On June 27, co-PIs Carol Miller and Carrie Jackson, as well as 2023-24 cohort Romi Roman Cabrera and Emily Herman traveled to Johnstown to conduct an afternoon workshop on teamwork with 24 rising HS seniors who are participating in the Summer Discovery Program through the Readiness Institute. The Summer Discovery Program is a 6-week program for rising seniors in Central PA that gives learners the opportunity to upskill/reskill cognitive ability and competencies, develop greater social-emotional intelligence, and improve modern literacies that raise digital, cultural, and financial awareness. Using materials and ideas developed through LINDIV training and the professional development course, Carol started with a brief overview of how to develop ground rules and a team contract when conducting group activities, and how to assign different team roles based on group members' strengths and weaknesses. Romi and Emily then led the students through a multi-stepped group activity where students had to plan out different components of a weeklong study abroad trip to San Marcos in rural Guatemala for HS or college-aged students. This included figuring out the cultural highlights of this area of Guatemala, planning for meals (taking into account what food would be available and potential food allergies), planning travel from San Marcos back to PA, choosing one field trip that would be interesting for participants, and staying within budget. Importantly, students had to complete all of the activities with only limited access to their cell phones-- under the cover story that cell phone access in rural Guatemala is limited-- thereby requiring them to think strategically about how to best use their limited cell phone time, and which information they could gather and decisions they could make relying on other information sources (e.g., each other; a Spanish-English dictionary; etc.). Students were engaged throughout the activity. Romi and Emily learned a lot about how to design and implement teaching materials of this nature. We also hope that this workshop lays the foundation for future collaboration and outreach work with the Readiness Institute, including both its office in Central PA as well as their office in Pittsburgh.
