THE PROGRAMS
All SOCG programs:
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Are research-based and aligned to current state and national standards in core content areas
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Grounded in the most current theory, pedagogy, and methodology
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Have established curricula but include the flexibility that allows for school and community input relative to site-specific needs, goals and objectives
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Designed with the expectation that the participants create and follow through on a service learning project of their inspiration and design that will benefit themselves and their school community
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Designed to include students, parents/guardians, staff, and key community member
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 Service Learning Projects
Since 1954, educators have relied on the taxonomy designed by Benjamin Bloom that offers a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. In the inverted pyramid to the right, the most complex manifestation of “learning” is expressed in the learner’s ability to analyze what they’ve experienced or heard, evaluate what needs to be accomplished, and to create a product that represents that learning, be it intellectual or physical.
SOCG encourages participants to take the knowledge and experiences they have internalized from their SOCG program to the highest levels illustrated in the diagram and put them into practice.
Past projects have included:
- Immigration Town Hall with California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez for 200 HS students.
- Mock congressional debate with United States Congressman Xavier Becerra for students, parents and community.
- Youth Empowerment Summit (Y.E.S.) at USC with school board members, Los Angeles City Council members, Speaker Nunez, and Congressman Becerra.
- Building a Community Center in a previously unused 10,000 sq. ft. basement of a middle school.
- Starting a Cross-Age Tutoring program between a high school and a neighboring elementary school that focused on bullying and name-calling.
- Beginning a series of support groups on a high school campus that served the needs of students with family members who were incarcerated.
The PEER PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM is a comprehensive experience for elementary, middle and high school students (4-12) built upon the fundamental tenet that peers influencing peers is the most effective method for changing attitudes and behavior, especially as relating to key issues like bullying, violence and bias-based incidents. |
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Including select groups of students (20-40), SOCG facilitators work once a week on the development of skills and techniques that will empower them as “change agents” on their campus. Consistent with all SOCG programs, the participants will create a service learning project and use the P3 Program as a tool for planning and implementing their idea.
When the riots broke out at Jefferson HS, I was as guilty as anyone when I jumped in and automatically took the side o the other Hispanics that were fighting. By doing the P3 program with other people from different backgrounds, I could no longer fool myself into thinking that someone was worth hurting just because they were somehow different than me.”
HS Sophomore
Los Angeles, CA
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 Typically, but not mandatory to the P3 Program, is a 3-day, 2-night camp retreat called the P.E.A.K. Experience Program, where the selected participants bond as a team and lay the foundation for collaboration and partnership that will maximize the power of the P3. During the retreat, participants are given the opportunity to develop relationships with their peers and to craft their own leadership style. In addition to being trained as facilitators, the participants are guided through a personal growth process that focuses on improving self-esteem, developing feelings of efficacy, and discovering the power of self-expression.
Carver Middle School Students
Participating with others from around California at the University of Judaism’s Prejudice Awareness Summit (PAS) |
The P3 program was used extensively in the spring of 2005 in Los Angeles, California in the wake of several large-scaleinter-group conflicts at some of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s larger comprehensive high schools. By all quantitative and qualitative measures from students, school staff, District personnel, and law enforcement, the P3 contributed significantly to supporting schools in restoring calm and order to their respective campuses. (See P3 Jefferson video)
The minimum recommendation for P3 Programs is 10 sessions with many P3 Programs encompassing the entire school year. Session content might include, but is not limited to, topics such as:
- Power of Communication
- Building Empathy
- Developing Social Radar
- Developing Positive Habits of Mind ©
- Exploring Multiple Intelligences ©
- Conflict Resolution
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- Anatomy of Prejudice
- Service to Self and Others
- Can Kindness be Taught? ©
- Celebrating Diversity
- Preparing for College
- Peer Mediation
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Guillermo Valdez Working with High School Students from Santa Monica |
P3 Students Visiting U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra’s Los Angeles Office to Discuss Policy issues |
“The kids we chose to participate in the P3 Program had not passed either portion of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and we thought this might help. After a 15-week P3 with these targeted kids focusing on academic and social skills, all 25 11th graders passed both portions.”
High School Principal, San Bernardino |
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The P.E.A.K. Experience Program
Promoting Empowerment through Action and Knowledge
What is a Peak Experience?
According to renowned American psychologist and philosopher, Abraham H. Maslow (1908-1970), the term Peak Experience was used to describe what he defined as a non-religious quasi-mystical experience. Peak experiences are sudden feelings of intense happiness and well-being, and possibly the awareness of "ultimate truth" and the unity of all things. Accompanying these experiences is a heightened sense of control over the body and emotions, and a wider sense of awareness, as though one was standing upon a mountaintop. The experience fills the individual with wonder and awe. He or she feels at one with the world and is pleased with it; he or she has seen the ultimate truth or the essence of all things.
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Consistent with the description above, the P.E.A.K. Experience program seeks to empower students inrecreating for themselves the ongoing experience of interrelatedness and connection to the world around them. The P.E.A.K. Experience weekend is a 3-day, 2-night retreat that invites participants to "push their personal comfort zones" and gain the type of insight, strategies and relationships they can then leverage back at their schools to affect positive change as and long-lasting influence.
The basic structure of the P.E.A.K. Experience weekend remains the same (see schedule below) and students and staff at participating schools are invited to create their own focus and goals based on their own site needs.
Participants Considering that Their Comfort Zone Might Not Include Swinging from Trees |
The P.E.A.K. Experience program can serve as a “stand-alone” weekend for a leadership class or a select group of students, or as a centerpiece for a larger ongoing project like the Peer Partnership Program (P3) or Transition Institutes (TI).
The impact of the P.E.A.K. Experience program has proven time and again the power of taking kids off campus and creating a safe and creative environment in which to explore and let down the walls of resistance and invulnerability.
The themes for the weekend are organic and reflective of school-based needs and objectives. Past programs have focused on:
- Dealing with on-campus issues of intergroup conflict.
- Training students in the “Art of Facilitation” facilitators.
- Training participants in the implementation of peer mediation and conflict resolution programs.
- Leadership, life skills and personal growth training.
- Anti-bias and prejudice awareness training.
- Service learning training and projects.
- Academic enrichment and study skills.
- Gang intervention and violence prevention.
- Staff development and training for certificated and classified personnel.
All programs are held at American Camping Association (ACA) approved sites and covered by the requisite $3,000,000 Commercial General Liability Insurance. The standard framework for the P.E.A.K. Experience weekend is as follows:
Friday
- Bus departs school after lunch
- Arrive at an American Camping Association (ACA) approved camp and settle into cabins
- Afternoon orientation and icebreakers
- Dinner
- Evening session until 9:00 PM
- Free time in cabins until 11:00 PM
Saturday
- Breakfast
- Morning session
- Lunch
- Ropes and Challenge Course
- Dinner
- Free time
- Evening Session
- Free time in cabins until 11:00 PM
Sunday
- Breakfast
- Completion Hike
- Closing session and acknowledgements
- Depart camp around 12:00 noon
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Success on the Challenge Wall
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Middle School Students on a Reflection Hike |
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“My biggest problem was taking out my anger on other kids when I got mad. When we went to that camp and talked about how to control anger and violence, I didn’t go the Dean’s Office for the rest of the year.”
Tommy – High School Student
San Jose, CA |
The Transition Institutes ©
“Sowing the Seeds of Peace through Action and Knowledge”
“If you want to change your school, you had better begin with the freshmen.”
-Freshman Transition Program Called “Keystone”
What Is A Transition Program?
The transition from the middle grades to high school is an important aspect of a continuous, comprehensive secondary school-improvement effort. The purpose of any transition program is to immediately lay the foundation for students to succeed in college-preparatory academic courses and prepare them for challenging postsecondary education, careers and lifelong learning. This is especially true for students who traditionally have not been expected to make much effort in school and fall between the cracks.
Why the Need?
The passage of students from the middle grades to high school is the most difficult transition point in education. Some of the more telling realities are
- The failure rate in grade nine is three to five times higher than that of any other grade.
- Students are asked to make social and academic choices that have a significant impact on their adult lives.
- Their thinking becomes more critical, complex – a direct correlation to the demands of a more challenging curriculum.
- A inordinate need to look for acceptance more from peers, less from adults.
- An increased need for independence, yet still a reliance on adults for support.
- The tendency to take more foolish risks to align with peers and avoid embarrassment.
What Are The Transition Institutes?
The Transition Institutes (TI) is a program designed to address our most challenged K-12 demographic: 8th grade students transitioning into 9th grade. The big picture goal of the TIs is to dissolve the veil of anonymity that exists at our secondary schools and to make each and every one of the students feel like they are an integral piece of the campus puzzle.
The methodology and approaches are research-based, eclectic and aligned to state and national instructional and health and human services standards and initiatives. The approach itself is unprecedented in the field of secondary education reform as the TI’s aim to include an entire grade level of students, in some cases up to 1,500 students, not just a select few
SOCG has found that in order to fundamentally transform the culture and climate of a school the strategy has to be comprehensive, include all stakeholders and be organic. The core of the Transition Institutes is an off-site, week-long human relations intensive where participants engage in interactive activities with peers and faculty, visit colleges, explore museums, and take part in a ropes and challenge course. A sample agenda is provided above.
Sample Weekly Schedule
Monday on University Campus
Participants will begin the process of building campus cohesion and connection through learning about and interacting with members of their school community.
Tuesday at Ropes and Challenge Course
Participants will examine the issues of teamwork and trust, especially as it relates to their roles as stake holders on their respective campuses.
Wednesday at University Campus
Students examine the nature of violence and conflict, especially as it relates to their school and community and practice conflict resolution Skills.
Thursday at the Museum of Tolerance
Participants explore the anatomy of prejudice and discuss concepts such as bystander and ally. They will also explore the “power of words” and how one person can make a difference.
Friday at University Campus
For the final day, participants explore post-secondary options and develop a five year plan beyond graduation. The day includes a tour of the campus and visits from University officials.
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What makes The Transition Institutes unique?
During the TI’s and throughout the year, extensive support is provided for the freshman and faculty ensuring a successful 9th grade year. Among the other features made possible through the Transition Institutes are:
- Cutting-edge professional development for staff and parents aligned to the TI course content during and after school.
- Require the participation and co-facilitation of school staff who are not simply there to observe.
- Course content is driven by school and community-based needs, not a proscribed program from across the country.
- Demand collaboration from community-based entities like businesses, school, colleges, religious institutions, political officials, etc., for their success. SOCG supports schools in making those connections. (see Partners in the Process).
- Psychiatric Social Worker (PSW) Intern support at no cost to the school.
- Additional instructional field trips for all participants.
- Assessment of program efficacy by university professors through periodic evaluations and year-end summary.
- Constant site-based support for school-based projects of the participants design. For example, past participant groups such as freshman academies and small learning communities (SLC) have created school newspapers, community-based service learning projects, and the establishment of a freshman academy.
Involving a large committed team of both on and off campus staff and adults, the Transition Institutes provide a wide variety of human relations experiences that go directly to the core of issues that can "make or break" any given middle or high school: violence, gangs, bullying, disrespect for differences, lack of communication, and lack of engagement in school and studies.
What are People Saying About the Transition Institutes?
“We have not had one suspension
since the beginning of the school year (early
September) and our attendance rate is
excellent as a result of the impact the Transition
Institutes had on our students. It definitely
contributed to the overall climate.”
- Mike Taft, Principal - New Tech High School |
“Post-Institute surveys indicated
that 97% of participants felt
this experience “significantly” improved
their ability to build trust with others and
to respect differences in the peers.”
-Dr. Renee Roberts - CSUDH |
 
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"Sowing the Seeds of Success through Purpose and Partnership"
©2008 Standing On Common Ground
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