Service Learning at Windward

SERVICE LEARNING AT WINDWARD

SERVICE LEARNING AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Director of Service Learning Ashley Goodman

DISCOVERY ACADEMY PROGRAMS The mission of our Discovery Academy is to provide enrichment programs on the Windward campus as well as on the campuses of our local partner elementary schools.

The purpose of the Discovery Academy is to offer programming to elementary-age students that will enrich their learning in a variety of extracurricular areas as well as offer them an interaction point with resources available on our campus, specific to our growing programs. This program exemplifies the reciprocal relationships that develop through service learning. The Discovery Academy offers Windward students the opportunity to become leaders and mentors on a subject about which they feel passionate. The activities are beneficial to both the elementary students and Windward students, and they advance our goals of building community and connections between ourselves and the schools located in the same community. We are currently working with a total of six different elementary schools.

FALL PROGRAMS ART EXPLORERS This 8-week program has been running for several years on the Windward campus in partnership with Grand View Boulevard Elementary School. Each session, the program hosts over 20 students in Grades 3-5, and several students have been a part of the program for more than two years. Each year, the program is run by a different Senior or Junior student leader who is assisted by underclassmen as student mentors. This class is held in the Windward art room, where students have full access to the various art supplies in the room to help enhance their learning. Art Explorers is a fun way to learn about many of the most important artists of history while making your very own works of art. Each week, students explore a new artist from a different period of time or place and then create projects using their techniques. Through these activities, students build a set of skills and knowledge as well as a broader understanding and appreciation of visual art. The students take the projects in their own directions, stretching their creative capabilities and enjoying the satisfaction of producing something truly original.

W!T IMPROVISATION STATION This brand-new program was launched this Fall by three Windward students who are members of the on campus group Windward Improv Troupe (W!T). This program was hosted on the Windward campus in partnership with Mar Vista and Grand View Boulevard elementary schools. We had 15 students attend the program in its first offering. Improv is unscripted and made up on the spot. It comes in various forms, such as short-form, long-form and more, and it’s something that anybody can do. Students in this class experience playing games, running around and talking in funny voices and

SERVICE LEARNING AT WINDWARD

accents. Best of all, silliness is encouraged, so students have the opportunity to be themselves without judgment. Improv is more than just fun; it’s been proven to help kids with fear-coping, teach them to accept and learn from failure, ease symptoms of social anxiety, teach listening and collaboration skills and boost confidence.

WINDWARD TEACHES TECH This program has been going on for several years, connecting the senior citizens of the Mar Vista community with our Windward students. We discovered a need in the Mar Vista senior citizen population: As technology kept advancing, our senior citizens were falling behind and not able to connect with people because they didn’t understand how to operate their devices, such as smartphones, laptops and iPads. Four times a year, Windward hosts a free class for senior citizens run by Windward students. Before the class begins, a survey is sent out to the senior citizens to gauge their specific needs regarding their technological devices. Windward student leaders are then matched up one-on-one with a senior citizen based on their expertise and provide a one-hour tutoring session covering various topics such as social media, apps, rideshare services, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.

SPRING PROGRAMS “KID CREATE” PROGRAM This program is a 7-week partnership with Mar Vista Elementary School located on the Windward School campus. More than 50 students signed up for the program, and we were able to accept at total of 30 students. We plan to offer another session to accommodate those who were not able to get into the first round of the program.

Lola Krueger ’20 is the student teacher behind this class and has the support of other Windward students and faculty member Max Nishimura, who is the Director of the CREATE Studio on campus. Mar Vista students have access to the CREATE Studio’s uniques materials and machines to help in their learning of art and science. Throughout the class, students will be challenged with logic puzzles to get their brains thinking.

Students will also be conducting real-life chemical reactions, making their own Picasso paintings, molding some magnetic slime and learning how to create their own contour self-portraits.

MEDIA BYTES PROGRAM This program is an 8-week session in partnership with students from Grand View Boulevard Elementary School. We have a total of 15 participating students, many of whom have been with the program for more than two years. Students in this class learn necessary technology skills through fun and engaging projects and iPad apps. Students also have the opportunity to dabble in coding on the iPad with Hopscotch, make movies with iMovie, use graphic illustration with web-based Canva and learn to build comic books and avatars.

GIRLS IN STEM PROGRAM This will be our second year running the Girls in STEM program, and we have brought this program to five different schools within our community. This program was founded and is run by two Windward students, Elyse Forman ’19 and Kate Stackel ’19. In this 7-week program, students will be immersed in a STEM program for girls only. The main goal of Girls in STEM is to empower girls to foster their passion and self-confidence in STEM fields. We are looking to inspire young girls to be excited about careers in STEM. Girls need more exposure and mentorship as well as the encouragement that they can pursue their interests, especially as young women.

Each week, there will be a presentation on an intriguing and dynamic demonstration that showcases the weekly topic. The girls will then work individually or in groups to

SERVICE LEARNING AT WINDWARD

perform a hands-on, interactive experiment. We will discuss what they found in their experiment and give them a souvenir to take home so that they can show off what they learned to their friends and family, thus inherently strengthening their confidence in their own knowledge of STEM. At each of the partner schools, we have had more than 25 girls participate in the program. This Spring, we will be running sessions at Beethoven Street and Palms elementary schools.

YOUNG MAESTROS PROGRAM This is a brand-new program in our Discovery Academy, held on the Windward School campus in partnership with Richland Avenue Elementary School. This program was created and will be run by Windward student Oliver Grynberg ’20 and Windward student mentors who have been playing violin for several years and want to share the instrument and the music they love with young students. The Young Maestros Program is for students in Grades 3-5. This program will give students the opportunity to learn the violin and provide an introduction to the world of classical music. Students will learn the history and the fundamentals of the violin. The program will also give students the opportunity to experiment with reading basic music. We will begin by learning about the different elements of the violin and end with a culminating concert. Playing a musical instrument has been shown to help students mature and grow, as well as teach valuable life lessons. All musical instruments will be provided by Windward School.

JUNIOR SCIENTIST PROGRAM This 7-week program on the Windward School campus involves a partnership with students from Grand View Boulevard Elementary School. We have 20 students involved in this program, some of whom have been involved for more than two years. The program is run by student leaders Lydia Kresin ’20 and Kara Smale ’20 with the support of faculty science teacher Kevin Kloeker. Students will have full access to our chemistry lab on campus and will get to use materials and tools such as microscopes, burettes test tubes, beakers and digital balances. Students will be investigating various aspects of science through hands-on lab activities and long-term projects. Possible topics include: microbiology, forensics, chemistry and coding.

WESTSIDE CHILDREN’S CENTER Westside Children’s Center, located a short distance from Windward, provides thousands of at-risk-children and their families with early education and family intervention programs as well as important services such as disability advocacy, nutrition, parenting class and dental and vision screenings. Windward continues to partner with the center to provide support for their families and children.

GIVING TUESDAY: Westside Children’s Center communicated their needs for the holiday season. They were in need of toys to give to all of the center parents, so that they were able to provide children with holiday gifts. To help support older children, Westside Children’s Center requested gift card donations as well. Windward ran a toy drive on Giving Tuesday, supporting the center as its main beneficiary for the day. We provided the center with hundreds of toys and gift cards to be distributed to the families.

FAMILY PORTRAITS: This project has been going on for several years in partnership with Westside Children’s Center and the high school photo classes at Windward. Every December, we host family portraits at the center. Families come dressed in their finest and most festive holiday outfits. They enjoy a light breakfast and then take part in a photo shoot. Windward students take each of the photos and direct the photoshoot, taking dozens of pictures.

Once we return to school, the photo classes edit the pictures and upload all of the

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pictures onto a flash drive and print out two 8x10 portraits for the families to keep. This year, we created photo packages for more than 30 families.

The center has expressed to us that they would like to have more literacy events for their students. Working with the director of the center, we have planned four literacy events during the Spring in conjunction with their parent education classes. Windward students will be planning and leading each of the reading events and assisting the center employees with the parent education classes in any roles needed.

February 28: Reading event with Pop-Up Farmers’ Market (3pm-4:30pm) March 16: Cooking Class for the Parents and Reading event for the Kids (10am-12pm) April 27: Literacy Event (10am-11:30am) May 18: Day in the Garden Celebration