Blog

Learn4Life , a network of nonprofit high school dropout recovery programs, believes job skills training needs to start in high school. "We work with students who have fallen so far behind in school that they're unlikely to graduate. We help them get a diploma for free and work with community partners to provide job skills," explained Miguel-Angel Soria , director of career technical education (CTE). "We have teens who a couple years ago wouldn't have thought they could ever graduate, much...

At the recent “Get Lit – Words Ignite” Classic Slam poetry competition, Learn4Life (L4L) students throughout California demonstrated that they have the knowledge and eloquence to Shed Light and Motivate (SLAM) their communities to take action. Hailed as the world’s largest youth poetry slam, the event took place April 26-28 th in downtown Los Angeles and included seven L4L squads and 36 total teams. Get Lit – Words Ignite is an organization that uses poetry to “increase literary, empower...

Learn4Life is taking an organization-wide approach to educational service delivery grounded in understanding trauma, its consequences and promoting healing and resilience. To help staff better understand the approach, training was recently conducted for Learn4Life leaders including teachers, counselors, and administrative staff. The training is designed to increase understanding of proactive, practical, trauma-informed approaches to create cultures of inclusivity. The goal is the have all...

Imagine the power of putting a handful of kids together in a class to tell their stories in their own words—and earn credits in the process. This school year, Learn4Life’s Innovation High School (IHS) San Diego – Lakeside is offering a spoken word poetry course titled “Dramatic Literature”. The course engages youth in classic works of literature and empowers teens to take charge of their own futures and unearth their potential. Annabelle Reyes, a Drama Lit student, told how beneficial the...

Teachers and staff at several northern Los Angeles County Learn4Life Resource Centers recently completed a Professional Development (PD) titled “Privileged Thinking in Education”. At this PD, staff learned that privileged thinking is defined as an imbalance of power, experience, and access to resources that influence our opinions on the actions of others. They also watched an eye-opening video , which showed how much privilege some have, without even realizing it. The staff also analyzed how...

At a recent Professional Development (PD), staff and teachers at Learn4Life resource centers throughout the San Fernando Valley and Northern Los Angeles County, learned about de-escalation techniques. The PD provided the staff with resources designed to equip them to organize their thinking and calmly respond to and effectively de-escalate situations to avoid a potential crisis. The techniques they learned included: Defining the behavior and how to approach a situation QTIP! (Quit Taking It...

Since 2016, certified yoga teachers Josie Duraso (E-RYT 200) and Tara Booze (E-RYT 200) have been sharing the practice of yoga with students and staff at the Learn4Life Innovation High School resource centers in National City and Chula Vista. This year-round enrichment program provides a safe space for students to not only participate in the physical practice of yoga, but to explore meditation and mindfulness, self-regulation tools, and positive habit building. Students participating in this...

Students of Unity, Respect, Consciousness and Empowerment (S.O.U.R.C.E.) is a seminar offered at Learrn4Life’s Innovation High School National City and Chula Vista resource centers that promotes empowerment, resiliency building, and leadership skills. Students engage in the seminar using project-based learning where they are tasked with creating a public service announcement. This exercise gives students a platform to voice their needs and explore issues that are relevant to them. It also...

Learn4Life Innovation High School resource centers in National City and Chula Vista recently launched their “Year of Wellness” program. This program is designed to promote wellbeing of students, staff, and the surrounding community. The program invites staff, students and their families to monthly themed wellness workshops that encompass the multifaceted areas of wellness including yoga, nutrition, art and mindfulness, etc.

Learn4Life students in Fresno carry hardship and experience trauma, many of them without ever having the opportunity to process what they have been through, let alone heal. The Get Lit program focuses on taking those personal traumas and turning them into poetry, giving students a voice and the confidence to use it. The trauma that Learn4Life students have analyzed in the class include issues with disabilities, mental and physical illnesses, physical and mental abuse, drug and alcohol...

As part of the Trauma Informed approach to instruction, the staff at Learn4Life Innovation High School recently created a Focus Room at the National City resource center. The Focus Room provides a space to facilitate restorative processes for students who need a break to refocus or who are not meeting school expectations. In this space, staff assist students and guide them to redirect, recover, and/or return to an internal state conducive to learning. Students can request to use the room or...

At the Chula Vista, National City, and Linda Vista resource centers of Learn4Life Innovation High School San Diego, only four students were suspended during the 2016-17 school year – less than 1 percent of the student population of more than 500 students. For the leadership team and staff at Innovation High School this rate was still too high. The team and staff embraced further training on restorative practices, positive behavior supports and interventions in order to better support student...