Welcome to Black History Month,

This month has been a healing and insightful month for our program and myself. I am continuously reminded that in this HEART work, it takes a village and sometimes consistent moments where we nurture, care and love on one another is key. I've been fortunate to occupied spaces where I am nourished and get the opportunity to grow and develop. In the midst of uncertainty and burnout, I hope you have others to lean and gain strength from.

During this time of pausing and reflecting, I'd like to share the wonderful stories that we were able to capture.

Warmly,

Jennie & GEAR UP Team

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The quote for this week to leave folks inspired is from the 2021-22 GEAR UP NPM Program Evaluation:

“My students, before they’ve even graduated, [they’re] talking about how they want to come back and be a [mentor]..."

Cleveland mentor Ana alongside her Partner Teacher Ms. Goldbloom facilitated an activity around habits with their ELL students. Students learned what habits are, identified the good and bad kinds with some centered around a person's mental and physical health. Then students explored examples of healthy and unhealthy habits while in pairs. Students were engaged and curious about the habits they've taken up. This activity allowed for students to learn new concepts, practice their listening skills and applied their knowledge of different kind of habits through an interactive method with their peers. Check out the video played in class below.

Fun fact: it makes more than two months (66 days) before a new behavior becomes automatic.

Earlier last month, we began our Shadowing Opportunity for our Near Peer Mentors with the goal to provide them the opportunity to learn from each other by shadowing one another. Several of our first year mentors got to observe their long-term peers in their classrooms across eight schools.

Before the shadow takes place, mentors participated in a Preparation Meeting where both mentors reviewed the Shadowing Tool to understand the expectations on both ends. Once the shadowing takes place, the Mentor takes a leadership role in hosting their Shadow. After the shadowing, mentors participate in a written reflection and then a verbal reflection virtually. Our veteran mentors shared their appreciation in showcasing their work and getting to learn about the person shadowing them, including their backgrounds and interests etc. Meanwhile the new mentors expressed seeing different strategies being used with students and hoping to use in their own classrooms. One share, “it went great and I’m thinking about shadowing another Near Peer Mentor at another school.”

The shadows will continue onto this month and will open up for long-term mentors to participate.

On January 27th, Near Peer Mentor participated in an interactive workshop development where they worked as a team to begin the development of a College Journey workshops. The long-term mentors demonstrated their leadership when it came to understanding each section of the steps of the workshop template to their peers who are newer to this role.

Mentors also reviewed and reflected on student service data from September-November based on the tracking they’ve collected. Mentors then applied their knowledge to determine their understandings of the multitude of services they provide.

One of the biggest highlight was seeing mentors step up to model community building activities with one another. This included, McKahan and Jovanni leading the Human Snake Activity, Eden and Litzy leading a Soulmate (Find Your Mate) Energizer and Britany and Daniel leading an Personal Symbol Mingle Icebreaker. We love watching the mentors interact and engage with the content and with each other as well and learn new techniques they can take back to their classrooms.

On Thursday, February 9th, mentor Bruno facilitated a Mental Health Awareness workshop with partner teacher, Daniel Jacob's freshmen students. The students learned about the signs of mental health and the different factors that can contribute to poor mental health. During the workshops, students applied their knowledge by looking at several infographics of mental illnesses and share out to their peers what they've learned. Below are some resources and contact information shared during the workshop. Anyone can receive help and should know where to get it.

• Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call 988 or 1-800-273-8255

• Crisis Text Line: Text the word 'Home' to 741-741

• The Trevor Lifeline for LGBTQ Youth: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text ‘START’ to 678678

• The Trans Lifeline: Call 1-877-565-8860

• Domestic Violence Support Hotline: Call 1-800-799-7233

• Human Trafficking Hotline: Call 1-888-373-7888 or text 'Help' to 233-733

• Sexual Assault Hotline: Call 1-800-656-4673

• Multnomah County Crisis Line (& Project Respond) | 503-988-4888 | 24/7 mental health support

• Cascadia Urgent Walk-In Clinic: 42nd & SE Division | 503-963-2575 | Walk in open daily 9am-9pm

• Oregon Youthline | 877-968-8491 | Text: Teen2Teen to 839863 | 4pm-10pm daily peer support

• NAFY: Alba Collaborative | 971-754-4350 | 24/7 Runaway/Crisis Services for anyone 9-17 Years Old

• Racial Equity Support Line | 503-575-3764 | Mon-Fri 10am-7pm | BIPOC support line (racist/hate incident support)

Mentor Kayla at Roosevelt facilitated a Resume Building Workshop with sophomores in order to prepare them for their upcoming field trip to the NW Youth Careers Expo. This event held every year is where students will engage in hands-on learning, demonstrations, mock interviews, career workshops and the chance to talk directly with professionals about college-and-career options!

During the workshop, Kayla reviewed the basics of resumes and walked students through creating or editing their version. As a graduating requirement, they are getting a jumpstart early on!

Main Focus for Mentors: All of our mentors have been crafting a professional goal for themselves that will provide them with a clear purpose, guidance and accountability. The majority of mentors are focused on creating and facilitating workshops around racial inequities, different college options and more community building activities.

Welcoming new Community Researcher: Rakiyah Perry who was previously an AmeriCorps member has transitioned into a Community Researcher role. Her primary focus will be on the Mentor Alumni Project focused on capturing the stories of mentors who have gone through the program dating back to 2013! As we have shared, many of our mentors are PPS alums and have embarked on different career pathways with some even remaining within the district! We look forward to sharing more of his project as it gets developed. We're even more excited to have one of our mentor alums work on this meaningful project.

Community Meaning Making "Dinner & Data": Our evaluation team would like to invite you to join us for an evening of dinner and data! We are hosting a "Community Meaning Making" session on March 8th, 2023 from 6pm-8pm at Alberta House, where we are bringing the community together to listen to the voices of our students, mentors, and teachers, to engage with data, and to discuss ways to apply and utilize what we've heard. Please feel free to share this invitation and any details with other students, mentors, families, and teachers you know who are involved with GEAR UP. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you there!

AP TESTING PROCTORS NEEDED

The AP team would like your help for AP Test Proctors for the Month of May. Feel free to review and share this information with your schools and contacts. If you can please help and proctor a test. Link to Test Proctors NEEDED.

Mentors

• Cloie: thank you for your service to the students. Cloie joined us earlier this year and has since left to focus on her education as a first year college student. During her time, she supported three Partner Teachers at Benson HS where she graduated. She will be missed!
• Gypsy: thank you to Gypsy for her bright energy and unique personality. Gypsy is leaving to study abroad at the end of this month. She will be spending several months in Thailand! We wish her luck and safe travels.
• Javier: thank you to Javier for one and a half great years as a mentor. Javier graduated from Lincoln and returned as a mentor to support two Partner Teachers. He was an integral member of the community between our program and the school. He will be focusing on school and his own professional goals. We wish him the best!

Partner Teacher Daniel Jacobs: thank you for your support to your mentor Bruno at Franklin. This is both Bruno and Daniel's first year in the program and Daniel's been incredibly supportive and thoughtful for his students and classrooms.

February 6 (Monday) - Dat's Birthday 🎂

February 9 (Thursday) - Bruno's Mental Health Workshop

February 10 (Friday) - Kayla's Resume Building Workshop
February 13-15 (Monday-Weds.) - GEAR UP NCCEP Virtual Conference

February 15 (Wednesday) - Kayla's Resume Building Workshop 2
February 17 (Friday) - Embedded PD Day (No School) & NPM Training
February 20 (Monday) - President's Day/HOLIDAY (No School)
February 22 (Wednesday) - NW Youth Careers Expo

March 8 (Wednesday) - Community Meaning Making "Dinner & Data" @ 6-8pm

All Mentors

NPM Public Folder 2022-23

NPM Policy & Procedure Manual

***General Resources***

• GEAR UP Near Peer Mentor Program Evaluation 2021-22 Report
• Feedback Circles: a tool on how to provide feedback to your peers and colleagues
• Avoiding Racial Equity Detours
• The Literature: Expectation of Self
• Essential Understanding of Native Americans in Oregon

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Picture Credits:

1. Group photo of the mentors sitting on a stage behind a yellow wall. (JC)
2. Video of Good and Bad Habits taken from Youtube (Learn English by Pocket Passport)
3. Shadowing Tool cover of a leaf and it's shadow (WallpaperFlare)
4. Mentors Eden, Litzy and Sam posing in front of camera, medium shot (JC)
5. Mentors Alex and Kayla talking (JC)
6. Mentors McKahan and Song talking (JC)
7. Mentor Sam speaking aloud to the group (JC)
8. Slide screenshot of Mental Health Awareness workshop (BLM)
9. Slide screenshot of Resume Tips (KP)
10. Video of Resume Tips (Insider Business)

Jennie Cha (she/her)

Program Supervisor | PPS | HS Academics

Monday Office Hours 1-2pm: meeting link

Thursday Office Hours 11-12pm: meeting link

AmeriCorps Members

• Simone Frison | sifrison@pps.net
• Maria Felix-Pedro | mafelixpedro@pps.net

Email: jcha@pps.net
Website: https://www.pps.net/Page/14862
Location: 501 North Dixon Street, Portland, OR, USA
Phone: 9716789577
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009266612916
Twitter: @gearuppps