Regional Workshop November 2, 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 – Cold wind Blows, you, me, left, right 
• Movement games – blog tag with three-people teams base, single person with three-people base

9:15 Beach ball tower construction Team building.

• Assign kids to a group for the day
• Sheets of newspaper and scotch tape 

9:45 Mission Review:

• More Than Words is a group of student leaders from Fitch High School, Ledyard High School and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and New London High School Multi Magnet Campus High School.
• The mission of More Than Words is to promote resect for diversity, facilitate communication and build trust among members of our community. Goals: develop a group able to respond to crises, work proactively to prevent problems and celebrate diversity. 

9:50 Camp Hazen trip review: 

• Best aspects of trip?
• Parts of experience we should skip next time?
• Did the Camp Hazen trip support the goals of More Than Words?

10:00 Break

10:25 Leadership Discussion: 

• “Victims are spectators in their own lives and leaders are players in the human drama around them.”
• Definition of leader small group dialogue and write brief definition on newsprint.  

11:00 Ledyard and Fitch incident explanation Who were the leaders, allies, bystanders and how do we make sure leaders honors their safety? 

• Small group discussion:
• What part of the stories do you find most important?
• What is the role of leader and the ally? 
• Where do the bystanders fit in? 
• Did the leaders face possible threats to their safety?

 11:45 Lunch

12:15 MLK Scholar Recognition 

12:30 Fitch High School student-developed Anti-Bigotry Policy.

• Policy elements  how developed
• Why policy is important to school community
• How do we ensure everyone knows about the policy and follows the guidelines?

1:00 Wrap up activities, social sharing

1:15     Bus departs New London High

1:45     Drop off Ledyard High students.

2:15     Drop off Fitch High students.

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.