studies consistently show “the importance of the informal articulation of a moral culture through the example of teachers and other adults in the school community.” Mustafa’s involvement with the students consistently showed care, safety, and fun. It is a winning combination born from his past struggles.

“I come from a very troubled area of Bosnia, … and I found a new home and I am thankful for this,” Ocanavic told students. “And you guys my family.”

Lowe told the news site Ocanavic’s background as an immigrant with military experience has fit well with students and staff at Taft.

“We have an awful lot of families that struggle for a lot of reasons,” Lowe said. “The fact that he was an immigrant himself, he has a special understanding of a lot of our kids who come here from different countries and what it’s like to learn a new language and to be immersed in American culture.”

Ocanavic is also “a significant part of making sure Taft is a safe school, and these days it’s such an important issue,” Lowe said. “He has a military background that he applies every day here and he is really a stickler.”

Ocanavic said he goes out of his way to help students simply because it’s the right thing to do.

“I try to help those kids,” he said. “It’s not in my job description but I put myself in that position, those kids need help, talk.”

Ocanavic said he also enjoyes playing music for kids at lunch on Fridays, when he become his alter-ego, “DJ Moose.”

“The kids love it and we like to dance – first eat – then dance a little bit,” he said.

Teachers and principals working to strengthen moral and citizenship formation in their students can find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre. In The Jubilee Centre’s own words, the following illustrates how the Centre views its work.  “The Jubilee Centre is a pioneering interdisciplinary research centre on character, virtues and values in the interest of human flourishing.  The Centre is a leading informant on policy and practice through its extensive range of projects contributes to a renewal of character virtues in both individuals and society.”

New narrative

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In order to combat the narrative the world presents to our students of who they are as people, from day one we present a new narrative. After spending the last several years working in different classrooms at Cornerstone Prep Lester in Binghampton, Memphis, we began co-teaching third grade this year with a focus on presenting this new narrative to our students. We narrate who each student is so he or she becomes that person. We also teach students the skills to follow the narrative we present. To the student who struggles with lying, we tell him he is not a liar, and give him opportunities to tell the truth. To the student who doesn’t complete her homework, we tell her she is someone who is prepared for each day with homework complete. We call the discouraged, courageous, and give her opportunities to be brave. We call the lazy, hardworking, and tell him how a hard working student acts. We call the angry, kind, and give him tools for anger management, as well as the words of kindness to pass along to his classmates. Our students need someone to believe in who they can be before they can move in the direction. We paint a picture of that future for them, and then give them the tools to move in that direction. We fight against the narrative of the world with a new narrative.

James came to us this year consistently struggling with emotional breakdowns and outbursts. He was self-aware of experiencing various intense emotions. He would speak phrases like “I’m irritated! I’m irritated!” while tearing at his clothes, ripping off his shoes, slamming his hands down on his desk, or collapsing in the hallway. James would sometimes come into school already emotionally charged or something would trigger him part way through the day. His classmates who had travelled through previous grades with James were never surprised by his breakdowns and outbursts.

We immediately went to work presenting a new narrative of who James was as a person. Everything we spoke to James had the same vein of truth in it – you can control yourself, and here are the tools. This was the narrative we wanted James to move toward, and we believed in him.

“James, you are not controlled by your irritation. You are the boss of your irritation. You are irritated, so use these words to tell us and use these strategies to calm down.”

“You are not someone who slams their desk. You are resilient when you get frustrated. You keep your head up. You work despite the frustration.”

We cannot even begin to describe the growth in this student. James still has meltdowns, but with less and less frequency. Students need adults to paint a new narrative of their future, while equipping them with the tools to move toward that future. We know what we believe as adults is displayed in our words and actions, and we want our students to emulate our good beliefs about them.

Wichita district launches new “opportunity” school for disruptive students

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The Wichita, Kansas school district is launching a new “Opportunity Academy” for misbehaving students that will focus more extensively on developing character – an effort to address increasing disciplinary problems in recent years.

The number of suspensions, detentions and trips to the principal’s office in Wichita elementary schools increased from 8,762 four years ago to13,500 incidents last year, despite the fact that district enrollment decreased.

District wide, discipline issues are up 11 percent, and teachers union officials have complained about chaos in the classroom, according to The Wichita Eagle.

“We’ve been looking at areas of need, both academically and in terms of behavior,” district spokesman Terrell Davis said. “And one of those areas is kids who just need additional structure and a hands-on approach.”  School board members unanimously approved a new Bryant Opportunity Academy at a recent meeting to help students “who need a more highly structured, controlled environment,” Davis said.

The Academy will serve 100 kindergarten through sixth grade students who have struggled at other schools by offering smaller class sizes, additional counselors and social workers, and a strong focus on character development, according to the news site.

The effort is part of a broader push to address disciplinary problems that started with daily lessons on character and social and emotional skills at all elementary schools last year.

“We’re looking at school differently for a group of kids who … may not have learned how to play school,” Davis said. “This is a way to think outside of the box to serve those kids.”

The school will open in what was previously Bryant Elementary, one of five schools closed by the district in 2012. A new school funding formula directs additional money to “at-risk” students, though Davis said officials are describing troubled students in terms of “opportunity.”

“We don’t like to use the term ‘at-risk’ to describe our students. We use the term ‘opportunity,’” he said. “We really believe every child has the opportunity for greatness and success … They may come from different places and have different needs, and we just need to meet them wherever they are.”

Researchers at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia are cautious about instances where claims that shifts in vocabulary will reframe the experiences students will have once the new vocabulary are in effect.  Also, in instances where school authorities segregate disruptive students, it places an emphasis on fixing the individual student rather than addressing the deficits in the wider school culture of the previous school. Character is foremost a communal problem not simply an individual one. Moreover, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture sociologist James Hunter in his book, The Death of Character, warns, “Neologisms from the moral education establishment, like ‘prosocial’ are only the most overt and self-conscious attempts to avoid the awkwardness of words like ‘good’ and ‘evil.’” “Troubled students” may well see through the shift in terminology from “at-risk” to “opportunity.” While well intentioned, sometimes it may be necessary start by naming the problem in stark moral terms.

Teachers and principals interested in strengthening the moral ecology of their school will find information and strategies at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre.

 

VA school staff form ‘Men of Vision and Purpose’ through mentorship, service work

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Lafayette High School employees Archie Jefferson, William Capers and Andre McLaughlin are developing “Men of Vision and Purpose.”

“Our job as mentors for these young men is not to tell them what to do,” Jefferson, a student advancement coach at Lafayette, told the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily. “Our job is to make sure we create an environment where they feel like they can do anything.”

The three men created the Men of Vision and Purpose mentoring program at the Virginia school in 2016 in response to rising truancy rates and disciplinary problems that were taking a toll on academics.

The men began meeting with male students before class in the school’s gym once a week for teamwork exercises and character building activities, and the program has since swelled to 80 students.

McLaughlin, a master police officer with James City County and the school’s resource officer, told the Daily the intent is to build a bond between school security and students, while helping them to hold themselves accountable for showing up and participating in school.

Students are expected to read copies of Capers’ motivational book “Breaking the Limits,” and to take part in local service projects and fundraisers. Jefferson, Capers and McLaughlin, meanwhile, strive to set an example of how hard work and dedication builds character through their own endeavors outside of school as independent business owners.

“Building relationships with these students is what fuels me on a daily basis,” McLaughlin said.

“What we are looking to do is change the person,” Jefferson added. “We want to touch your life. We want to hold your heart.”

While the program is still relatively new, it recently won support in the form of a $2,000 Innovative Learning Grant from the WJCC Schools Foundation, which funds programs developed by district employees to improve student support services.

Men and manliness have been under assault in recent decades. This is particularly the case in communities dominated by people of color. The success of this program is its holistic mentorship, it’s connecting of teamwork and character, and its encouragement of individual agency. There is a long history in America of celebrating “self-made” men, even though the idea itself is a myth. Historian Jim Cullen, writing in The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture’s The Hedgehog Review, “Problems and Promises of the Self-Made Myth,” warns, “Given the prevalence of past and present societies in which individual citizens are expected to orient their lives around something other than the self, it is an open, and increasingly pressing, question how long the United States can maintain a sense of cohesion and purpose around the self-made man in an economic formulation untethered to a notion of a greater good.”  This program is seeking to bridge that gap.

Capers told the Daily the crew is now working to expand the program to other schools and develop materials for younger students.

“We want this in as many schools as possible,” Jefferson said. “We are passionate about this. This is not something we do. This is who we are.”

Teachers and principals interested in strengthening moral and character formation in their school can find information and support about this work at the UK’s The Jubilee Centre.

How Olympic athletes still inspire when the race is over

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Sugar Todd is a highly decorated speed skater who competed for the United States at the 2014 Olympics. Reaching these heights of athletic accomplishment can seem daunting, but Todd is demystifying her success by working with Classroom Champions, and helping 2nd-grade students see that it’s built on a foundation of character and hard work.

Todd was paired with the group of 2nd-graders in Racine, WI, through Classroom Champions. The 74 profiled the organization to learn more about its founder, their mission, and the work being done to help students across the country.

Steve Mesler, a former Olympic bobsledder who won gold at the 2010 Games, started Classroom Champions. He told The 74 that the original idea behind the nonprofit came from his own work with schools and Fortune 500 companies. The companies brought him in to talk about “overcoming failure, determination, goal-setting,” but in schools he mostly found himself addressing more basic topics like “healthy living.”

Mesler knew that he, and other elite athletes like him, had more to offer to students. These current and former athletes are clear manifestations of the results of dedication and perseverance, but they also have lessons to offer about sportsmanship and respect.

So, he founded Classroom Champions with the goal of connecting elite athletes and students in mentoring relationships. The organization would utilize new technology to facilitate large numbers of these interactions across the country and globe.

The athletes, like Todd, are matched with several different classrooms. According to The 74, they then “[M]ake monthly videos on topics like fair play, determination, and community that they share with the students. Once a week, teachers present lessons on these skills, and [teachers] incorporate social-emotional vocabulary words such as grit, perseverance, and determination throughout the school day.”

Todd’s students in Racine, and their classroom teacher, were particularly moved by her words following her failure to qualify for the Pyeongchang Games. As she said, “I was ready. I was capable. I was going to crush. But I didn’t. And the heartbreak that followed stunned me.” She was at the lowest point an athlete can be, but she still inspired the 2nd-graders by congratulating the skater who took her place on the Olympic Team.

She said of someone else living her dream: “I can celebrate that.” It is remarkable that Todd, who invested countless hours and boundless energy into a goal that eventually disappeared, still displayed kindness and sportsmanship in losing.

Classroom teacher Amy Simon even admitted that Todd’s lessons on perseverance had an impact on the challenges she faces as an educator.

This is a reminder that forming character traits like determination, grit, and good sportsmanship is the work of a lifetime. Having supportive adult role models—such as admired elite athletes—is important for children and adults alike.

“There is considerable evidence that strong social support contributes crucially to academic success in school, whether that support comes from parents and family, youth organizations, or religious communities,” write James Davison Hunter and Ryan S. Olson in the conclusion of The Content of Their Character, which contains the research findings of the School Cultures and Student Formation Project of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

Classroom Champions founder Steve Mesler said, “These kids identify with the athletes in such a powerful way, it changes the way they treat each other.” At the end of the day, that’s even more important than their improved perseverance and determination.

Check out how you can bring Classroom Champions to your classroom.

Bronx Prep student falls in love with cello

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Bronx teen Richard Jimenez is a freshman at the College of Saint Rose, and he credits a unique opportunity and mentorship at Bronx Prep high school for helping him to succeed in a neighborhood where many do not.

As an 8th-grader, Jimenez overheard the school’s orchestra teacher, Mr. Alvarado, playing the violin, and it inspired him to take up the cello a week later. In the years since, Jimenez developed his talents with Alvarado’s guidance, becoming an example for future students who often feel their options for escaping their inner-city neighborhoods are limited, according to Democracy Prep Public Schools.

“If you can’t be extremely book smart or play sports, there’s not really much else you can do. I have a lot of friends who believe that,” Jimenez said.

“Music was my answer. Music was my way of getting out of here,” he said. “It kept me away from all of the bad things happening around me.”

Daily practice—in orchestra class, at home, and during school study time—quickly built Richard’s skills and confidence, and by his junior year he played his first solo in the Bronx Prep Spring Showcase, an experience that also helped him overcome his personal struggle with performing in public. “I remember going up to Mr. Alvarado saying I need tips on how to break the nervousness I had,” Jimenez said. “He said, ‘just play’ and walked away. That was probably the best advice I ever got.”

Jimenez credits Alvarado for opening up a path for his future he didn’t know existed. “He gave me the gift of music and the gift of a different form of expression that I didn’t know was real,” he said. “He guided me into becoming the person that I wanted to become. Everyday I treasure that.”

Alvarado contends his relationship with Jimenez made a positive impact on him, as well, and credited much of his student’s success to hard work, practice and personal dedication. “It’s unheard of for anyone to begin playing string instruments at the age of 14 and be at the level he’s at,” Alvarado said. “All of that has to do with his motivation and passion for music. Moments like that, I stop to think, ‘this validates my life’s work.’”

Jimenez also serves as an example of what other students can accomplish, and Alvarado said he’s not shy about sharing his story with other minority students looking to break into fields where they’re typically underrepresented. “He was consistent, devoted, passionate, and just wants to know more and grow,” he said. “I feel that’s something our younger scholars need to succeed: To see a success story from Bronx Prep; to see our own scholars being successful.”

Teachers like Mr. Alvarado play an indispensable role in directing the path of students’ lives—and in modeling the kind of people that they can become.

The Content of Their Character, a summary of the School Cultures and Student Formation Project conducted by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, points out:

The moral example of teachers unquestionably complemented the formal instruction students received, but arguably, it was far more poignant to, and influential upon, the students themselves.

For Jimenez, Alvarado’s positive example not only offered a path to success out of his inner-city neighborhood, but also a template to help others in his community and beyond.

“The greatest I can become—that’s the level I want to reach. I believe it’s a mission to spread the beauty of music to others. I know what it did for me and what it can do for others,” he said. “The same thing that Mr. Alvarado did for me, I want to do the same and continue that path. Giving back to where you came from is very important to me.”

While Jimenez found a transformative experience in music, it’s only one of many ways educators can connect with students to build character and unlock their true potential.

The Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues offers a lesson that weaves history, film, and music to entice students toward a similar kind of passionate pursuit of excellence that fueled Jimenez’s success.

‘Volunteer dads’ appear at Dallas middle school

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A Breakfast with Dads’ event was planned at Dallas’s Billy Earl Dade Middle School, where 90% of students are from low-income families. Child advocate Kristina Dove was concerned that some students would not have a father available to attend, so she posted an appeal on social media. Stephanie Drenka, a Dallas photographer who works with Dove, said they hoped to get 50 male mentors through their Facebook appeal for the 150 male students ages 11 to 13 who had signed up to attend the event.

Nearly 600 men showed up, according to The Washington Post. The unexpected influx caused the event to be moved from the school’s cafeteria to the gymnasium.

Breakfast with Dads

Drenka wrote on her blog: “I will never forget witnessing the young students surrounded by supportive community members. There were so many volunteers, that at times I saw young men huddled in the center of 4–5 mentors. The look of awe—even disbelief—in the students’ eyes as they made their way through the crowd of ‘Dads’ was astonishing.” Drenka photographed the event, with some difficulty. “It was a miracle any of the pictures came out in focus, because I could barely see clearly through the tears streaming down my face and fogged-up glasses.”

The Rev. Donald Parish Jr. of True Lee Missionary Baptist Church, who helped organize the event, told the Dallas Morning News, “When a young person sees someone other than their teacher take interest in them, it inspires them.”

Jamil “The Tie Man” Tucker told students and guests that learning to tie a necktie is a rite of passage some young men never experience. Mentors handed out ties to eager students and helped them perfect their half-Windsor knots.

Photos courtesy of Stephanie Drenka

The role of adult role models and mentors in forming the character of young people is difficult to overstate because, as James Davison Hunter and Ryan S. Olson write in The Content of Their Character, a summary of field research in American high schools from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, character “is constituted by the enactment of moral ideals espoused within a tradition and enacted within the institutions of particular communities.”

At Billy Earl Dade Middle school, nearly 600 men stepped forward in action. For the young men at Dade who may have lacked a father or father-figure in their lives, there’s the possibility that some of these men will become that presence in their lives.

If you’re recruiting mentors for your community, social media may work. If you’re looking for the opportunity to invest in mentoring, the Mentoring Initiative has a tool to help you find a quality program in your area that is seeking mentors.

©2017 Advanced Studies in Culture

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