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Week 14 -- 04/08/2019 -- 04/12/2019

Good morning West Community!


Spring is finally here. The atmosphere has changed, and with these big changes comes a realization that it is crunch time here at West Leadership Academy. The majority of our students are undergoing statewide testing. If you are not familiar with testing anxiety, let me tell you all, IT IS REAL.

Speaking from personal experience, I too underwent testing anxiety -- not necessarily in k-12 schools. Rather, in college exams. Some of our students do not know how to express themselves when they do undergo anxiety, and some start to show some defiant behaviors that undermine their abilities to test. Our staff here at WLA is equipped to support students if they do experience these anxiety attacks, as we fully work with them to try their best for these exams. That being said, the last thing I am going to do with my students is bombard them with new material to learn. Instead, my students started to finish their masks, and I gotta tell you, they look AMAZING.

As previously mentioned last week, the project consists of three assignments:

1. An identity mask, whose purpose is for students to decorate with key identifying traits as to the person they are in public. In other words, who they are to the people out in public. On the inside, the students have been instructed to decorate their masks with the identity they hide from public, specifically ideas and constructs that might be holding them back.




2. The students must write an "I Am" Poem, in which they have an opportunity to describe themselves



3. Last but not least, students will have to write and reflect what we have learned this past unit. Not only that, the student's need to also write about their experience with their mentees/mentors, the idea being if they have been able to relate some of the lessons from the unit to build a positive relationship.

Last week, the majority of them started to design their mask and paint them as well. For the most part, I want to make sure my students are having fun in here and supporting each other for the rest of the month during testing.

Tune in next week for the final finished product!

Happy reading, y'all.

Cowboys, Out.

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