Habits of Heroes –Summer 2025
Young heroes in Upland, California expanded their vision, rolled up their sleeves, and opened their hearts this summer, through a special program to support the local Compassionate Communities movement. Upper elementary and incoming middle school students attended academically focused bridge classes in the morning. In the afternoon, a pilot group enrolled in the
half-day
Habits of Heroes program at Cabrillo Elementary School. The program resulted from a collaboration between People for Peace and Prosperity,
Full-Circle Learning, and the Upland Unified School District’s Special Services Department, led by Mario Jacquez.
Over the summer, participants completed four learning units: Vision Seeking, Selflessness, Advocacy, and Dedication. Within each unit, they learned academic concepts and life skills related to the theme. They also honored community role models and participated in relevant
service-learning field trips as they strived to master each successive habit-of-heart. Highlights appear on the following pages.
Habits of Heroes 2025 - Learning Unit Highlights
The Habits of Heroes curriculum embedded academics, creative arts, conflict resolution, mindfulness, and altruistic life skills into projects that benefited the community and expanded students’ own horizons. Read on for unit highlights.
Vision Seeking
On a visit to Brookdale Assisted Living, each child interviewed an elder and honored them for their contributions to society, with handmade gifts and artwork.
The class also exchanged wisdom with a school in Nigeria, to learn from peers about how to develop a vision such as reducing health disparities in a community.
Selflessness
California Botanic Garden docents emphasized ways to speak out for voiceless species. Here, the Heroes gathered around lead teacher Antoinette Wright to explore the garden. Afterward, the class honored docents with a paper flower bouquet.
While practicing the habit of selflessness, students also learned about career choices that prioritize the needs of others, They welcomed classroom presentations by veterinarian Dr. Nicole Weinstein (and her kitten patient) and by a Hospice Chaplain, Reverend Kathleen Reeves.
Advocacy
Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court served as the backdrop for understanding how judges, juries, and attorneys strive to create justice and advocate for the rights of both plaintiffs and victims. Students sang to Judge Uhler and toured the facility, offering gifts to thank the staff for their service, after an in-class presentation about dispute resolution by attorney Soheila Azzizi (pictured).
Dedication
The habit-of-heart dedication, an essential tool for architects, inspired a study of Andrew Carnegie. In the early twentieth century, Carnegie ensured that almost every major city, including Upland, would acquire a distinctive, free public library. Engineer Mehrdad Nosrat taught the Heroes how to create a blueprint for such a facility.
On a trip to the public library, the learners researched designs to inspire their own architectural models.
In-Class Highlights
Academic projects infusing art, music, role plays, discussions, and guided imagery (mindfulness) activities prepared students for their community work.
Antoinette Wright led guided imagery exercises based on the book, The Sky Belongs to Everyone. The Heroes took journeys of the mind to reinforce their heroic identities.
Intern Savannah Lindsey mediated each march across the conflict bridge.
Examples of role plays included a sibling dispute about a borrowed item not returned, as well as a conflict between a bus driver and a rider lacking ample bus fare.
The Heroes also acted out their unit themes by playing habit-of-heart basketball.
Intern Sara Dawidian taught a lesson entitled, Art Can Change the World.
The Heroes embraced the concept as they made “Hero” bracelets for community role models, hats to honor elders, and architectural concepts to inspire buildings that benefit society.
JustServe volunteers (right) laid the groundwork for the plan to give paper flowers paper flowers to docents.
Celebrating Compassion
At the final mastery ceremony, each student received a teacher’s certificate for the habit they best mastered.
In turn, the children each presented a Hero certificate to parents or to a caregiver for the habit they most appreciated in that family member.
Those present filled out anonymous surveys, with 100% reporting that their children had improved beyond their expectations in at least 15 of 19 skill sets, including a heightened motivation to learn. The evening ended with pizza, provided by People for Peace and Prosperity, and congratulations for the evolving young heroes.
Summary of Benefits Full-Circle Learning’s Project-Based Program:
- Builds leadership capacities
- Heightens the motivation to learn
- Instills positive habits and socio-emotional skills
- Reinforces literacy and critical thinking skills
- Teaches processes for collaboration and conflict resolution
- Strengthens innate altruistic identities
- Exposes student to practical application for learning
- Applies the arts to generate community awareness
- Inspires students to embrace a greater sense of purpose
- Connects local and global schools in wisdom exchanges
- Serves learners from preschool through high school in multigrade programs, while presenting age-appropriate learning goals and life skills
- Offers professional development for working administrators and teachers, as well as for university interns, faculty, and volunteers, who implement the program and cultivate the skills of onsite program leaders.
For more information, visit www.fullcirclelearning.org. For the most recent annual report, see https://fullcirclelearning.org/friends/annual-reports. Or contact info@fullcirclelearning.org.
