Week 19 -- 05/13/2019 -- 05/29/2019

Good Morning West Community,

Another year, come and gone. We have found ourselves at the parting of the ways. This will be my last blog of the school year until August, so take a look at what we did the last two weeks of class.

The past two weeks have been designated for my students to work on their final projects. For those of you who are curious about what we have been doing, the other blogs should fill you in as to what the class has been getting themselves into. The final project I have had my students work on these last two weeks is a powerpoint presentation of three drugs that the group has researched.

The students each needed to answer six essential questions about the drugs, which you will find below:

1. What the drug is

2. How they are used

3. How they affect the brain

4. Effects of use

5. Addiction factors

6. percentages of teen use

The students had a list of these drugs to chose from:

Alcohol

Anabolic Steroids

Bath Salts / Cocaine

Cough and Cold Medicine

Heroin / Inhalants

MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly)

Methamphetamine

Prescription Depressant Medications

Prescription Drugs

Prescription Pain Medications

Prescription Stimulant Medications

Spice

Tobacco, Nicotine, E-Cigarettes

They chose 3 drugs, researched and answered all 6 questions at which point they presented in front of the class. Some students were obviously shy with the whole experience but one of the good things about the project was that our students were able to work on this with their mentors and mentees.

Finally, the last part of the project was to write a 1-page reflection paper on how they took in all of the information taught over the war on drugs. I have to say, all of my students definitely made use of the conversations we had in the class about drugs and essentially, how the decisions they make about these types of drugs can affect their life.

When I took over the program in the beginning of the semester, I was overwhelmed by many factors such as the workload increase, the classroom management, the curriculum being taught effectively by myself. It was a big transition, but a step in the right direction not only for myself but for the program here at West Leadership Academy. At the end of the day, I am proud to be West Cowboy and I am proud to have been able to serve here in my community the way that I have done.

But as many of you know, the work never stops, as the grind continues.

Thank you to all of you who have shared in my experiences here at WLA. Thank you to those who care to ask how the class is going and thank you to those who have lent out a helping hand when I have needed it.

Until next year, y'all. Happy reading.

Cowboys, out.

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YESS at West Leadership Academy

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