School Culture

SCHOOL CULTURE

As one of the Assistant Principals for YouthBuild Charter School of California, I was responsible for supporting many schoolwide initiatives to promote school culture. In some cases, I was the administrator overseeing the implementation of the program. In other cases, I was a contributing participant in a process being led by another staff member or a team of people.

National School Lunch Program

During the 2014-15 school year, I oversaw the adoption of the National School Lunch Program. This year, I continued to play that role. My responsibilities included organizing professional development for the YCSC staff that run the on-site distribution of lunches and manage the accounting of meals. I also served as a liaison between YCSC staff members and our food vendor. After health inspections, I monitored any changes to our practices that are recommended, if any. Finally, I helped the accounting office at Inyo County Superintendent of Schools conduct fiscal oversight over the program.

STEAM Fair

Each school year, science teachers at YCSC organize a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math Fair. My role during the past two years has included overseeing a part of their budget, including the purchase of supplies and awards for winners of the fair. This year, I served as the head judge for the fair. I led a team of judges in reviewing student submissions in each category of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Additionally, I facilitated the selection of the winners. This event gives YCSC teachers an opportunity to encourage students to develop high-quality science research. This year, the event also featured speakers from STEM professions, who shared their experience in a science-related field.

Code LA & CODEchella

During the last two years, the STEM Coordinator, Nadia Despenza, has organized a schoolwide computer coding event for our school. In April, over 20 students from multiple YCSC campuses visited the a computer lab on the campus of Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC). For 5 days, Nadia and a consultant taught those students how to computer code in two languages, HTML and CSS. This week of coding this week was designated as "Code LA." On the Saturday following this training, the students spent 12 hours at LATTC for a hack-a-thon. Students were divided up into team. Each team was assigned to a client, a business in the community that needed a website designed. Over the course of the rest of the day the team of students and a coding mentor from local tech companies would design that website from start to finish. At the end of the day, a team of judges chose a winner.

Throughout the school year, I checked in with Nadia about her planning for the event. She secured funding, found sponsors for the event, and reached out to local businesses that needed a website. Most often, I served as a thought partner for her ideas. YCSC paid certain costs for the event, such as student transportation and prizes. I assisted Nadia in getting these purchased. Prior to the event, I encouraged science and technology teachers to send students and attend the event itself. Several teachers attended in order to learn coding and to learn how to teach this skill to students. Finally, at the event itself, I served as one of the judges for the websites.

Science Supplies

During the summer of each year, I work with the STEM Coordinator Nadia in the purchase of science supplies for science teachers at YCSC. They are purchased from a specialist vendor, Flinn. First, Nadia will lead a workshop for teachers on project-based learning in science. Then, she will recommend some basic supplies, like microscopes, for all teachers. After that, the science teachers are given a budget to select supplies that will align with their curriculum. Nadia, the other Assistant Principals, and I will review these requests and approve each individual item on a Google Doc. We then send this list to Flinn so that they can create a purchase order. Nadia and I work directly with Flinn if there are any questions about our list or the purchase order. This process is particularly complicated, because the YCSC school network is spread out across 19 campuses all over Southern California.

Arts in Education Event

Last year, our school hosted a TEDx event. This year, because we did not receive licensing for a TEDx, our headquarter staff members organized an event titled "Art in Education." I was a member of the planning committee. This event took place on the campus of the Compton YouthBuild program. Staff members, students, and community members were invited to share their music, art, and spoken word.

As a committee member, I helped select the theme for the event, select presenters, and develop the agenda. Additionally, Aaron School, another Assistant Principal, and I were responsible for working with the students speakers and performers. We checked in on the students checked in on their progress in writing their speeches or crafting their performances. A few days before the event, we held a dress rehearsal. I worked with the students I was assigned and a teacher in order to give them feedback on their presentations. At the event, I helped with the logistics of picking up food and additional supplies.

Gay Straight Alliance

This year, two Masters of Social Work Interns at the Norwalk campus worked with two alumni interns in developing a Gay Straight Alliance. I checked in on them in the development of this student group. And, I attended several meetings, including the meeting where they wrote a mission statement. I encouraged them to present at the YCSC spring professional development. Although several other YCSC campuses have organized GSAs, our teachers and students need more training around meetings the needs of the LGBTQ community at our school.

LEADERSHIP

Through these initiatives, I developed many skills as a school leader. These skills align to the following CAPEs:

• CAPE 2: Developing a Shared Commitment to the Vision Among All Members of the School
  Community
• CAPE 4: Sharing Leadership with Others in the School Community to help Accomplish the Vision
• CAPE 7: Demonstrating Understanding of the School and Community Context, Including the Instructional Implications of Cultural/Linguistic, Socioeconomic, and Political Factors
• CAPE 10: Implementing Change Strategies Based on Current, Relevant Theories and Best
  Practices in School Improvement
• CAPE 11: Identifying and Using Available Human, Fiscal, and Material Resources to Implement the School Growth Plan
• CAPE 14: Helping Teachers Improve Their Individual Professional Practice Through
  Professional Growth Activities
• CAPE 17: Developing, Implementing, and Monitoring the School’s Budget

NEXT STEPS

For the upcoming year, I have been given the role of facilitating school culture events and activities at YouthBuild Charter School. I plan on continuing to oversee and facilitate all of the initiatives listed above. Additionally, I hope to support the further integration of computer coding and web design into our curriculum through professional development for teachers. And, I plan on connecting with local LGBTQ organizations in training our staff on how to encourage and support our student community. In my role, I will also work more closely with the Directors of the MSW Intern program at our school. I hope to closely monitor their projects with students and provide direction and support when needed.