Puzzle of Practice
At Cathedral City High School, discipline data surfaced an urgent concern—but not a complete explanation. In 2023, the school recorded 115 suspensions related to on-campus altercations, signaling repeated conflict without lasting resolution. Leaders understood that suspensions alone were not improving safety, relationships, or learning conditions.
Rather than treating discipline as a compliance problem, the school recognized it as a design challenge—one that required understanding student experience, adult systems, and the conditions that allow conflict to escalate.
The Puzzle of Practice
Early inquiry revealed a fundamental mismatch between the school’s intentions and its structures. Discipline systems were largely adult-controlled and reactive, while students were expected to comply with rules they had little role in shaping. This dynamic limited student agency and reduced opportunities for prevention.
The puzzle of practice became clear: meaningful change would require shifting from control to shared responsibility, where students were positioned as contributors to solutions rather than recipients of consequences.
Collective Goal
The Theory of Action: Stewardship Changes Behavior
The work was guided by a clear and grounded theory of action that connected responsibility to outcomes. Rather than assuming behavior improves through enforcement alone, the school anchored its approach in stewardship and partnership.
If students are trusted with meaningful roles as mediators, counselors, and advocates—and adults commit to partnering with them—then students will take greater responsibility for their community, leading to reduced conflict and fewer suspensions.
This theory clarified the mechanism of change and established a shared direction for adults and students alike.
The Design Approach
To enact the theory of action, the school relied on a disciplined design process rather than isolated initiatives. Collaborative inquiry and human-centered design provided a structure for listening deeply, defining problems accurately, and testing responses in real conditions.
This approach ensured that decisions were grounded in lived experience, refined through evidence, and adjusted as impact became visible.
Collective Action
Three Student Action Strands, One Intergenerational System
The CCHS Student Ambassadors supported by Yadira Milward and reinforced through the
YES approach translated theory into practice through a coherent set of student leadership roles. Rather than relying on a single strategy, the school implemented three interconnected action strands that addressed conflict, care, and culture simultaneously—within a unified student–adult system.
Strand 1: Peer Mediation (Responding to Conflict)
Students were trained and trusted to serve as peer mediators, supporting peers in navigating conflict peacefully. In this role, mediators:
- Practiced neutrality, listening, and accountability
- Provided an alternative to punitive discipline
This strand addressed harm in the moment, reducing the need for removal from the learning community.
Strand 2: Peer Counseling & Care (Supporting Well-Being)
A second strand focused on peer counseling and care. Students described:
- Providing safe, trusted spaces for peers to talk
- Connecting students to adult supports when needed
- Normalizing help-seeking and emotional well-being
This strand reduced isolation and ensured that fewer conflicts escalated due to unmet needs.
Strand 3: Advocacy & Awareness (Changing Conditions)
The third strand focused on advocacy and awareness—addressing the conditions that produce conflict. Students:
- Led schoolwide campaigns around belonging and mental health
- Surfaced patterns and tensions through inquiry conversations
- Partnered with adults to redesign routines and supports
This strand moved the work upstream, preventing conflict before it occurred.
The Intergenerational Partnership: Shared Power by Design
The effectiveness of YES rested on intentional power-sharing between students and adults. Leadership was not delegated to students in isolation, nor retained solely by adults. Instead, responsibility was distributed in ways that honored expertise, role clarity, and accountability.
This partnership made student leadership durable and ensured that insights translated into system-level action.
Collective Impact
The Impact: When Students Shape Discipline, Outcomes Change
The impact of Youth Empowered Stewardship was both immediate and sustained, affecting discipline outcomes, student experience, and adult practice. Because students were positioned as stewards—and adults partnered with them—the school saw measurable improvement alongside deeper cultural shifts.
Discipline Outcomes
- Out-of-school suspensions related to altercations dropped from 115 to 47 in one year, representing a 59% reduction.
- Conflicts that previously resulted in removal from school were increasingly addressed through mediation, support, and early intervention.
- Discipline responses shifted from punitive reactions to restorative and preventive actions.
Student Impact
- Students reported greater confidence in resolving conflict before it escalated.
- Peer mediation and counseling normalized help-seeking rather than punishment.
- Students increasingly identified themselves as responsible for the well-being of their peers and the broader school community.
Adult Practice and System Impact
- Adults intervened earlier, informed by student insight rather than incident reports alone.
- Administrators and support staff adjusted supervision, routines, and supports based on patterns surfaced through student leadership.
- Discipline became a shared system of responsibility rather than an adult-only function.
Together, these impacts signaled more than a drop in suspensions. They marked a shift from managing behavior to designing conditions for belonging, accountability, and safety.
Why YES Works: Inquiry Turns Values Into Impact
YES works because it translates deeply held values—belonging, responsibility, care—into visible structures and routines. By combining stewardship roles, inquiry cycles, and intergenerational partnership, the approach moves schools from aspiration to action.
This alignment makes YES repeatable across classrooms, schools, and systems.
Bring YES to Your School or System.
Schools and districts across the country are seeking ways to reduce harm, strengthen belonging, and engage students as partners in improvement. Youth Empowered Stewardship offers a clear, tested pathway for doing exactly that—by redesigning systems with students, not around them.
If your school or system is ready to move beyond compliance-based discipline and toward shared responsibility, YES is ready to partner with you.
Bring YES to your schools. Bring YES to your systems.
