Beating Back Bullying:My Senior Project

Luvreen Saini

Why I Chose My Topic: Bullying

Personal experience with being bullied

Wanted to work with children (connects to future goals of being a pediatrician)

Help local community

How I Started:New Futures

Worked with New Futures before; had a lot of success

Costs over $1,000,000 to run the organization—HSD could afford

How to continue this work?

2 peers and I took on project I needed to find a way to do this

work that was:› Cheap› Quick to implement› Efficient

Finding a Mentor

• Assistant director Jane Doe from New Futures was mentor

• Met at library 3 different times• Brainstormed places for program• Developed our key objectives• Reviewed over our proposal

Proposal to Seahurst PrincipalDear Principal Chris Larsen,

When New Futures was shut down, the community was deprived of an amazing program that provided invaluable resources to the students. For our senior project we wish to implement an after school program at Seahurst Elementary. Such a program would not only benefit the student’s education, but also establish a community of driven learners within the school. As former volunteers/employees of New Futures, we know how much of a positive impact an after school program can have on the students. By providing a place where students can come to receive homework help, we can assure that the students have access to all the information they need to grow as learners and problem solvers.

As members of the IB program, all three of us have obtained high GPA’s through out high school and are properly equipped to provide help for all ages/skill levels. In addition, one of us speaks Spanish fluently and can help work with native Spanish speaking students who may need extra help.

-We will be offering help two times a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, afterschool until 5:00 PM  -Our program’s participants will be based off of teacher recommendations so we can be sure we are providing help to all those in greatest need -Our day will consist of an hour of homework help, brief snack time, and conclude with a fun activity to help develop their interpersonal skills as well as their academic skills.  -One aspect of our project will be seeking our food and supply donations we can bring to use for the program.-We plan to recruit more people who are also interested in volunteering with children to create a broader variety of tutors. And, depending on the amount of students attending, we will use the additional personnel to divide into separate grade levels/skill levels to provide more individual help.

Our goal is to “recreate” New Futures, to make it accessible to all students of Seahurst Elementary that the teachers believe will benefit most from it. Our mentor for this project is Jane Doe, former head of New Futures, who will help us to establish an efficient and beneficial work environment for the students. We would love to have the opportunity to set this up as soon as possible. Please contact any one of us via email or telephone to discuss this in further detail and to set up a time we can meet with you.

Sincerely,Luvreen Saini (206-***-****) Lydia Ortiz (206-***-****) Ellen Leeds (206-***-****)

An Average Day at Seahurst Elementary

We wrote lesson plans for each day

Typical schedule was • Homework Help/Math

based computer game (30 min)

• Snack Time (20 min)• Lesson of the day (40 min)

(rotate between spelling, math, and reading)

• Fun Activity (Remaining Time)

Working with Students

Struggles We Faced Program only twice a week—

took longer to establish routines

Setting (cafeteria) not best for studying

Following directions Power struggles Noise Level

Developing a Management System

In order to deal with behavioral struggles, we met with mentor and developed a 3 warning system:

1. Time out2. Telling their teacher3. Calling home

(Anything beyond would mean expulsion from the program.)

Positive Outcomes• All 20 students who started in the

program finished• 55% of students’ teacher reported

that the participants’ learning increased during program

• Students reported feeling a part of a community after program

• One parent told me that my work with her daughter ”built her self-esteem.”

What I Learned

• Difference between a “cool” teacher and an “effective” teacher

• A child’s attention span is really short, so you have to plan a lot of transitions

• Teaching children requires a lot of planning

• Appreciation for all teachers!

Looking Ahead to My Future

We all learn differently. › Helps me in thinking about

my own future schooling as well as working with future patients.

It’s important to persevere through struggle; it makes the reward bigger.

It’s important to make everyone feel heard.