Next week, October 25- October 29, Jimmy Carter will be participating in Red Ribbon Week.
To honor the death of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena, different schools and communities across the United States wore red ribbons to raise awareness to the dangers that can come from drug usage. Red Ribbon Week serves as a reminder of how drugs can destroy relationships and communities. It also serves as a tool for school aged children to encourage drug prevention.
Sophomore student Onyx (Mia) Mendoza said that “I think students or everybody should be aware of the dangers that drugs can have. I think its important but we should have more information based teaching about it.”
Monday 25. 2021: Students are encouraged to wear full red outfits in order to be ‘Red-y to be Drug Free’.
Tuesday 26, 2021: ‘Follow Your Dreams, Not Drugs’, as a way to save time in the morning, students can show up to school wearing a pair of their favorite pajamas.
Wednesday 27, 2021: Members of the community can be ‘Drug Free Like Me’, they can wear their fanciest outfit. One they would wear if they were on the Red Carpet.
Thursday 28, 2021: ‘Drugs Can’t See me and I Can’t See Them’, Students can wear camouflage or their favorite pair of sunglasses.
Friday 29, 2021: As a way to both celebrate Halloween and Red Ribbon Week, students and faculty are encouraged to dress as their favorite movie or book character.
Four Carter students earned a certificate after completing the #GenGeo Storytelling for Impact: Photography course over the summer break.
The online course through National Geographic introduces students to the power of storytelling through photography. This course is a primer and introduction to Photo Journalism.
Samantha Cabrera, Mariana Castillo, Lizzet Lugo, and Jesus Menchaca have earned the opportunity to create content for the student’s school publications in various mediums. These students work as an extension of the Red Gold News. They share their skills by producing YouTube video episodes that bring attention to mental wellbeing and other teens’ topics of interest.
“Photographs have power. A photographic story can change the way viewers think, feel, and act,” says National Geographic’s program website. “They can bring viewers to new places, introduce them to new people, and create empathy for the planet and those who live on it,”
The online program is free for students and can be found via the program website. There are multiple programs and courses students can engage in and build up their creative skills with.
“I think that it is important that our students have as many opportunities as possible. It is about giving them access to knowledge and tools. Let them explore and watch them create,” said Ivan Silva, dual enrollment and journalism teacher.
Through the school publications, Carters provides students with a platform and an outlet to amplify their voice. Through the Red Gold News, the school currently runs a school news website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Podcast, and YouTube channel.
Student body lights candles during vigil raising awareness for Dometic Violence.
Student council hosts domestic violence awareness vigil.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), October has been the designated month to promote and raise awareness for victims of domestic violence. The movement was officially launched in 1997.
“Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) was launched nationwide to connect and unite individuals and organizations working on domestic violence issues while raising awareness for those issues,” NCADV said.
The vigil held this morning involved students lighting candles during the ceremony as they listened to a speaker provide facts and statistics regarding domestic violence. Over one hundred students gathered in the student union as they watched and listen to their council.
“I was glad we had a very good turn out, Mr. Bernal thought we would not have that turn out,” Daniela Flores, student council secretary said. “I was very glad that we were able to attract so many people. I am for sure that many kids have experienced or seen it. All of us have at least on a TV show.”
STUCO vice-president Domingo Bazan said that the event was focused on providing facts, statistics and observing a moment of silence to honor and pay respect to those “lights that have gone out”.
“I have had close relatives who have gone through that and I wanted to be respectful to those people that have gone through that,” junior Sebastion Marceliano said. “I saw a bunch of people holding candles and wearing a ribbon that symbolized that October is for Domestic Violence Awareness.”
Education and TAFE students at Jimmy Carter Early College High School are inspired and taking action as they return to on-campus instruction. There is no time to waste.
In September, senior Luis Aguilar, who serves as the Texas Association of Future Educators Area 1 Secretary, represented the school as Area 1 Officers gathered at Texas A & M University International in Laredo to plan for the Fall Conference, in which students will compete for an opportunity to advance to State and National levels in a variety of events which showcase skills which will help them in their teaching careers.
“As the Area Secretary, there has been plenty of debate whether the area one conference would be hosted virtually or in-person,” Aguilar said. “Recently, our state director, Donita Garza, passed away from Covid-19. This was a game-changer when we first heard the news, and it gave us area officers to make this year’s conference virtual due to the risk of Covid-19.”
Aguilar’s position allows him to organize the area, composed of school districts from Laredo to Brownsville and up to Corpus Christi. TAFE is a state-recognized CTO created to enable young men and women an opportunity to explore the teaching profession. The organization was created in 1984 to provide the best and brightest high school and middle school students in Texas with the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions about pursuing careers in education.
“In our school chapter, we still plan to do all the traditional events such appreciation, service, and fundraising projects. We are encouraging the student body to join our program to explore the teaching profession, especially to those who are undecided in what career they want to pursue,” Aguilar said.
This visit was also an excellent opportunity for the officers to explore the campus and meet with faculty in the Education Department.
The opportunity that we allow members is to use many valuable skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.
Jimmy Carter ECHS opts for PRIDE as a school-wide Carter Core Values program and integrates Carter Connect, a mentoring program for all students.
As the school continues to grow and refine its message for students, community, and personnel, a shift in focus towards internal motivation and the core of what moves students was the apt choice for the campus. Carter initiated a campus-wide core values program integrated into the first-period advisory and Path to College Success curriculum. RedWolves have PRIDE ties together the values of perseverance, respect, integrity, discipline, and excellence, which build on the district mission and PBIS rules of being safe, responsible, and respectful.
This program rolled out this academic year as students returned to in-person instruction. Students have been away from the classroom for almost two years.
“It seems like a year or two is nothing, but to our kids, being out of the classroom and disconnected from the community and campus was rough. They lost the practice of engaging with others and how to interact in a classroom. PRIDE is helping the school reintegrate core values that we all feel are important to our community,” dual enrollment instructor Ivan Silva said.
The core values program came about through teacher input and feedback from the last several years in which the campus discussed what the students needed to work on and build on to leverage their academic pursuits in the near future. JCECHS took on how we get our students to take ownership of their learning and actions.
“The values are what the Carter family should display at all times. We have perseverance. We have respect. We have integrity. We have discipline. We are excellence.” Ms. Yesenia Torres said.
Additionally, the campus has also started a mentoring program called Carter Connect. Every student has been paired with an adult on campus who will serve as a mentor when the student is at Carter. For freshmen students, that means that they will have the opportunity to build a solid and committed relationship with an adult mentor over the next four years.
“Carter Connect has been a great way to make connections in an informal way that is more conducive to building relationships,” Mr. Agustin Arias said. “It makes it easier for teachers to be school teachers and not just classroom teachers.”
Carter Connect will foster relationship building, small group dialogue and allow students to discuss things they are concerned about with one person they can reach out to outside of the traditional curriculum conversations.
“It is beneficial especially for seniors who have questions about what to study and get opinions from an adult to talk about the future and careers. It is good to have solid and mature advice from an adult,” senior Patricia Puente said.
Carter students are engaging in conversations about their values and what it means to live them. The program rollout included a booklet and graphics that define each value and provide examples of the values in activities related to student life. Each of the values is closely integrated into PBIS rules. The idea was to add something that would be accessible to students and teachers. Students bring so much knowledge and experience from home, but teachers are tasked with making the connections to the real world that bring value to the students’ lives.
“The program is something that is needed,” senior Carlos Montes said.
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