Regional Workshop May 25, 2023

Mashantucket Tribal Community Center

7:45     Groton STA bus picks up New London High students

8:10     Groton STA bus picks up Fitch High students

8:30     Groton STA bus picks up Ledyard High students 

8:45 Arrive at Mashantucket Tribal Community Center

 

8:50 Icebreakers

• Movement games

• All Aboard – with three groups (Set up three groups for this and scenario activity)

• Name games

• Close loop on New London middle school Arts Program transition

9:30  Pequot Massacre May 26, 1637 Recognition 

9:45 Mission statement and goals – hand out 

• Read statement: 

• Feedback from large group: what does the statement and goals mean to you? 

• How does the statement focus our efforts to move forward?

10:15 Scenarios – how to respond to negative situations in various environments. Groups will respond to each scenario in three ways: (1) with buddies or allies, (2) in a mixed group and (30) in a potentially unsafe environment. 

• You hear homophobic joke and someone you thought was an ally, laughs and walks away.

• You are on bus and student displays swastika and gestures the Nazi salute.

• Ledyard scenarios - ?

11:00 Lunch

11:30 Refocus activity: Fish Bowl : 

• Can a student leadership group like More Than Words make a meaningful difference in the school community? Can student leaders really affect change? 

12:00 Councilor Crystal Whipple 

12:15 Senior recognition

• Post-secondary plans

• What would be hope or future of More Than Words…recommendations for the future.

12:45 School Groups Meetings:

• With missions and goals in mind, what should be our focus for next year?

• Camp Hazen in the fall?

  1:15 Free time

  1:30    Bus departs Tribal Community Center

  1:50    Drop off Ledyard High students

  2:15    Drop off Fitch High students

  2:45    Drop off New London High Students

Regional Workshop April 20, 2023

April 20, 2023

New London High School STEM Lecture Hall

 

7:45     Groton STA bus picks up Fitch High students

8:00     Groton STA bus picks up Ledyard High students

8:30     Arrive at New London High STEM Program Lecture Hall

 

8:45 Icebreakers:

• Name games – two groups and see who can memorize names the best.

• Movement games – All Aboard game

• Starfish story

• Closure regarding Bennie Dover Jackson student workshop – Mike Graner

• Strategy for addressing middle school transition problems: anti-bullying workshop 

9:15 Beach ball tower construction 🡪Team building.

• Assign kids to a group for the day

• Sheets of newspaper and scotch tape 

9:30 Clarify role of More Than Words in today’s schools: 

• Small group breakout session 🡪 share with large group

• As student leaders, how do we become change agents in our schools?

• What do we hope to accomplish as a group of student leaders? 🡪 see fish bowl questions 

• In what ways can we make a difference?

• What is the difference between Snitching (Tattling) vs Telling 

• What is the role of a More Than Words student leader; what is the mission of the group? 

• What behaviors does someone show that make you trust them? 

10:00 Break

10:15 Anti-bullying workshop: Leadership and conflict resolution training

• Read Manny McMoose and His Chubby Caboose by Kevin McMann

• Orientation to bullying and reading the book

• Small group response to discussion questions:

• Bullying usually involves three components: bully, victim and bystander

• Why do some people bully others?

• Is silence supportive to the victim of bullying?

• How does a student leader respond to bullying…physical, verbal or emotional? 

• If a student reports an incident, is that getting someone in trouble or helping someone get out of trouble? Does your intention matter? 

• Can we adopt structures in and out of school to prevent incidents? 

• Share take-aways from discussion with large group.

 11:15 Lunch

11:45 Opinion continuum or Fishbowl   Student Voice

• Small group brainstorm statements  🡪 select 1 or 2 best

• Share with large group 🡪 do the continuum

OR

Fish Bowl

• Small group brainstorm statements  🡪  where so we go from here?

• Share with large group 🡪 proposed direction

12:30 Report from each school on club activities: 

• Ledyard – fourth grade workshops

• Fitch – joint meeting with Ledyard club

• New London – mentorship planning for next year 

 

12:50 Wrap up activities, social sharing, plans for final workshop at Tribal Community Center

1:15     Bus departs New London High

1:45     Drop off Ledyard High students.

2:15     Drop off Fitch High students.

Regional Workshop February 24, 2023

New London High School STEM Lecture Hall

7:45     Groton STA bus picks up Fitch High students

8:00     Groton STA bus picks up Ledyard High students

8:30     Arrive at New London High STEM Program Lecture Hall

8:45 Icebreakers:

     Movement games

     Name games

     Read New London Day editorial re: MTW workshop in November

9:15 Vision Setting Activity

     In the large group, introduce the concept of developing a multi-year action plan group

     Brainstorm ideas in small groups  record suggestions on newsprint

     Share with large group

10:15 Bennie Dover Jackson student-led workshop:

     Explanation of the problem – Kate Fioravanti or someone else from Bennie Dover Jackson MS

     Pre-mortem why will the school reorganization fail

     How to facilitate middle school workshops?

11:15 Lunch

11:45 School Group meeting – each school’s More Than Words club members chat about school plans

12:15 Workshop wrap up and final plans for Bennie Dover Jackson workshop

1:15     Bus departs New London High

1:45     Drop off Ledyard High students

Regional Workshop November 17, 2022

La Grua Art Center

Stonington, CT

7:55 Pick up New London High students

8:25 Pick up Ledyard High students

8:45 Pick up Fitch High students

9:00 Drop off all students at La Grua Art Center in Stonington Borough

9:00- 10:30  Orientation to exhibit: Three Steps Forward and Two Steps Back 

• Strategies for viewing social justice artworks – Professor Jessica Cerullo, Conn College
• Artist interpretation and presentation: Pam Gordinier
• Gallery Walk: 
• What do you notice? What do you wonder?

(give the students post-it notes to record responses)

• How can art address social justice issues?

10:30 – 11:30 Student Icebreakers

• Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around -song and dance
• Small group  large group report out: What issues need to be addressed by More Than Words, what can we do as a group to make a difference?

11:30 Lunch

12:00 – 1:45 Presentation by Kirk Edwards:

• Innovators, Architects, and Trailblazers of America’s Only Original Art Form: Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.

12:45 – 1:15 School More Than Words Club reports: 

• New London
• Ledyard
• Fitch

1:15 Group departs La Grua

1:45 Drop off Ledyard High students

2:00 Drop of Fitch students

2:30 Drop of New London students

Regional Workshop September 15, 2022

7:30 Pick up Fitch High School students
7:50 Pick up Ledyard High School stations
8:15 Drop off Fitch High and Ledyard High students at the New London High School Multi Magnet Campus STEM Building
8:30 Icebreakers: 

· Movement games

· Name games

9:00 Program welcome and orientation 

·  History of MTW

· The role of student voice in schools 

9:15 Small group discussion: the pandemic resulted in significant academic loss; nationwide reading and math scores are down. Most educators think the losses can be made up in the near future, but many fear that the mental health declines are worse and may last for far longer.

 

In your group, please identify the social, emotional and mental health concerns you see in schools and suggest ways to address them. 

 

9:45  Report out to large group

 
10:15 Presentation by Amistad staff re: ship’s history
11:00 lunch
11:30 Depart New London High School, travel to city pier for Amistad visit
1:00 Depart New London city pier 
1:10 Drop New London High Students at New London High
1:40 Drop Ledyard High Students at Ledyard High
2:00 Drop Fitch students at Fitch High

Regional Workshop May 27, 2022

 May 27, 2022

New London High School STEM Lecture Hall

 

7:45     Groton STA bus picks up Fitch High students

8:00     Groton STA bus picks up Ledyard High students

8:30     Arrive at New London High STEM Program Lecture Hall

 

8:45 Icebreakers:

• Movement games

• Name games

• Recognition of MTW poets

 

9:15 Opinion continuum:

• School Resource Officers are not needed in high schools

• I feel heard by teachers in my school/ I feel empowered in my school

• I have an adult in my school whom I can trust

• Teachers have a responsibility to respond appropriately to hate speech

• Most students are supportive of the LGBTQ community

• When administrators come to a More Than Words weekly meeting, the conversation changes.

• I feel like students have good access to physical and mental health services at school. 

 

9:45 ​Social Justice exercise: Jemal Davis and Rep. Anthony Nolan

• Look at yourself in a mirror: our vision is often distorted and obstructed by social influences.

• How do we fight against those distortions?

• Article in The Day re: Buffalo shootings --> Jemal note to Groton staff

• Questions to pursue: 

o Jemal has encouraged teachers to speak out; how can students help teachers deal with racial, ethnic and other forms of hate speech?

o Why are teachers reluctant to speak about racial issues?

o How do we prevent ourselves from becoming numb to mass shootings?

o How do we create a safe space for dialogues?

o How do we identify allies and buddies to support our efforts?

 

10: 30 ​In small group and then report out to large group:

• What have you done individually or observed done to promote social justice?

• Create list of 10 simple things we can do to promote social justice 

 

 11:15​ Lunch

 

11:45 ​Senior farewells and program comments          

 

12:30     Bus departs New London High

12:50     Drop off Fitch High students

  1:15    Drop off Ledyard High students