dancers at Anne ArundelTHE PATHFINDER

November, 2013

                           NEWSLETTER OF THE PATHWAYS SCHOOLS/CROSSWOOD, INC.
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Gina Alvarado, ISS at The Pathways School-Anne Arundel, was a presenter at the annual conference of the Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities on November 1.  Gina's workshops were  "An Introduction to the Habits of Private Victory"  (based on The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steve Covey) and "Motivating Students Who Don't Care".

 

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 What Horses Teach 
 
Riders and horses go through their paces
 at the Rock Creek Horse Center

 

We have often reported on the transformation that occurs within our students who participate in therapeutic riding at the Rock Creek Horse Center. They begin the program unsure or even afraid and complete it proud, knowledgeable, and confident.  Through relationships with the horses they care for and ride, the students find they can be valued and trusted friends to horses and others.  They discover that they can relate to and guide an animal several times larger than they are.  They grow in physical skill and in knowledge.  While all this is documentable in a student's progress report, the clearest and most poignant evidence of the success of this program can be seen in the attitudes and on the faces of the students as they display their horsemanship during the closing ceremony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pathways 15th Annual Pep Rally 
 
 

 

Kicking off the seasonal festivities for us at Pathways is our annual pep rally, now in its fifteenth year.  The rally is the rare chance for all the sites to come together. It is also a great opportunity to celebrate and encourage student success.  The lively rally includes an award ceremony recognizing first quarter attendance and honor roll, a display of puzzle pieces created by each site (see the montage above), and a showcase of student talent.  The puzzle highlights how Pathways can "imagine the possibilities when all the pieces are connected." 

 

Free Minds Poet Ambassador Alisha

 The keynote for the rally this year was delivered by Alisha, a Poet Ambassador for Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop.  Free Minds works primarily with teenagers who are charged as adults at the DC Jail.  The Free Minds members lead workshop sessions to read and discuss books and write poetry.  Through steady mentoring, the transformative power of books and creative self-expression, and links to support services, the teenagers begin to see their potential and reach toward new educational and career goals.  Like all Free Minds members, Alisha came to this work though experience.  Now she shares her story with honesty, hoping to educate others about the underlying causes of youth incarceration and to prevent young people from entering the criminal justice system.