Castro Middle School: Cultivating Self-Worth

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Castro Middle school has focused on cultivating teachers’ Self-Worth in order to model and support teachers in cultivating their students’ Self-Worth. There is a conscious effort to promote Belonging and Sense of Accomplishment for all staff and students. The following are a few examples from Castro’s action plan to cultivate Self-Worth:

• Monthly Breakfast. Administration has been hosting a monthly breakfast for all staff.
• Instructional Leadership Team Retreat. The retreat, held on a Saturday, provided time to explore how leadership can best support the school’s vision/mission which includes their Quaglia work. This retreat lead to a number of professional development sessions designed to encourage teamwork.
• Escape Room Professional Development. This meeting focused on teamwork and included the Quaglia Failfest activity that facilitates staff sharing various challenges they have faced and what was learned from those experiences (click here for Failfest resource). Teachers were encouraged to use the activities modeled during this professional learning with their Advisory students to help create a sense of Belonging (see pictures below).
• Self-Care Professional Development. This meeting included an appreciation lunch during which staff participated in a guided painting activity with gift cards awarded to the artists with the top paintings (see pictures below).
• Self-Care Challenge. All staff members were invited to participate in a Castro Self-Care Challenge during Thanksgiving break and prizes were provided for those who participated (click here to view the Self-Care Challenge).

Castro is also dedicating a great deal of energy into utilizing Advisory as a meaningful time to connect and cultivate students’ Self-Worth:

• Community Building Fridays. Time is dedicated every Friday for teachers and students to build relationships and promote a sense of Belonging for all.
• Common Reading. A common reading book has been selected for each grade level with the goal of using selected texts to guide discussions related to Purpose—specifically increasing a sense of Leadership & Responsibility and fostering Confidence to Take Action on social justice issues.