This summer, 12+ welcomed six new talented individuals to the team through the 2014-2015 Fellows Initiative. These Fellows are commissioned to implement workshops, to provide academic assistance, and to serve our students in the PLUS Centers of our partner schools, Kensington Health Sciences Academy and Penn Treaty School. Here, we document their stories. 

Alex studied Communications, LGBTQ & Sexuality Studies, and Community Action & Social Change at the University of Michigan. He is passionate about racial, economic and queer/trans justice and sexual violence prevention and education, and he loves One Direction, going to concerts, and cooking. Alex brings these interests to Penn Treaty, where he inspires students to spread school-wide culture. In this post, Alex offers ten lessons to his students.

I humbly offer a list of lessons that I’ve picked up along the way to becoming a 12+ Fellow. These are the lessons that I hope to share with my students during my time with them as their educator, mentor, and friend. It’s the least I can do given that my students will never know how much they’ve taught me and continue to teach me every single day. Leaving them with this map is just a small token of my gratitude for allowing me into their lives and giving me the privilege of seeing them grow, push themselves, and succeed.

1. You are the expert of your own life. Honor your story. If you don’t tell your story, someone else will. Know where your roots are so you can see where you’re growing.

2. You cannot heal until you’ve admitted that you’re hurting. Be vulnerable when you can. It is easier to say “I hate you” than it is to say “You hurt me.” It is not a sign of weakness to have a soft heart in a harsh world.

3. It is easier to say “I don’t want to do that” than it is to say “I’m scared I’ll fail.” Apathy is giving into your fears. Admitting your fears is bravery.

4. Set goals. You cannot face something that you cannot name. Name your hopes and fears. Be intentional. Live life—don’t let it live you.

5. You are not alone in your struggles. You are not the first person to have gone through what you’ve gone through and you won’t be the last. When we take the risk to open ourselves up and reach out, others will reach back.

6. Take care of yourself. Drink lots of water and eat well when you can. It’s just as important to maintain your mental health as well. Stress, anxiety, depression—these are all very real. Admitting that we are affected by the demands of life does not make us weak. Taking the time to nurture ourselves does not make us selfish.

7. You are strong and more resilient than you know. Don’t let anyone minimize how hard high school is. I see you fighting.

8. The weight of your parent’s struggles and expectations are not your burden to carry. You cannot help others before you help yourself. Eventually, you’re going to have to put yourself first so that one day, you can truly give back to your family and your community in an impactful way.

9. “Our most radical work is to love ourselves” — Kim Katrin Milan. No one teaches how to be loved or how to love. We must seek out what loving others, being loved, and loving ourselves means to us purposefully.

10. You matter.

This summer, 12+ welcomed six new talented individuals to the team through the 2014-2015 Fellows Initiative. These Fellows are commissioned to implement workshops, to provide academic assistance, and to serve our students in the PLUS Centers of our partner schools, Kensington Health Sciences Academy and Penn Treaty School. Here, we document their stories. 

Aelita graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in Psychology and minors in Religious Studies and Japanese. Aelita is a Fellow of many talents, including salsa dancing and touching her tongue to her nose, but most of all, she works tirelessly to inspire students at KHSA. Read on for anecdotes from Aelita, learning to let students lead her.

“Go left. Left left left.... no my bad I meant right. Right again, one more time. Nah turn around. More. Turn around more.”

Blindfolded with two strips of a ripped up La Salle shirt, Elijah has hit almost every chair in the room and I start to think that this is his personal goal. He is 5’9 with a poofy brown afro tied up in a ponytail, and he is searching for two plastic cups, one with “9th” and one with “10th” grade written on it with a sharpie; he’s relying on his classmate Jeffrey to get him there.

“Elijah reach up. REACH UP” Jeffrey is frantic, and Elijah quickly reaches his arms straight into the air. The ceiling is more than 5 feet above his outstretched arms, but still he waves them in the air, expecting, presumably, to hit a dangling cup at any moment.

“Elijah, remember that I’m 5’1 and that your arms are very far from the ceiling,” I tell him. “You’re probably not going to find a cup hanging from a string straight above you.”

“Oh I got you miss,” he says, seconds before he takes a step to the right and again (at Jeffrey’s command) “reaches up”, hands shooting towards the ceiling. 

For his second cup, Jeffrey does significantly less shouting (in response to more polished gestures and more practice) and Elijah hits only half the amount of chairs. At the end of it he tells me that I have to go next.

“I’m gonna guide you,” he tells me.

Elijah ties two separate strips of T-shirt over my eyes, and a third just to be on the safe side. He guides me into the middle of the PLUS Center and spins me around a few times.

“You got this, Miss,” he whispers before stepping back.

It is black, and I hear everything: side chatter and laughter and three different voices tell me to go three separate ways (they have all decided to take an active part in this one). I listen for Elijah ’s voice.

“Miss, turn left. Go straight.” I walk slowly, because I am anxious and fear hurting myself in even the smallest ways. “Stop,” he tells me right before I knock into a shin-high IKEA table.

“Miss, turn right. Walk three steps.” 

My third step is into a student.

"Seven steps. Right. Turn around. Turn around. Wait... one more time."

One wall smash and one collision into a student later and I am holding the 11th grade cup, hearing nothing but him telling me that I did good. And I could not have been more proud.

We ask our students to close their eyes and walk; “don’t worry, I’ll guide you,” we’ll tell them. We host workshops where they play our games and listen to our speeches, where we tell them that there is no such thing as smart or dumb, that college is important, trust me, but seldom are we, as adults and as individuals, willing to follow in the same manner.  We listen and give advice and affirmation but we do not close our eyes and let them tell us. Our eyes are always open.  But we need to let them lead. We need to let them give and teach and run us into walls sometimes because how better to show someone you believe in them than to let them guide you while your eyes are shut tight.

If you close your eyes, even a little, this is what you might learn.

***

ON HACHI AND LOYALTY

Greg is sitting opposite me in his grey Kensington shirt, buttons open and white undershirt peeking out. He's "airing off." We have just talked about friendship, and what some of the important characteristics are.

I think the most important thing you can be to a friend is loyal. Because if you’re loyal you’re always there for somebody and not everybody does that.” He tells me, crossing tan arms in front of him.

“Are there exceptions for that? Or do you have to be loyal no matter what?”

“I think it’s important. Like you ever see the movie, something with an H with a dog in it. He’s like always waiting for his owner.”

“Yeah I think I've heard of that”

“Yeah well like that movie, I saw it like 2 times, and it really made me cry miss. He just waits there, and people don’t be doin’ that for you. So I always try to be really loyal like that.” He says.  

“And if a relationship is a really terrible one, do you remain loyal? If they’re hurting you really badly do you stay?” I ask.

Greg picks at the black stubble on his chin and smiles. “You’re right. You can’t be dealing with all of that stuff. But I think being loyal means you stay and you help them from far away. You don’t have to be right there but they need someone too. You know?”

ON JEFFREY'S STOOP SUMMER

Jeffrey is a senior who has a pair of headphones permanently secured around his neck.

Me: (in the first week of school) Jeff, what did you do this past summer?

Jeff: Nothin, I was just sitting on my stoop.

Me: That’s cool. Did you learn anything in your summer of stooping?

Jeff:  Yeah, I learned a lot. I learned that you shouldn’t leave your juice out. It gets hot. And I also learned that you have to eat the ice cream quick or it turns into a milkshake.

ON DAVE AND BUSTER'S AND BETTING

At 7:30 every morning I get a visit from three sophomores. From one I get a “good morning Miss Aelita” and a handshake, from another I get a hug, and from the third I get a story or lesson. This is one of the stories, and it comes from an sophomore MMA fighter and TGIF enthusiast (the restaurant).

“Miss, you know my favorite place to watch UFC? It’s Dave and Buster's cuz people there they know how to keep quiet, at home people stay talkin’ even when the commercials end, but in Dave and Buster's they know wassup AND I can eat food WHILE watching the game I can do that at home but it’s not the same AND at Dave and Buster's people even be takin’ bets so Dave and Busters has everythin' goin on and so I just like it there better miss”

As it’s 7:32am and Phil has just talked at me, hand gestures and all, for two minutes straight...without breathing; I give him a look of something resembling bewilderment.

“So Miss….let’s say we’re at my house and we’re watching UFC and you say this person’s gonna win and I say this other person's gonna win and…”

“Phil, are you explaining betting to me?”

“Yeah Miss. So anyway we say different things and then we bet money to see who’s right."

“Phil, I know what betting is. You don’t have to explain it to me.”

“Really miss cuz you looked mad confused.”

“Okay. Well thanks then.”

***

Aelita with just some of her amazing students!

I could give you a story for every student. Some about water-logged card decks found on the street and some about abandonment and some about what it means to be lonely, and if there was enough time or space I would. I’d tell you about the thank you bags of chips and my mixed emotions when a student tells me I can be their sidekick “plastic bag girl” (where does that even come from?) I’d tell you about Team Fire Chopsticks and how every day Zach comes in to say hi to ‘Miss 12+’ and ask for a piece of candy. I’ll share all of their little bits of knowledge and advice.

I want to write stories for all of our students but I don’t have the time or the space or even the words. There is no placing them within the confines of an 8 x 11 page, no describing their half smiles after they tell me that: “Nah Miss, I don’t smile.” There is no painting the look of satisfaction when they prove you wrong, or the concern when you tell them that you are not well. I wish I could tell you exactly who these students are, but I am skimming an ocean. 

So I hope you get to meet them. I hope they sit next to you while you edit their resume and that they laugh when you spell “college” as “collage.” I hope they come in every day looking for you, and when you’re not there that they leave because you are the most important person to them in that moment, the only person. I hope that you close your eyes and you let them show you something.

In conclusion: watch UFC at Dave and Buster's and refrigerate your juice.

This summer, 12+ welcomed six new talented individuals to the team through the 2014-2015 Fellows Initiative. These Fellows are commissioned to implement workshops, to provide academic assistance, and to serve our students in the PLUS Centers of our partner schools, Kensington Health Sciences Academy and Penn Treaty School. Here, we document their stories. 

Julia is our resident Penn State expert, world traveler (she's been to twelve countries!) and pizza lover, coming to 12+ after graduating with a degree in Rehabilitation and Human Services and working in Penn State Admissions and Campus Visits. Julia reflects on several months at Penn Treaty School with 13 reasons she loves being a 12+ Fellow.

Being a Fellow for 12+ has been the most humbling and meaningful experience I could have ever imagined. This Fellowship has given me the opportunity to see what it is like to work with an underserved community where our most important task is to inspire and motivate our students to acknowledge and accept their highest potential. There is no greater feeling than seeing one of my students truly recognize their greatness and understand their self-worth. I love coming to work every single morning, and I could not imagine a more perfect position for me. Below I have listed some reasons why I love coming to work every day.

1. This photo shows an exciting game of Ninja that we played the first day of Fellows training back in August. From the first few moments I knew that I was going to be working with an awesome group of fun, upbeat people in an environment that fosters silliness and creativity.

2. Nothing wins me over like a good cup of coffee.

3. Who says two weeks of intensive training has to be stressful or boring? With 12+, training was not only educational; we made sure to take some time to bounce around and have some fun.

4. 12+ truly has the most amazing, dedicated, and supportive staff. I could not ask for a better group of role models and mentors and I feel so lucky every day that I surround myself with such inspirational individuals.

5. At the end of training our specific teams and positions were revealed. I was chosen as a Penn Treaty Fellow, and I could not have been more elated. As the point person for the RAISE program, I have had the opportunity to work with the 9th and 10th grade on workshops and mentoring. To the right is my beautiful Penn Treaty team and a huge reason of why I smile even when leaving for work every morning before 7:30 AM.

6. Everyone loves birthday celebrations and at 12+ we do it right! Nothing like some Brown Betty cupcakes and arcade games to celebrate another year with some wonderful company.

7. Here is the fabulous Senior class!! They continue to surprise and impress me every day with their hard work and dedication. To the left is one of our seniors Amsell who recently won a scholarship to IUP for his academic achievements. Students like Amsell are why we continue to work and fight for educational equity in our schools.

8. The RAISE program was developed to help freshmen transition into high school as well as provide them with the tools to ensure their success throughout their time at Penn Treaty and beyond. We had a photoshoot during the first few weeks of school to get the students excited about the program and 12+. As you can see, I cannot resist a photoshoot myself.

9. Here are a few of our marvelous PLUS Leaders, some of the most exceptional, resilient individuals I have ever met. Our PLUS leaders went through a recommendation, application and interview process to be chosen to represent their student body as leaders in the school. 

10. Like I said earlier, at 12+ we know how to have fun! Here are some photos from the Second Annual Charity Gala and Auction where we celebrated our successes so far, our hopes for a bright future and of course, our students. Here I am with two of our current seniors Ashley and Brittany and recent Penn Treaty graduate Abraham. Ashley had the opportunity to speak and tell her story, giving a face to our cause here at 12+. It was a night full of love, hope and community that I will never forget.

11. Here is a snapshot of Penn Treaty’s College Week mural. I was tasked with creating the mural but had an immense amount of help from my students who created the schools and the individual people. We visited all of the lunches, including the middle school’s and had all of the students create their own person and put it up on the mural. This is the finished project and if I may say so myself, I think it looks pretty incredible!

12. Here are some adorable sixth graders participating in the College Week photoshoot. Even though we do not work with the middle schoolers all the time it is always a treat getting to spend time with them. We are hoping to expand our services to the middle school beginning in the new year and I am looking forward to working with the amazing middle school teaching staff and the silly, wild, and entertaining students.

13. Even though there are a million more reasons I could list of why I truly love being a 12+ Fellow, the most important reason is because I truly love my students. They are the reason I am smiling when I wake up at 6:00AM every day, they are the reason I am excited to get to school every morning and they are the laughter, love, and life that fill my days. I am a better person by knowing each and every single one of my students; their stories and life experiences are my motivation and the reason I am doing what I am doing.