Good Morning and Welcome back to West Leadership Academy -- Home of the Cowboys

My name is Carlos Villagrana-Juarez and I am the Program Instructor of the YESS Institute at West Leadership Academy. I am returning to my 4th year into the role of establishing a safe, interconnected community for our students. For those of you who are new to the blog and this is your first time reading one of our blogs, I welcome you. For those of you who are keeping up with what we have done since I took over the program, welcome back.

The purpose of this blog is to give you all a general overview of what the program’s philosophy will be this year throughout the pandemic. I will relay information to you about the following topics:

1. Lessons covered in Unit I: Building Community

2. Profiles of our students who are displaying the 5 Social Emotional Learning Skills throughout the school year.

3. Overall, the atmosphere of education that we are serving to our students in the school.

In the first two weeks of class, my students learned about the importance of having Social-Emotional skills.

Here is what I presented to them:

1. Self-Awareness / Conciencia de sí mismo

• Identifying emotions / Identificar emociones

• Accurate self-perception / autopercepción precisa

• Recognizing strengths / Reconociendo fortalezas

• Self Confidence / Auto Estima

2. Self - Management / Habilidades de Autocuidado

• Impulse control / control de los impulsos

• Stress management / manejo del estrés

• Self-Discipline / autodisciplina

• Self-motivation / automotivación

• Goal setting / el establecimiento de metas

• Organizational skills / habilidades organizativas

3. Social Awareness / Sensibilizacion Social

• Perspective-taking / tomando perspectiva de otros

• Empathy / empatía

• Appreciating diversity / apreciando la diversidad

• Respect for others / Respeto a los demas

4. Relationship Skills / Habilidades Sociales y de Relación

• Communication / comunicación

• Social Engagement / Participación Social

• Relationship-building / Construyendo una relación

• Teamwork / trabajo en equipo

5. Responsible Decision Making / Tomando Decisiones Responsables

• Identifying problems / Identificación de problemas

• Analyzing solutions / analizando soluciones

• Solving problems / resolviendo problemas

• Evaluating / evaluando

• Reflecting / reflejando

• Ethical responsibility / responsabilidad ética

Our classes have one goal: to have our students help each other make healthy decisions that will bring long-term results to be responsible, mindful, empathetic adults. With the five skills above, we believe that our students can have the tools, the capacity, and the courage to make the best decision for themselves. In other words, it is up to them and what choices they are making.

With the help of our returning two Seniors, Naisett De Leon and Viviana Torres, we hope to hire three more students into our Mentor Leadership Team, and from there, the goal is to create, deliver, and discuss how our students can learn from their mistakes, grow to be mature adults, but more importantly, to be able to connect with people in a healthy manner. We have a big responsibility ahead of us. Nevertheless, I am confident in our abilities to serve our community with grit and determination.

This new school year, we are facing no greater challenge than the COVID-19 pandemic. It has completely changed the way that our students are experiencing their educational journey. It has shed light on the many problems that the education system in the United States has had. It has brought forth the educational equity component that not all students are privileged to have the same opportunities or luxuries or even access to technology that others can have. This is a fact that is staring us down as we move to the next day. This means that we, as the public servants that we are, need to be able and willing to adapt to the changes that are sure to continue happening.

With the help and support of all staff at West Leadership Academy, we have been able to register our students, provide them with structure and organization for the next 6 weeks as we engage in online learning. More importantly, it has shown all of our communities that throughout this whole experience, we must stay positive, look out for each other, and above all, to continue moving forward.

Next month, come check in with us to see what we are covering in our online classes.

Until next time.

Happy reading, y'all.

Cowboys, Out.