BARNARD LGR @ TYWLS

Hello Everyone!!

I'm glad to know your programs are all going well. We've had a pretty successful semester so far. We have 12 coaches and 30 students although we started with 36 students. This semester was a little difficult to arrange because we run for 4 hours on Friday instead of holding LGR twice a week like we did last semester. 8 of our 12 coaches teach 2 different classes which allows us to have smaller class sizes. Working at TYWLS has really been a blessing because we have all the classrooms in the school available to us and have been able to avoid placing 2 groups in once classroom as we did last semester. Also, we have our own space and drawer in the counselor's office which prevents us from hauling materials back and forth to and from the site.

So far our biggest problem we have had is our coaches not wanting to follow the curriculum we provide. I haven't quite figured out every reason why but as Julia and I have substitute coached, we have realized that the coaches are not going through the manual. I sent out an email yesterday informing them they needed to use the material and if they had questions about lesson plans, to ask me. We'll see how it goes. For some reason, some of the coaches think that they can identify better the needs of the students and end up teaching in circles which confuses the students even more. I'm afraid the training we provided this semester was not as clear as it has been in past semesters and the coaches are more confused about what to teach rather than intentionally avoiding using the materials. Hopefully with the next 5 classes they will get back on track! I'll be monitoring the classes closely this week.

We have not had much of a problem with attendance. We adopted a much stricter and clearer attendance policy this semester and have kicked out 6 students so far. This is the first semester that LGR has collected deposits at TYWLS and it seems to be working as we have had regular attendance.

Working with all girls who know each other is definitely a different dynamic than I am used to, but it's working really well. The coaches love their students and are having a blast working with them. Our college choice director, Julia, has planned a lot of activities this semester and we have had one a week including SAT registration, college searching, myth/reality talks with much more to come. I think we have found a good balance between college choice and SAT prep this semester.

I hope your programs continue to be successful! Enjoy the rest of the year! Just FYI, as a senior looking for jobs, LGR has been the most important part of my resume. When I talk to potential employers, they don't care at all about my major or the classes I've taken and really only want to talk about my leadership with LGR. Just something to keep in mind!

Take care!
Megan