They looked like any other group of teens, sitting around tables in a large classroom, chatting as they ate french fries.
But underneath the conversations, something else was going on: life coaching.
Half of the group was students at Santana High School, a continuation school in Rowland Heights. But the other half was from Cal Poly Pomona’s liberal studies synthesis class.
The upper division class examines contemporary issues in public education. Liberal studies students learn about many of these issues in a tangible, real way by performing service at Santana High School – either as life coaches or academic coaches to high school students, says liberal studies Professor Christina Chavez-Reyes.
“It’s essentially an opportunity for students to study public education as an institution and, from a citizen’s perspective, determine the effectiveness of the institution,” Chavez-Reyes says. “This becomes their applied experience, the learn-by-doing portion.”
Now in its second year, the Santana/Cal Poly Pomona liberal studies connection grew out of a previous effort by the nonprofit Buenanueva Foundation to provide mentoring to students at the continuation school. That nonprofit organization later became defunct. But Chavez-Reyes, who had served on its board of directors, saw a learning opportunity for her upper division students, many of whom will go onto educational careers.
Read the rest of the article here!
But underneath the conversations, something else was going on: life coaching.
Half of the group was students at Santana High School, a continuation school in Rowland Heights. But the other half was from Cal Poly Pomona’s liberal studies synthesis class.
The upper division class examines contemporary issues in public education. Liberal studies students learn about many of these issues in a tangible, real way by performing service at Santana High School – either as life coaches or academic coaches to high school students, says liberal studies Professor Christina Chavez-Reyes.
“It’s essentially an opportunity for students to study public education as an institution and, from a citizen’s perspective, determine the effectiveness of the institution,” Chavez-Reyes says. “This becomes their applied experience, the learn-by-doing portion.”
Now in its second year, the Santana/Cal Poly Pomona liberal studies connection grew out of a previous effort by the nonprofit Buenanueva Foundation to provide mentoring to students at the continuation school. That nonprofit organization later became defunct. But Chavez-Reyes, who had served on its board of directors, saw a learning opportunity for her upper division students, many of whom will go onto educational careers.
Read the rest of the article here!