In that component, three of us worked with a crisis/prevention counselor. The first culmination of events took place just before Columbus weekend, when we brought them away from their environment to a substance and distraction-free environment for just under a week at a YMCA camp a little over an hour away. We taught hard, integrated as much hands-on learning as we could,and made sure that one of our team was always on top of the individualized personal needs in addition to the academic needs of these students.
Every year World Studies would present the greatest emotional challenge of all my classes. This is because not all of them "make it" to taking the opportunities life has to offer. Although this has been the most difficult group of kids, it has always provided the most rewarding; not at the end of the year, but through the duration and process of their high school careers.
These students had to work twice as hard as to not let on that they were struggling outside of school as well as in it. Some had addictions by their double digits while others survived things first hand that I can't watch in the movie theater. These kids were fighters or floaters, and were treated with respect from a place of respect.
They learned that they would have the continued support of the World Studies foundation (they usually stayed with one to three of the classroom teachers as sophomores etc.)and really began to invest once they realized we weren't just part of their first year. As these kids started to, "get" that they were valued, they started to invest in the most important thing of all; themselves. It has always been that, "aha" moment that makes me love teaching not just the at-riskers, but all students who work hard and give themselves a chance.
