American Graduate; Nex+Gen High School

fb jeff bridges has been celebrities by almost dropped out this semester i came back as an initial turnout rates be that's a lot easier to get through this thing but the foundations of engineering class next to do studies and will labs and others to learn and how he learned what he has been trying to find a meaningful concept for a teenager is is it's certainly a challenging endeavor but i think a lot of the time we do like when we started talking about nexgen use of your focus isn't specifically dropout prevention in that you're not after necessarily at risk kids here who are you helping

our program our school really is is geared to to really help those mid range students the student said maybe not have not be as interested in school may not know exactly what they want to do but really can get get excited about the kind of project and problem based learning rather than the traditional sitting in the classroom what we have to learn this for so how do you ensure that your teaching to the specifications of the state and yet coming up some for an appropriate product well first all it starts with wonderful teachers who've really work hard and take to get the rest can and really to work hard to learn a whole new way of teaching him he says you start with the standards of the state wants students to learn as they go through high school but we do it as a starting point for real world projects and problems right now we're learning

about mortensen in the hot air balloons and so quote we're seeing some wonderful projects into simpson great success with students that normally would in a palace in the back of the class and just can't get by with caesar maybe worse and i really had never really didn't have i'm actually doing better than expected so simple mnemonic us my american studies in mice cause of doing that in there too so right before their eyes and it would have been really love their holiday takes you to sort of get to the point here we're like yo i'm the ominously <unk> gradual is it was when i got here this year when i started out there as i didn't know maybe if i just keep this up but it will be too bad will be too hard continuing graduate you talk to us about a student shawn who had just haven't been floundering in in a regular high school setting what is it about this the mixer work for well he he was joking the other day to one of his teachers it almost feels like he's been in high school for six years hasn't been that long

but about the exciting thing to hear from him is that he went to two or three different traditional high schools in and you know he is he's an intelligent young man just was never interested and coming here he says he feels like he's part of a community is respected so servant of an environment it's a lot more calmer and you know i'll feel a calf to know does china was one back in anything i he's he's allowed to be himself and were able to give him the individual antenna that differentiation in and kind of more attention and relationship with with an adult hear that is something he needed and something that many many students need it's really important part of our school community besides just the project based learning as a culture around trust and respect and responsibility he said to me this is really the first full review lethal recognized and that he was trusted and really given that the respect that was important to him in and he's held up his end of the

bargain by by owning up to that trust and respect of responsibility polls close in just getting my ged was you know my mom was so it's like i don't get that and then the military's high school students we have relationships with students so i think that's the primary thing and lexus challenge kids further let's is build more than just academic content and for those students who are having issues and having a small group of adults you can come together and try to figure out what exactly is going on in this child's life i'm hoping that we're keeping somebody who would otherwise be lost or finding out what's happening and helping them and he had any washouts people who said i'd like to do this i have to

admit that we have you know being new and being the first of its kind not having students that they could you know ask about what's a school like grief of parents so trying to get a sense of of what art is and what our school artwork on the students to be successful we had a few sorting out but the main thing is is that we have a huge percentage of students come back i was not expecting when i came in when when flake serves lot better if your main concern is just trying to save those that are going to drop out or use the analogy that your arm you're playing cannot lose the game so that means it as opposed to trying to make the school experience meaningful role of trying to insert your challenge in construction spending all your time trying to figure out how to keep those people leaving new you so in the process you don't have that huge

chunk of kids that you're there as a result just feeling it because you're not really playing to the small size was send it was very difficult for me to be around lots people i've always had that problem so when i came here when i saw a hundred fifty students at walt powers how was was first here was a lot better than a lot easier and like sean said it's more relaxed you don't like yourself to watch him back recently what happens if you're not engaging the students respond to the system if they weren't here they might be either on the streets taking a ged those mid range smart students and i really been all that they could be taking the easier way out gradually and not graduating in the tenth eleventh grade in not going on to college does it seem within reach in an snl i can be it's now now last year i didn't think so but this year