Empowering Students to Be Assets to the Community

• In Event: Teachers and Teacher Educators Using Action Research to Inform Practice

Abstract

Our involvement in Creative Pedagogies for School Change, a collaboration with The New School, and our participation in ZEST [Zone of Empowerment for Students and Teachers] Action Research Project at Clara Barton High School created an upsurge of ideas and a burning desire to explore changes that might have a direct result in helping students to be college ready with the knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them to function holistically there, in society, and in their careers. We sought to explore how we might truly make a difference in the lives of students who are experiencing those difficulties often associated with the low economic strata of their parents and which often prevent them from expanding their horizons. Our research has led us to focus on preparing young adults to be agents of change in their community. We have, therefore, created an organization called GEEKS mentoring (Get Educational Empowering Knowledge for Success) in which mentors, using the leadership modules created by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), are prepared to provide academic and personal support, college and career readiness skills, and leadership skills. Our poster describes the ways in which we have come to understand what aspects of the mentoring process are most effective for our high school students.

Authors

• Clarissa Ash, Clara Barton High School

• Katia Belony, Clara Barton High School