AEC remembers Holocaust

Alternative Education Center joined the world in celebrating the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on January 27, 2024. During this week, AEC students integrated the discussion of the Holocaust into their group guidance sessions. They shared their opinions about the current Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars and why the U.S. supports Israel and Ukraine. 

AEC students shared their personal conflicts at home or in school and explained ways to resolve these conflicts. The most common theme students emphasized was respecting individual differences. Students stressed that all humans regardless of identities have the right to live and learn from mistakes to change and thrive. Students discussed how the Holocaust remembrance celebration helps achieve the global goals of reduced inequalities and peace, justice, and strong institutions. 

AEC wins CREST Award, Education Foundation Grant

Alternative Education Center won two awards during the school year 2023-24: Counselors Reinforcing Excellence in Students in Texas (CREST) and Education Foundation Grant. CREST is awarded yearly by the Texas School Counseling Association to Texas public schools implementing the Texas Comprehensive School Counseling Program with the highest integrity. Schools are judged based on the five categories specified in the Press Release below. It was the first time that AEC received this award, and the community of Odessa joined in the celebration. This state award is living proof that integrating global education into school counseling does not imperil the core of counseling; instead, it enhances students' mental health as they start seeing their significance and contribution to the world. We were featured in the news. 

On the other hand, the AEC counseling project, Gamifying School Counseling, won the Education Foundation Grant early this school year. The project aims to integrate play therapy into school guidance and counseling, targeting significant topics based on the Texas Model of Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. A set of play therapy tools worth more than a thousand dollars was purchased through the grant money and has been productively used in individual and group guidance and counseling sessions with students since the first semester. Our project was featured in the news.