Donning raccoon hats in Davy Crockett frontiersman fashion, San Miguel Elementary School Principal Christina Ballantyne and The King’s Academy High School Spanish Teacher Patricia Wiechec were recognized in May as ProjectCornerstone Trailblazers, for pioneering new ways to build assets in youth.
The two collaborated to have high school students deliver the Asset Building Champions (ABC) program at San Miguel Elementary, empowering the older youth as positive role models through service and leadership.
The ABC program aims to help students develop skills to handle physical, verbal, relational and digital bullying and to “stand up” if they see someone else being bullied. Another key goal of the program is to increase the number of caring adults on campus so that all students feel that there is at least one adult they can turn to if they have a problem.
The award recipients were honored by the YMCA’s Project Cornerstone, a community-based initiative that seeks to build a web of support around young people so that they grow into healthy, caring and responsible adults. The awards were presented at Project Cornerstone’s annual Volunteer Celebration on May 18 at the Campbell Community Center’s Heritage Theatre.
