Piloting New HS Trips with the Class of 2016

Last semester the Advisory Council (the High School Leadership Team) decided to use a design thinking process to re-imagine our high school trips. Over the past few years the feedback that we have received from teachers and students is that they are "good" but not "great". So, we defined our task as the following.

"Redesign the experiences to make them indispensable and unforgettable so that the mission and core values come to to life."

To do this we did the following:

• Reviewed student and teacher surveys from this past year.
• Held focus groups with small groups of 11th and 12th graders to brainstorm the possibilities.
• Informally gathered information from teachers.
• Met with travel agents to brainstorm options.
• Surveyed other international schools to research what other schools are doing.

From feedback from students we learned that many students wanted us to consider offering choices that allowed students to explore their passions and service opportunities. When we asked about other characteristics students mentioned that the prefer the following:

• Immersion in a new environment
• Learning new and different skills
• Thinking about others (Service)
• Learning with a group
• Visiting new places
• Stepping outside their comfort zone

After several iterations of trip scenarios we decided to present a plan to the grade 10 students. The pilot is to give next year's 11th graders multiple options to choose from. This means that there will be smaller groups traveling to different locations during the week of September 15.

• Scuba Diving in Fernando de Noronha
• Immersion in Amazon (on boat)
• Ilha do Cardozo Trip
• Hiking in Patagonia
• Local Build with Teto
• Experiencing Sampa
• Internships
• College Visit Trip in United States

The survey results show that the overwhelming majority of students favor this new model.

We are now in the process of gathering feedback from parents and teachers to find out if these trips will become a reality. If we pilot them in September 2014 we plan to have students sign up and commit to trip later this semester.

We are interested in hearing your thoughts on rolling out these trips to next year's 11th grade students. What do you think? What questions to you have? Please share your comments and questions using the comment feature below.

Some of Graded’s core values in action

This past weekend seventeen Graded seniors took part in a retreat that encompassed every core value. 

Peer Group Connection (PGC) is a program that enlists a group of seventeen seniors as mentors to help underclassmen with the transition to high school and the pressures of becoming adults.  Last weekend these seniors received training in leadership, communication, problem solving and critical thinking as they were put in situations that stretched them physically and emotionally, from walking a tightrope 15 feet in the air to speaking up even when doing so was uncomfortable.  The biggest risk, however, was learning to accept and confront differences.  PGC challenges students to reflect on how they can become better people and, in doing so, forge a better community.   

What do Graded's Core Values look like?

Students Sharing their Core Value Examples

Students in Integrated Math Standard I started the year by sharing stories from the vacation and they had to connect their experiences to our new Core Values. The members of the class then had to guess which classmate matched the story. The second half of the class the students defined how the they specifically use these attributes in the classroom.

This is just one example of how the Core Values are coming to life in our classrooms. Below are examples from their vacation and how they can practice the Core Values in the classroom.

Over time, our students will be easily able to identify these attributes at the time of the action and/or event.

Risk taking
"Went scuba diving for the first time."
"Ran a half marathon in Rio ( Time = 1:49)."


Reflective
"When you do a mistake and you try to figure out what you did wrong."
"When learning a new concept, reflecting on something that you learned previously can help because the concepts might relate."

Innovative
"Be innovative in finding new study habits or patterns that work for you."

Curious
"I went to see researchers trying to capture sea turtles."
"Don't be afraid to ask if you are confused..."

Inclusive
"Invite someone you don't know to work with you."
"Helping someone who didn't understand what to do."

Responsible
"Bring calculator to class."
"Having to spend three weeks without my parents doing things for me."

Communicator
"Today I talked to a guy who is new to Graded."
"Meeting new people at a place that was completely new to me."

Is Brazil ready to embrace women's soccer?

Left to Right: Julie Foudy, Amy Flindt, Ange Molony, Brandi Chastain

On Thursday the 23rd of May at Pacaembu stadium, Ms Flindt and I turned into giggling teens bursting with the excitement of meeting a couple of our childhood heroes. Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain were members of the US Women's soccer team throughout the 1990s and rose to fame after the World Cup win in 1999 (Chastain's celebration became as famous as the goal she scored).  

Foudy and Chastain spent the week in Sao Paulo training coaches about ways to incorporate and encourage girls to join and then remain involved in soccer. In addition to this, the stars worked with about 125 junior girls in soccer clinics throughout their week long stay.

Pic with permission from @eticawinter

On Thursday evening a panel was held at Pacaembu to discuss the hurdles that Brazil faces in trying to attract more women (and support of women) to sports. Both Foudy and Chastain spoke about the struggles that the US faced in the 70s to get women into sports and that this struggle for equality in sports in not a new one. They encouraged the attendees to come together to come up with strategies to get the sports clubs, media and the government on board. I was shocked at some of the numbers that were presented to us: 13 million women/girls in soccer in the US vs Brazil's 400,000. Even if you consider that Brazil might not be able to get accurate results the difference in numbers is still alarming.



So, what can Graded do?

First - Graded girls you gotta keep playing sports!

Second - Create opportunities for girls in our community to get involved in sports.

Starting in August I would like to see our Graded Basketball and Soccer Cares clubs make an effort to attract more girls to these groups. It would be great to start with more Graded girls helping out (Gabriella M is already on board) and then we need to come up with creative ways to get the visiting girls to change their mindsets a little about sports, hopefully this will happen by having fun! Girls who play sports gain confidence, stay healthy and develop leadership skills, three awesome reasons to make sure this happens.

Check out this video aimed at keeping girls on the field:

Lee Fertig on Leadership Development at Graded

Cross posted in the Graded Gazette

Leadership Development
Many Graded students, teachers, and parents had the opportunity to participate in this week’s Global Symposium, Women Changing Brazil, sponsored by Barnard College. On Wednesday, we were fortunate to have Barnard students and administrators on campus conducting a series of workshops with high school students from Graded and several other international schools in the São Paulo area. I had the opportunity to meet with these Barnard College officials and we ended up talking a lot about leadership and how educational institutions empower young adults to become effective leaders. And this prompted my thinking about how we do this here at Graded…

What does leadership development look like at Graded? Does the school have one concrete model that includes a curricular focus on leadership, different leadership opportunities for students, special age-appropriate resources, and multiple assessments of leadership activity? No, not really. We do not utilize anything so formal and structured. Nevertheless, people from outside of the school community are constantly telling me how impressed they are with the manner in which Graded students have a leadership presence in a wide variety of activities. Our students were recently commended for being some of the best delegates at the HACIA Democracy and Model United Nations events. A school administrator from an international school in the mid-East commented on how impressed he was with Graded students at the recent AMIS music festival in Dubai. Graded students were the ones who organized the recent Fashion for Community event. Even the Barnard College representatives noticed how astute and active Graded students were in the dialogue at this week’sWomen Changing Brazil symposium. And leadership is not just about individuals speaking and performing in front of others. To empower others with more of a “behind-the-scenes” approach is equally effective: teaching skills to others for their own advancement, implementing organizational structures that enhance the work of others, and giving constructive feedback to peers and colleagues are a few other ways in which authentic leadership manifests itself.

Where does this come from? How do Graded students acquire these characteristics, especially if there is no formal training program? The Graded Experience is filled with numerous opportunities to engage in different types of leadership behavior, activities that encourage students to take some risks and learn along the way. This happens in so many extracurricular activities, but it also takes place within classrooms on a daily basis. Students are constantly being asked to engage in tasks that contribute to effective leadership. So, even though we would probably benefit from being even more intentional about developing strong leadership in our children, it is obvious that much of this is already happening organically. In some respects, this should not come as a surprise to anyone… Graded’s mission does challenge us to empower students to become “engaged, ethical citizens in a dynamic world.” The Graded Experience, by its very nature, is doing just that.