On February 4th I attended the all day GroundSpark Straight-laced training held at Monroe Clark’s Parent Center. The training was sponsored by the San Diego Unified School District. Our school counselor invited us to attend as it was on on campus and we could attend for free as interns. I thought this was a great opportunity to learn more about curriculum focused on gender roles and issues LGBT students face so I gladly accepted the invitation.
GroundSpark is based out of San Francisco, California. GroundSpark focuses on creating schools and communities that are safe for all young people. Their mission statement is to create visionary films and dynamic educational campaigns that move individuals and communities to take action for a more just world. The Straight-laced Curriculum and Resource guide is aligned to the National Sexuality Education Standards which helps counselors and educators as there is limited time allocated to teaching the topic. Some examples of their other curriculum are shown below.
GroundSpark uses the train the trainer model as they train adults who work with youth. All of the activities done during the training can be done with youth, although they may need to be adapted for age appropriateness for younger students.
As we walked into the training we signed in, picked up materials and were asked to take part in the we rock activity. We were to select a rock from the basket and write in one word what we bring to this experience and take it with us to our seat. Later in a go round fashion we introduced ourselves and stated our word and placed the rock into the basket.
At the start of the training the trainers introduced themselves and reviewed the Goals for the training.
We also discussed a guiding question to keep in mind throughout the training.
The facilitators also shared a working definition of gender for the group to keep in mind throughout the day.
Next they explained that we will be sharing personal information and as we are working through respecting and learning about each other’s stories it is good to have agreements for the space. We worked on collectively creating agreements. Some of the agreements we agreed on were:
- Speak from your own experience.
- I think… I feel…
- Assume best intentions, recognize impact and disagree respectfully.
- Share the air - show up, make space.
- Stretch - try on new ideas and support others in doing so.
- Ask for clarification.
- No one’s goodness is in question.
- Be present - manage your devices.
- Don’t be in your rip zone / freak out zone because you can’t learn there. My stretch zone looks different from someone else’s stretch zone.
- In terms of creating welcoming spaces we always want each voice to be heard even if briefly.
- Beginners bring beginner’s mind which is valuable just as the many years of wisdom others share.
Agreements Pictures below:
I really enjoyed hearing fresh ideas for group agreements as some were new to me and really resonated with me. For example, the stretch zone concept was an “aha” moment for me as in graduate school and trainings we are asked to step outside of our comfort zone but I always seem to ask myself, yes, but how much? This helped me to clarify what that means for me. I definitely see myself sharing these ideas with students I will be working with.
Next we participated in the mingle mingle mingle icebreaker. During the icebreaker we got into pairs and answered the following questions with different partners:
Something people assume about me is _____ but actually I am _____
Assumptions I was raised with about my gender
Something I struggle with about my gender is
One area I face privilege in regards to gender / sexuality is…
Next we reviewed bullying statistics and the discussed the pyramid of violence.
Afterwards we watch a clip of the GroundSpark Video regarding gender roles. The facilitators mentioned that due to content only the first part of the film is appropriate for middle school students but that there are guides and worksheets in the booklet that accompany each part of the film and that you don’t have to show it all at once that you can break it down segment by segment for use in groups or classroom lessons. It was stressed to consider age appropriateness of each lesson by reviewing it thoroughly beforehand and making modifications as necessary. Also it is important to make sure students are taught the appropriate terms and vocabulary when using this curriculum. An example would be sharing the working definition of gender much like the facilitators did with us. The film is comprised of 100% Youth Voices.
The curriculum guide is pictured below.
After the video we discussed the notes we took on the sample worksheet.
After the video and discussion we took a break for lunch. Lunch was provided by the Trevor Project. This organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBT youth.
Their website is:http://www.thetrevorproject.org
The 24/7 hotline number for youth to call is 1-888-488-7386 
After lunch we did another activity from the curriculum which is titled, “Act like a girl / Act like a boy” where we discuss gender stereotypes. It was helpful to participate in the activity before we facilitate it with our students so we can get a feel for what it should look like. I can definitely see myself using this with my students in a group setting or even during our GSA club.
At the end of the training we closed the session by passing around the basket of rocks and selecting a rock that represents what we will be taking with us from the training. This was a great way to close the training on an uplifting note.
For more information please visit www.groundspark.org
On page 139 the curriculum includes ideas on how to measure the effectiveness of implementing the program but we can also modify this to fit our needs as counselors and the population we are working with. At the end of the curriculum there are numerous resources given for counselors to have in their toolbox.
I can definitely see myself using this curriculum and guide in various settings including group counseling, classroom lessons and also using some of the key concepts even when working one-on-one with students. I would like to try out some of the lessons in our GSA club at Monroe Clark. For me the training solidified the importance of strong group agreements as it set the tone for the day. I would like to model this with my students in group. Additionally, the training helped me to see how powerful the use of empathizing and supporting is when discussing such sensitive topics. The facilitators were great models of this behavior and I want to make sure I do the same when using this curriculum with my students. This was one of the most beneficial trainings I have attended since beginning the graduate program at SDSU and helped me to appreciate the learning we do outside the classroom and link it to the knowledge we learn inside the classroom.
Irene Ortega
Student, M.S. in Counseling
San Diego State University
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