RIHS PACERS Activities for 2Nd Quarter October 2013 Through December 2013

RIHS PACERS Activities for 2nd Quarter – October 2013 through December 2013

12-10-13:This week marked our final meeting of the semester at RIHS. We recapped second quarter and discussed finals week. We were able to have good conversation, enjoy great company, and de-stress over holiday music.

12-03-13:Our PACERS group this week did our final activity regarding personal initiative and being proactive. As many of us are visual learners, we flipped through magazines and found images that represented being proactive and being reactive. Personal initiative means that we are in control of our responses, we take responsibility for our responses, and stop to think before acting.

11-26-13:This week we had a guest speaker who helped us explore more about taking initiative and being proactive. By envisioning a recent conflict, she guided us to be in tune with how our bodies respond to anger, tension and anxiety. Many of us realized that we have physical triggers when it comes to our emotions. For some of us, we experienced sweaty palms, gritting teeth and butterflies in our stomachs. By identifying these physical triggers, we are able to recognize that we are getting angry. This leads us to being proactive in addressing our responses to certain situations.

11-19-13: This week at PACERS our group reflected about the importance of service. This is a way for us to give back to our communities; at the same time, it allows us as individuals to explore our strengths and interests so that one day we can give back to the community in professional careers or as adult volunteers. We applied these concepts to further prepare for our dinner onNovember26. What else have we learned from PACERS? What are the important life lessons we've applied as high school seniors? Our meeting ended this week with great discussion and tips about public speaking, as we'll all be talking about the importance of PACERS at our upcoming dinner.

11-14-13: Quad City Minority Partnership Conference:TodayPACERS participated in the annual QCMP Youth Conference. We attended workshops regarding financial assistance, making healthy life choices, social media, a
college student panel and a college fair. This was a great springboard to finishing the semester strong as well as thinking about life after high school. The speakers were inspiring and passionate about mentoring the students who attended the conference.

11-12-13: To gear up for our 8th grade PACERS classmates, we brainstormed what we wish we would have known coming into high school. Our seniors came up with strong ideas for their younger peers - from taking freshman year seriously to getting as involved in school as you can. We also had a very thought provoking discussion about what it means to respond proactively or reactively to situations within our own lives. We connected words such as active, ownership, and control - not blaming others or our environment - that are connected to Personal Initiative. At the end of the meeting, we had a great conversation about how you can answer YES and NO in both proactive and reactive ways.
11-05-13: It's November, and for our senior PACERS members, that means college application and post-RIHS plans are starting to be on the front of our minds. In reflecting on last week's visit to Black Hawk College, it sparked more discussion about college planning, scholarships, financial budgeting, and other options once graduation occurs in June. We connected this back to taking Personal Initiative, and quickly learned that each of us initiated something proactive every day - from forcing ourselves out from underneath our covers, to working on assignments 3 days before the due dates.

10-29-13: This week our PACERS group discussed forming habits from tasks that become a part of our every day routine, from responsibilities at Rocky, to college, to the world of work. We did an introductory activity to our new Principles for the quarter - Personal Initiative and Using Cosmic Habitforce. While some of our students prefer to work independently, others feed off of group energy and group dynamic. We realized that sometimes the best way to complete a task can also be the simplest.

10-22-13:Todaywas our first meeting back after Fall Intersession. It was good to reconnect over stories about hayrack rides, haunted houses, and football games from break. Now that our goals have been set from first quarter, we recapped the Success Principles discussed last year. These include Positive Mental Attitude, Self-Discipline, and Pleasing Personality. We connected these three principles together through topics of respect, being positive, and the effect we have on those around us. We also celebrated one of our PACERS members being named September's Student of the Month for Career & Vocational Tech. Congrats!