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Student Empowerment

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 5 months ago

Students who attend and run the Youth Initiative HS

“The school was established in 1996 when a group of high school students decided to take responsibility for their education. Today, YIHS continues to emphasize the development of responsibility, initiative, and citizenship in all aspects of school life. Students are full voting members of the school community, serving alongside parents and faculty on the Board of Directors and on many other committees. YIHS students also take responsibility for raising a significant part of the school’s annual budget through a variety of independent fundraising activities. They are also responsible for cleaning and maintaining the school’s facilities.

Student Involvement in Governing

o Students are responsible for raising about 15% of the annual budget

o The students participate as full partners in the governance of the school

o Students currently serving on the Board of Trustees: 4

o Students currently serving on the Personnel Committee: 3

o Students currently serving on the Administration Group: 3

o Open committees such as the Long Range Planning Committee and the Curriculum Committee are frequently graced with the presence of students

o Meetings of the whole student body are held weekly. The students discuss matters of concern from fundraising to the future of the school

Although the idea for a high school had been talked about in the community, it was a small group of students from local public and parochial schools that started the initiative to create a new school. What bound these students together was a pervasive dissatisfaction with the education they were experiencing in their existing high schools. They also shared a desire for a school that would be academically challenging, respectful of individual freedom, and rooted in a meaningful sense of community and shared responsibility.

What began as conversations among friends in school cafeterias, at parties, and over the phone, soon grew to include parents and other members of the adult community. By midsummer of 1996, the group interested in the project had grown significantly, attracting new students, parents, and potential teachers who were excited by the initiative. Community booster Nancy Rhodes bought the former Viroqua Middle School (renamed the Landmark Center) and the still unnamed Youth Initiative High School began in September of 1996.

With only 11 students in 1996, the Youth Initiative High School today has an enrollment of over 50 students in grades 9-12. YIHS is an independent high school and does not receive funds from federal, state or local government. Tuition at YIHS is arranged on a flexible basis in order to enable students from families of all income levels to participate in the school, with several students each year working to pay their own tuition. YIHS has been recognized as a Waldorf initiative by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and its graduate have been accepted to colleges and universities throughout the US and overseas.

Faculty, students and families are partners in learning; exhibiting mutual respect, shared joy in learning, cooperation and caring. We facilitate individual student talents and personal growth, their imagination and passion and their love of the arts. Our rich and challenging course of study integrates academics, the arts, physical and practical life skills. Our small school community encourages students to become all their individual destinies call them to be.”

Isn’t this the type of “ownership” of learning that we want our students to exhibit? These are not students “playing school” or wandering from class to class in various states of catatonia. These are students showing the fire and passion for learning we all seek. There are vast untapped resevoirs of energy and idealism in our students. They are the “solar energy” of our schools. When we help them awaken and get out of their way; to become their partners, not their keepers; we will finally be on the path to the “golden age of education” that awaits us.

“The child is father to the man.

How can he be? The words are wild.”

-Gerard Manley Hopkins

by Pete Reilly

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This video created by students of the University of Kansas provides insights into the problems that students face in an outmoded educational system.

A Vision of Students Today"

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Vision to Action: Adding Student Leadership to Your Technology Plan

Meeting the needs of all stakeholders

By Dennis Harper, Ph.D.

Students make up about 92% of people in attendance in any school. Most technology plans focus on the role of the other 8% (teachers,administrators, adult technical support staff). This is especially unbalanced given thef fact that today’s students are increasingly savvy about the role technology plays in modern life. A district or school’s technology plan creates a comprehensive set of goals and planned actions aimed at effectively integrating technology into instructional and administrative tasks to improve student achievement. By adding students as key stakeholders in this process - both its creation and implementation, districts can increase chances for success and community support. Whether you are looking to include your student’s voices and talents in a new technology plan or amending an existing plan to include student involvement, this document is meant to help complete your task.

Click below to download this great resource:

how_to_include_students_in_tech_plan1.pdf

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Sharing Student Voice: Students

Presenting at Conferences

Bringing local success to a wider audience

By Sylvia Martinez, M.A.

Empowering students to make a difference can bring rewards to both the students and the community at large. Students who learn to collaborate with adults, present their ideas in constructive ways, and take action can be effective spokespeople for themselves, their peers, their school, and their community. Events that take students out of their local environment, such as educational conferences are often offered as a way that adults can support student voice. These events present opportunities to spread your message beyond the local community to reach new and wider audiences. Students, as future citizens of the world, can gain perspective on their own actions and how their contributions are valued by others. Conference attendees can be inspired by your students to implement programs that encourage student voice in their

own schools. Enabling student voice is more than simply “listening“ to students. While it is tempting to think that the act of students speaking at a conference enables student voice, it is dependent on the students having something authentic to share with the audience. It might be more effective to think of conference presentations as “sharing” student

voice, rather than enabling it.

This guide

This guide is intended to provide teachers with practical tips on including students in planning and presenting at educational conference-type events with primarily adult audiences. We

assume that you have students involved in authentic, student-led projects that enable student voice, such as Generation YES programs, where students improve technology use in their own schools by working withteachers and peers.

Click below to download this great resource:

sharing_student_voice_at_conferences.pdf

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