Meet the New High School Lead Manager Team
Meet Moritz, Julie, Mauricio and Meili. As Dream Project’s High School Lead (HSL) managers, they are responsible for training and supporting HSLs so that they can successfully implement Dream Project programs in high schools.
Julie is a junior majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Education, Learning & Society. This will be her 7th quarter being involved with Dream Project. She enjoys copious amounts of running, coffee, reading, music, going to concerts, going on adventures and trying new things!
Mauricio is a senior majoring in Social Welfare. This is his 6th quarter in Dream Project, all of which have been with Ingraham High School where he was the HSL last year. He enjoys coffee and sports, especially baseball and all our Seattle teams.
Moritz is a junior majoring in Bioengineering, with a focus in Diagnostics and Therapeutics. He enjoys playing soccer and basketball, and values friendship. He has been a Dream Project mentor for six quarters and is excited about the upcoming Sounders season!
Meili is a junior double majoring in Early Childhood & Family Studies and History with a minor in Education, Learning & Society. First getting involved in Dream Project as a mentee, this will be her 8th quarter as a mentor at Ingraham High School. Dream Project has provided her with a special way to stay connected with her community and fueled her desire to continue supporting students and become a teacher.
As HSL Managers, these four create and facilitate the content that is presented at weekly Sunday meetings to help prepare HSLs for visits and breakouts. They hold check-ins throughout the quarter with individual schools to make sure any issues are being supported and worked through. They also send frequent updates about resources, such as scholarships and events, that HSLs can then pass on to mentors and mentees. Managers also observe breakouts themselves or coordinate others to provide individualized feedback to HSLs.
The Importance of High School Leads
Put simply, HSLs are one of leadership’s major links to direct service at the partner schools. For the 2016-17 school year, there are 32 HSLs working at 15 high schools.
They plan breakouts to prepare mentors, collaborate with school administrators and teachers, and coordinate and carry out visits. HSLs also play an incredibly emotional role in the program, as they have the power to create a sense of community within their mentor group, which not only keeps mentors engaged with the program and its work, but inspires them to deepen their involvement and spread awareness about Dream Project and its mission.
Moving forward, we hope to increase the collaboration between HSLs and other leadership bodies in Dream Project. Specifically, we hope that HSLs will work closely with the Dream Project 9th and 10th Grade Outreach Committee and the College and Career Readiness Assistants at their respective schools.
Another goal we have is to reduce cream-skimming, which is the process of choosing to support high performing students at the expense of lower performing students, who are left behind and may be even more in need of help. In fact, one highlight from this quarter was that both Cleveland High School and Chief Sealth High School took action in changing the structure of their visits to reduce cream-skimming.
In the long term, we also hope that HSLs will collaborate with their school administration to ensure they follow up with senior mentees during Spring Quarter to ensure that they are following through with their college/post-secondary decision, having a smooth transition after high school and persisting through college and graduating.
