Q High

Hello, all! I have had a great week at One N Ten 

(although our team is really, really bad at volleyball)

and this week I wanted to share something that is little unique to One N Ten.

One N Ten hosts Q High, which is the product of a collaboration with 

AZ Virtual Academy. Mike Schneider, my on-site mentor and Program Coordinator 

for the Youth Center, describes it as a "blended learning center," which basically means

that youth (aged 14-24, the same as the Youth Center age) can come to the Center to 

take online lessons from AZ Virtual Academy according to a personalized curriculum that 

AZ Virtual Academy puts together with the student. Q High is an alternative to 

traditional high school and is open to straight allies as well as LGBTQ students - 

anyone who feels uncomfortable in a traditional high school setting

and who supports LGBTQ rights can attend. Those who finish high school

with Q High under 21 years of age receive an actual high school diploma,

while those over 21 can get their GED. 

I know I'm throwing a lot of information at you, but this is really exciting! 

Q High has been so successful that AZ Virtual Academy has actually incorporated

some of Q High's methods, although Mike didn't go into detail as far as what those methods were.

The One N Ten staff members also help to tutor students and help them turn in assignments 

on time. Currently Q High is at capacity with 16 students (who are automatically 

considered One N Ten youth) but they're hoping to expand it to 35 students.

Right now, One N Ten is the only LGBTQ youth organization in the state to

offer something like this program. The only other thing close to it that's

available to LGBTQ youth is a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at school,

which isn't the same thing. A GSA is a student-run club at a traditional high school

that does provide a safe space for students to meet and support each other,

but it doesn't provide the wholistic support that Q High does. It would

be fantastic if other youth organizations offered something as supportive as Q High, 

so that as many youth can feel comfortable and graduate from high school as possible.

So that's Q High! As far as the Group activities go, this week we lost at volleyball,

 ate chicken wings, had a very intelligent and impressive conversation on the 

pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, and watched "To This Day" to open

a discussion on bullying.

My Maurice review will go up soon, and next week's book will be the 1982
semi-autobiographical novel A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White. It is the first
in a trilogy of books describing the unnamed narrator's coming of age and experience of
homosexuality in the 1950's in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Michigan. Although it is part
of a trilogy, the books can be read independently of one another, and so I probably
will not be reviewing the other two on this blog. Edmund White writes primarily on
same-sex love, and is known for his book The Joy of Gay Sex and his biography of
 Jean Genet.

I will be going on Spring Break next week, so I will only be posting the book review.
I will be in Australia with my family for the next two weeks, but I will be posting the
second week. Hopefully I can find some interesting bit of LGBTQ facts in Australia!

Bye!