Focused Area
Youth-At-Risk in Rural Settings
Relevance to Focused Area
A transforming rural community is greatly influenced and supported by the Denton ISD GOAL program. Increasing numbers of Second Language Learners, and At Risk students, create unique demands on a small community, and its school district, undergoing a rapid culture change. GOAL is a responsive, proactive program to meet these unique needs.
Primary Strand
Family & Community
Relevance to Primary Strand
The GOAL program actively recruits parent volunteers and encourages involvement from a burgeoning diverse community that often feels excluded from a small town's institutions. Community service and cultural pride building is one of the programs most essential components. Our program mantra is service to Familia, Escuela, y Comunidad.
Brief Program Description
GOAL nurtures leadership qualities among 2nd language learners and at-risk students through mental, emotional, and physical wellness in a high-trust environment. GOAL desires to create a network of socially responsible individuals engaged in strengthening family, school, and community.
Summary
A small town program with an international feel, currently in its sixth year of implementation, GOAL seeks to embed leadership qualities among multilingual students for the purpose of creating success at home, school, and within the community at large. Physical, mental, and emotional well-being among the outstanding participants is our chief mission and provides the basis for all group activities as well as collaborative decision making processes. Soccer satisfies our health and wellness component and intentionally nurtures a civil spirit of competition. Multi-tiered levels of mentor-ship provide students with guidance in academia, maturity, and safety. Finally, perspectives in historical and cultural awareness, shared in group sessions, add relevance to the student experience and illustrate campus and district dedication to a global community.
GOAL strives for innovative instruction and enhanced educational opportunities. Our primary asset is cultural relevance. The global community refers to soccer as "the beautiful game", yet competitive soccer is not offered at the middle school level. Our target demographic views soccer as an incentive, therefore creating more school buy-in among students who may feel marginalized in an English dominant environment. Through the mechanism of a soccer program students are encouraged, by club sponsors, to seek placement in enhanced coursework, maintain consistency in attendance, avoid discipline referrals - which subsequently leads to absence from quality instructional time, and to seek higher education and/or career tracks presented to them by advocates and representatives of these institutions.
GOAL provides dedicated service to family, school, and community. First, increased parental involvement is paramount. Recently added components include the Copa Familia (Family Cup) - a Father/Son soccer tournament and parental recruitment for campus advocacy groups that guide criteria for ESL students. Secondly, and most incumbent of the curriculum, is student leadership. We strive for student excellence in these areas: health, academics, college and career readiness, and emotional well-being. Finally, community service projects are a requirement for each club. These projects include, but are not limited to: local Adopt-a-Spots and fund raising for student scholarships, adult ESL classes, and families in need.
Evidence
82% of program participants graduate on time.
In six years of implementation this program has grown from 23 to 300 student participants across two Texas school districts.
25% of student participant parents actively participate as campus volunteers on a regular basis.
The program is based on the pedagogic philosophies of Dr. Pedro Noguera, Dr. Ruby Payne, and the ASCD Whole Child Initiative.
Format
Individual Presentation
Biographical Sketch
Chris Ice has 15 years experience serving second language learners. Upon developing the GOAL program, he has successfully implemented it across a school district which serves over 24,000 students.
Adriana Cavazos is the most successful sponsor of the GOAL program. She manages two teams that have become the exemplar of retention, lower discipline referrals, and community service work. Adriana has 10 years experience serving public schools in the Rio Grande Valley and North Texas areas.
Start Date
11-5-2015 2:45 PM
End Date
11-5-2015 4:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Ice, Chris and Cavazos, Adriana Ms., "Transforming Rural Culture and Climate with GOAL" (2015). National Youth-At-Risk Conference, West (2015-2017). 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_vegas/2015/rural/2
Transforming Rural Culture and Climate with GOAL
GOAL nurtures leadership qualities among 2nd language learners and at-risk students through mental, emotional, and physical wellness in a high-trust environment. GOAL desires to create a network of socially responsible individuals engaged in strengthening family, school, and community.
