Peachjar

Project Cornerstone

Project Cornerstone utilizes the developmental assets model to empower youth, parents, and school staff to improve school climate, reduce bullying, and create vibrant, caring communities of learners. Our programs include youth, parent, and staff engagement. Our parent engagement curriculum develops Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills in youth including focus on inclusion, diversity, tolerance, problem solving, respect, and conflict resolution. It promotes a common language to be used throughout the school by staff, youth, and parents.

 

ASSET BUILDING CHAMPIONS (ABC)
 
Asset Building Champions (ABC) is a parent engagement program with a kindergarten and elementary school strand. Volunteers are trained in the developmental assets model for positive youth development, and prepared to read a specially selected children’s book and lead related activities and discussions in classrooms each month. The program’s goal is to help school communities achieve the following:
  • Create a common language and vocabulary about student respect and behavior expectations among all members of the school community — students, parents and caregivers, teachers and staff.
  • Help students develop skills to handle physical, verbal, relational and digital bullying and to be UPstanders if they see someone else being bullied.
  • 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.
  • Contribute to a positive school climate where every student feels valued and supported to achieve and thrive.
LOS DICHOS
 
To help Silicon Valley’s Spanish-speaking parents better support their children’s education, Project Cornerstone developed Los Dichos. Los Dichos helps Spanish-speaking parents become involved in their children’s education and instill a sense of positive cultural identity in their children. Los Dichos volunteers are trained in Spanish by a bilingual/bicultural Project Cornerstone staff member in the principles of positive youth development, including the importance of parent involvement in education. Each month, Los Dichos volunteers read specially selected bilingual books in the classroom and lead activities and discussions about topics including tolerance, family pride, peaceful conflict resolution and other important values.

The impact of Los Dichos is threefold:

  • Parent volunteers become empowered to better support their children’s academic success and to form more positive connections with all youth in the community.
  • By leading a lesson in Spanish, the volunteers demonstrate that their language and heritage are valued in the classroom, helping build positive cultural identity for their children and their Latino classmates.
  • All students in the class learn the same positive lesson and develop greater appreciation and respect for the culture of their Latino classmates, promoting greater cultural competence and tolerance throughout the school community.