HUMAN DEVELOPMENT --community service --counseling --lifeskills --environmental outdoor education --physical education & psychophysical studies The Human Development Department offers a comprehensive and diversified program at all levels, providing students with tools to develop personal responsibility, strengthen character, and achieve well-being. Methodologies: Crossroads students are helped to mature in the following ways: intellectually and experientially, through Environmental Outdoor Education (EOE) and Community Service; interpersonally, through Lifeskills and Counseling; and physically, through Physical Education and Psychophysical Studies (PEPS). COMMUNITY SERVICE The goal of the Community Service Program is to instill in students a life-long pattern of giving by helping them to develop a connection with the larger society. To this end, Crossroads encourages and supports students to become involved in community service in those areas that reflect their passions. THE COMMUNITY SERVICE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT is 50 hours, consisting of two 20-hour projects and an additional 10 hours of service. To fulfill this requirement, students can begin as early as the ninth grade. In both the eleventh and twelfth grades students are required to take community service classes. The eleventh grade class lasts for one semester, during which students listen to speakers from several social service agencies, and are carefully tracked as they determine and fulfill the one project required during junior year. The senior course is integrated into the year-long Mysteries class. Along with completing their individual community service requirement, seniors create and participate in community service group projects. BACK TO TO TOP OF THIS PAGE COUNSELING The Counseling Program offers a unique service whereby children and their parents have an opportunity to receive additional support and guidance in the educational process. Counselors work to assist children and their families with developmental, academic, and crisis concerns by providing a safe climate that encourages a free and open expression of feelings and thoughts. In essence, the counseling relationship is primarily one of talking together to strengthen self-esteem, aid in self-understanding, and foster independence and decision-making for students. Using "techniques" that include respect, empathy, authenticity, support and problem solving, the counselors work to establish a relationship in which the child feels accepted. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE LIFESKILLS The primary goal of the Life Skills Program is to build self-esteem and to provide students with the information, communication, and decision-making skills required to behave responsibly and care for themselves and others. LIFESKILLS ACTIVITIES INCLUDE "Council," a structured form of communication that fosters deep listening, discipline, respect for differences, and awareness of unexpected similarities. Art activities, lecture, group discussion, group building games and exercises, guest speakers, and relaxation techniques are integral parts of this process-based curriculum. IN NINTH GRADE students are assisted with the transition into high school through Connections. Students learn techniques and are given information on caring for their bodies, handling and reducing stress, and developing positive, healthful relationships. There is a substantial unit on sex education. Course content includes dependency and addiction as it relates to substance abuse. STUDENTS take Mysteries or Peer Mediation in tenth grade. Mysteries focuses on the increasing amount of freedom students experience at this age. With this increased freedom comes increased responsibility. The class fosters students’ awareness of the consequences of behaviors and the importance of behaving responsibly. Topics covered include conflict resolution, sex role socialization, teen suicide, rape prevention, handling emotions, coping with change, and death and the grieving process. Peer Mediation contains elements of tenth grade Mysteries with the added component of extensive training in mediation and conflict resolution. THE ELEVENTH GRADE Lifeskills course has a two-fold purpose: to introduce students to opportunities available after high school, while familiarizing them with the elements of the college search process, and to provide a place for students to discuss concerns, self-reflect, gain peer support, and develop ways of reducing the stress that occurs during this period of their lives. AT THE SENIOR LEVEL, Lifeskills integrates Mysteries and Community Service. It prepares students for their passage from adolescence to young adulthood, from high school to college, from living at home to leaving home. The class includes an optional five-day retreat and rite of passage. Community service is integrated into class by having students create and participate in a group community service project. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE EOE THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND OUTDOOR EDUCATION (EOE) Program encourages students to appreciate the natural world in the wilderness and in the city, to behave respectfully toward the environment, and to interact cooperatively in an outdoor classroom. EOE programs encourage student initiative in making environmentally responsible decisions while enhancing classroom learning. THE EOE PROGRAM offers both on and off campus experiences that complement students’ interests, abilities, and personal values. The EOE directors work with faculty to develop connections between activities and the on-campus curriculum. Outdoor EOE programs give students time away from the city with a group of their peers. Students are encouraged to consider their surroundings and their impact on them and come to informed decisions about environmental concerns. STUDENTS MAY PARTICIPATE in the following overnight programs: backpacking trips and natural history explorations of the Sierra Nevada, beginning rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park, white water rafting and kayaking on the Kern River, and coastal explorations of Morro Bay. Local programs include: sailing, canoeing, and kayaking in Marina del Rey, hiking in the Santa Monica mountains, beginning rock climbing, and workshops in animal tracking and native plant use. THE EOE DEPARTMENT COORDINATES FIELD STUDY PROGRAMS for students enrolled in Earth & Space Science, Ecology & Marine Biology, arts classes, community service, and other courses. Students may work with the EOE staff and teachers to develop independent study projects that complement on-campus studies. Crossroads faculty members accompany students and the EOE staff and professional guides on trips, providing an opportunity for students and teachers to work together outside the classroom. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE PEPS THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND PSYCHOPHYSICAL STUDIES (PEPS) Program helps students become aware of, integrate, and coordinate their bodies and minds. Therefore, the program eschews extreme competitiveness, placing greater emphasis upon personal and cooperative development. FITNESS ACTIVITIES, Outdoor Activities, and Athletic Conditioning classes are designed to help students improve their level of overall fitness and well-being. Classes include instruction and practice in the following: running, weight training, aerobic activities, relaxation, and stretching. They also cover basic principles of nutrition, and overall health and well-being. THE BODY, MIND, FITNESS, AND WELL-BEING class offers yoga, breathing, deep relaxation, and visualization techniques. Students receive instruction and practice in weight training and in a variety of movement/exercise forms designed to improve holistic fitness. SPECIFIC ATHLETIC CONDITIONING classes focus on preparation for interscholastic team sports. These include conditioning and advanced team strategies that are facilitated by the various sports coaches. Participation is limited to those who are members of the athletic teams. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE