ON CAMPUS AT NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT:Project ASK initiates innovative programs to achieve student well-being

Albert Einstein once stated insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. With this as Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Project ASK’s (Advocates Supporting Kids) and Costa Mesa Middle School’s dogma, and with the knowledge that detention, suspension and other punitive measures do not deliver changed behavior, ASK and the middle school have created a different approach to achieve student well-being. It is a class titled “Life Skills for Teens.”

“Life Skills for Teens” is the newest offering at Costa Mesa Middle School. The 45 students enrolled in this class have been deemed as needing extra services during their seventh-grade year and have either been retained or promoted with concerns. The course curriculum is designed to give these students the tools they need to be successful in school. The students are closely monitored by their teachers: ASK counselors Jared Fulton and Rebecca Miele, and Costa Mesa Middle School Assistant Principal Gary Hensley. In addition to a last-period class, the students attend a mandatory after-school “Homework Help” class four days a week. The parents of students in this class must attend a series of Parenting Wisely classes offered by Project ASK Family Outreach Advocates.

With this concerted effort focusing on at-risk students at their most vulnerable age, Costa Mesa Middle School and Project ASK are hoping to achieve success for every student in this pilot program.

A second new program instituted by Project ASK for the district’s secondary schools is Challenge Days, inspired by the words of Mohandas (Mahatma) K. Gandhi to “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” and fueled by the vision of what is possible in this world.

The Challenge Day program has reached hundreds of thousands of youth since its inception in 1987. This nationally recognized program has been proven to reduce teen drug, alcohol and tobacco use; reduce student absenteeism; and reduce teasing and violence in middle schools and high schools. This year, Challenge Days will be offered at TeWinkle Middle School, Estancia High School, Costa Mesa Middle School, Back Bay and Early College High School.

Self-esteem is a strong indicator of student well-being and the motivation for instituting a third new pilot program in the district. In an outreach effort to combat low self-esteem in girls, collaboration was begun with Project ASK, Dr. Iman Bar, a community pediatrician, and Hoag Hospital’s Mental Health Counseling Program. A summer Teen Health series was offered weekly at the Save Our Youth Center in Rea School to learn about health, nutrition, the importance of exercise, stress and self-esteem. The groups were facilitated by Bar and Michaell Rose, LCSW. Bar provided the physical health and wellness components titled, “Making a Healthy Diet Your Beauty Secret,” and Rose provided behavior workshops, self-esteem, positive behavior and stress-reducing techniques, and ways to increase self-confidence. Guest instructor Cynthia Brinks offered organic gardening classes where the girls grew strawberries, tomatoes and lettuce; Heba Shublak offered hip-hop classes; the Diamond Counseling Center offered instruction in yoga.

The goal of this community-based pilot program was to encourage youth to acquire a healthier and active lifestyle, and explore inner and outer beauty in a friendly environment.

All of these programs are provided through the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Safe Schools Healthy Student Grant Initiative — Project ASK (Advocates Supporting Kids). Other Project ASK programs available include Life Skills and Second Step for students, and Across the Ages Mentoring, Parenting Wisely, and Parent Project for adults.

For more information, or to enroll in a parenting class or volunteer to be a mentor, call Project ASK at (949) 515-6930.