052: A Lesson in Responding, Not Reacting

One of the things I'm most proud of during my teaching career occurred while I worked in the district was the opportunity to co-create a student leadership organization with two of my very dear friends. 

I served six years as a high school Student Assistance Program (SAP) Team coordinator. Students experiencing learning barriers due to mental health, drugs, and alcohol were referred to our team. As a result, we embarked on a process to collect specific, descriptive, observable data from staff in the school and their families to provide a 360-degree view of how the barriers impact their ability to learn. 

Then, we worked with the student and families to connect them to the support they needed to help them achieve health and success. It is essential to note this process was not disciplinary or punitive. 

One year, we had a very high rate of students being referred to the SAP Team. We realized that, collectively, we need to move from being responsive to being preventative.

What could this look like? How would we organize and afford this?

Our principal wrote a grant that brought us $70,000 to start our Leadership Academy. We asked teachers to identify students who demonstrated leadership potential. They didn’t need to lead peers in the right direction, but they were a person of influence in their classrooms. We collected the names of seventy students, invited them to the auditorium, and introduced them to what we were creating. We hoped that maybe 20 of them would be interested. 

Fifty students said they wanted to join the SNAP (Student Needs Assistance Program) Academy. We had a diverse cross-section of the student population - sports captains, top of the class, band leaders, students in the plays, students in the service organizations, and students who were not involved in any school activities. 

The Academy turned into a 3-year leadership course worth .5 credits. We introduced them to the Search Institute’s Developmental Assets and CASEL’s Social Emotional Learning competencies in their first year. We hoped the SNAP Academy students could take information on resources and learn from their peer groups. They understood they were not counselors but connectors.

We sectioned out the three years with goals and trained students as peer mediators and mentors. They planned and organized school assemblies, alcohol- and drug-free events, and the Post-Prom party. The topics we discussed in the class were driven by student interest and need. 

 Over the first year, the students developed our mission statement, and the co-designers and I created The Pledge. Below, you’ll find both of the original slides. 

Initially, our students signed The Pledge, and things were smoothly underway. But we know that students make mistakes; it was inevitable that this would happen. So when we did have a handful of students who made a poor decision at a party to drink or smoke pot, it felt wrong to remove them from the Leadership Academy.

One of the most significant benefits of the Academy was that it bonded together students who thought they had nothing in common. Many admitted that we were able to connect our group of students when their paths might not have crossed before. Together, we learned, laughed, learned, grieved, and celebrated.

Removing them from a support group of friends seemed harmful when they would benefit from a supportive network. It has us reflecting on how we respond when our students make mistakes. 

Ultimately, we decided to revise The Pledge. Students caught drinking or doing drugs were provided support through the SAP Team. Instead of being removed from the Academy, we brought them in closer. If they had a study hall, we asked that they attend extra leadership class sessions. They devised a project related to their mistake. These few students were placed on a six-month probationary period during this time. But if they continued to make choices that were not benefiting themselves or our organization, we did need to talk about parting ways. 

It is critical to mention that even though this did happen to two students (they had to leave the Academy), this did not mean that we, as the teachers of the Academy, stopped talking to and connecting with the students. We continued to see them in class, during study hall, and at school events. They continued to have our support as they learned.