Pyles Elementary School PAL Peer Leaders
The PAL peer leaders at Pyles Elementary School wanted to participate in the Read Across America event and share their love of reading with their classmates. They brainstormed ways in which they might participate and determined that they would volunteer to read with a buddy in the primary classrooms. They created posters, along with Dr. Seuss hats and visited the classrooms to read to others. They visited each classroom, reading with small groups, individuals, and the entire class. They asked the students questions about the stories they had read and rewarded them with home-made mini Dr. Seuss hats. Additionally, we hosted a book drive and collected books to be donated to the children at CHOC hospital. We began our book drive on Read Across America Day, and continued the event through the entire month of March. At Pyles, our PAL leaders love making a difference, not just on our campus but in the community as well.
-Laura Mirabella , Pyles PAL® Advisor
Maxwell Elementary School PAL Peer Leaders
Maxwell Elementary School peer leaders are coming together to help sustain programs and yearly activities on their campus by selling colored soccer balls and smencils. They sell about 100 smencils per day! The money raised from fundraising helps with school activities which include participation in Outdoor Science School. Next month, they plan on selling Earth Day Smencils to celebrate Earth Day.
–Nicole Lui and Andrea Houser, Maxwell PAL® Advisors
Peter Marshall Elementary School PAL Peer Leaders
The PAL students at Marshall Elementary are working together to become better leaders. Peer leaders have helped their school by refereeing sports, playing with kindergarteners, and helping the primary students with their recess. Not only are they helping their school, they are strengthening their leadership skills and building assets. Peer leaders are also visiting other classrooms and teaching peers about conflict management. The PAL students really enjoy helping others and learning new skills.
–David Bujarski, Marshall PAL® Advisor
Pioneer Middle School located in the Tustin Unified School District is our PAL Program Spotlight. The Pioneer PAL Program is focused on making their school and surrounding community a better place. Each week the Pioneer peer leaders walk to a feeder elementary school to assist with the special education preschool program, Kindergarten, and with other students that need assistance with reading. The Pioneer PAL peer leaders also spend a lot of their time with projects that support and bring cheer to individuals in their community. This past December, they visited a group of senior citizens and a hospital for severely injured children to perform holiday music carols. In January, their focus shifted to singing to collecting winter gear for a local charity. So far they have collected over 150 winter sweaters and coats. In addition, they are busy writing cards for a woman who lives in a retirement home near their school. She will be turning 101, and their goal is to provide her with 101 homemade birthday cards. These are just a few of the school and community contributions made by the Pioneer PAL peer leaders!
Our first PAL program spotlight is Savanna High School, located in the Anaheim Union High School District. Savanna HS PAL peer leaders are busy making their school and feeder school a better place by tackling violence prevention issues. This past fall, they partnered with Orange County Human Relations to provide bullying lessons to students at Brookhurst Junior High School and to 9th grade students on their own campus. They have also completed OCDE’s conflict resolution workshop and will present these lessons to younger students. Recently, the Savanna HS PAL program was selected to participate in a Youth Development project in partnership with the Orange County Department of Education, which will provide supplies and materials to support their goal of creating a safe school environment for their peers.
The Orange County Department of Education would like to highlight a new PAL Program each month. If you are interested, please contact Deirdre Hill at dhill@ocde.us.
