Helix’s college tour program passes the test once again

C4Me – College Tour Program

Helix’s College 4 Me Tour Program was established in 2006 as a way of giving ALL students an opportunity to visit California’s best colleges and universities in person. Every spring break, upwards of one hundred juniors pile into a tour bus and drive up and down the state of California, visiting a variety of schools. Many of our students may be the first in their family to go to college, so this gives them an opportunity to get a taste of college campus life. The program has been extremely successful and Helix is proud to offer it to any student that is interested, regardless of financial ability. 

This year’s C4Me trip went off without a hitch! Ninety-eight juniors participated in a three part college exploration series prior to the trip, where they learned invaluable lessons such as college basics, transcript reviews, beyond the grades, majors, etc. In spite of the unpredictable weather we encountered, students took it in stride and enjoyed their time at the nine colleges in Northern California visited over a four-day span. Students returned with a wealth of knowledge from admission workshops and the amazing opportunity to meet up with former Helix students to discuss their path and insight on the college process from an alumni perspective. In addition to visiting college campuses they had the amazing opportunity to enjoy some free time at the Santa Cruz pier where they created lifetime memories with their classmates. 

Freshmen College Field Trip

Our Helix First class, a required class that all freshmen take to get familiarized with Helix, took a day long field trip to tour the SDSU & UCSD campuses. This trip helps introduce what the college experience is like in a way that only being on a college campus can! We coordinate Helix alums currently attending those schools to lead the tours so they can talk about their experience and answer questions.

Trades Day

Helix hosted our first annual Trades Day event and it was a success! We had representatives from construction trades (Electrical Union, Sheet Metal Union, ABC Trade School, Assoc. of General Contractors), law enforcement and city jobs (LMPD and La Mesa Public Works), the military (Air Force, National Guard), realtors (SD Association of Realtors), cosmetology (Color Collective Salon, Artisan Kings – owned by Helix alum Homer Mauga), youth job training (SD Workforce Partnership) and Grossmont & Cuyamaca colleges. Helix is excited to make this event an annual tradition.

In addition to Trades Day, we also have regular Career Presentations in our Academic Support classes. The schedule can be found in the monthly school newsletters.

Psychology Fair

Julie Damschen’s Psychology fair lives on after taking a break through COVID. She has been organizing this event for over 20 years now! 10th – 12th grade College Prep Psychology students created interactive activities based on psychological principles, like love languages, gambler’s fallacy, reconsolidating, selective attention theory and much more! They made hypotheses, collected data and then shared the results. Ninth graders and staff members rotated through stations as the audience and learned about the theories they presented on.

LMPD & Student Forum

We hosted an incredibly powerful forum with the LMPD, representatives from the La Mesa Police Oversight Board and our Executive Director Kevin Osborn about the school to prison pipeline and what we can do in education and law enforcement to help mitigate it. Thank you to Ms. Jendian and students from English 120, a dual enrollment course, for organizing and asking important questions. Students did this as part of a unit on criminal justice where they research and propose a school discipline policy based on the school-to-prison pipeline, the Helix school discipline policy, and punishment versus rehabilitation policies. 

Business Pathway Event: Kill The Stigma Community Forum

Helix’s Business Pathway students collaborated with Dreams+Ducats, a nonprofit education consultancy that designs programs and solutions to evolve learning alongside community and culture. Their community forum was held last week at Quartyard, a venue in downtown San Diego. Our students participated on a discussion panel and explored mental health and how schools and institutions can adapt curriculum to better meet their needs and learn how to collectively support the healing of young people everywhere.

Biology Class Research Field Trip

Our biology classes went to the Safari Park to participate in lab work in the Beckman Research Facility. The Beckman Center for Conservation Science is headquarters for the largest zoo-based multidisciplinary research team in the world. The Beckman Center is dedicated to connecting students with the science of saving plants and animals worldwide, in the hopes of fostering a conservation literate and active public. 

Helix Choir National Anthem

The Helix Choir performed at the La Mesa National Opening Day Ceremony for over 500 community members! Check out the video here. Show Choir Auditions for the 2023-2024 school year are on May 13. Application is posted here with times and details. Among the students in the choir are HLX members and seniors Arabelle Quiggle and Julissa Sierra-Reyes, pictured holding awards for the group’s second place finish at the recent John Burroughs High School Show Choir competition in Burbank. (Courtesy photo)

– Lauren Knuth is the community relations & engagement coordinator at Helix Charter High School.