The Vermont Experience:
Vermont is primarily rural, with 260 schools and 100,000 students. Most schools are small and community-based. Elementary schools are mainly K-8, although there are (12) K-12 schools. High schools are regional, and most have student populations of 200-500 students. The largest high school has 1000 students.
Vermont is in a state of change; people are moving into the rural countryside, bringing their urban expectations for services. Integrating into the communities can be an issue.
In Margaret MacLean's Peacham, Vt. elementary school, the staff feel it is important for students to live well and contribute in their place (school and town), so that, no matter where they might go, they would know how to "give and get" in a community, even from kindergarten. Many of the projects have been interdisciplinary but have started in science. In the beginning, the school reached out to the community, which did not see the school as a resource. Now, some in the community do see the school as "labor"-- a way to get things done.
. . . For instance, when Peacham converted to the 911 system, students surveyed residents by phone to get names of roads, some of which had more than one name; then they listed the names and submitted them to the committee. One eighth grader served on that committee to name roads; they also selected road signs. Outcomes for students varied; but they were positive. . . . Another example involved restoration of an old blacksmith's shop. A retiree called the school for help. The university staff planned to do an archeological dig around the shop. One child, in particular, was interested because he liked to dig in the dirt, so he contacted the retiree, who in time became a mentor.
How did the process take place?
Margaret: We had to demonstrate that schools could help--reach out and show that kids would behave, follow through, and be helpful.
How do you know when you've gone far enough in reaching out to the community?
Margaret: You know when community members start calling the school!
Community-initiated projects don't always fits neatly into the curriculum. Teachers have to be open-minded about that. Within our curriculum K-6, there are opportunities. For instance, we received a U.S. history grant. Students in grades 5 & 6 inventoried agricultural structures in our town, made a GAS map, and stored the information in the historical archives. A lady in her 80's, president of the Peacham Historical Society has become a great ally over time. She was not a person who would have invited students. She realizes now that there are many things the children can do--dust, shelve, make displays, and input data to a computer. In another class, the teacher wanted to improve students' writing skills, so she's developed a pen-pal program with elderly people in the community. They have good writing skills, lots of interesting stories to tell, and the time to write to students. The teacher ties this to a unit, such as "immigration." At the end of the unit, students invite their pen-pals in for tea and fun.
Children in our school also have improved a run down nature trail. In that process, they realized the disabled would have no access, so one student wrote grants (worth several thousand dollars) and accommodations were made for the handicapped.
In another project in the high school, the French teacher's 10 th grade students, ( Vermont has many French-Canadian families.) with local builders and French-Canadian citizens, built a Quebec-style bread oven. Now, the students make and sell pizza weekly. The money they earn from sales is used to improve the school budget. They see the results of their work.
In Lubec, Maine, there is not lots for kids to do when they grow up, so they leave. In a town where the lobster industry is critical, students have created an aquaculture program involving several other kinds of fish, such as tilapia, and that has expanded the community's industry and provided jobs for many who want to stay.
In Howard, South Dakota, a business class found most people leaving town to do their shopping. They wanted to find out why, so students surveyed citizens and found out that shoppers went to a larger nearby town where there was an ATM machine, and they stayed there to do their shopping, leaving their money in that community. As a result, an ATM machine was established in Howard, a general store was restored, and now more jobs have been created, and more money is being spent in Howard.
Here in Peacham, we've had to think of projects that will sustain and improve our quality of life. I have learned so much about how students feel when they are productive and personally valued. They see their products being used!
. . . About teacher education, in Vermont there is some shortage of teachers. Many of those who want to stay choose teaching so they can stay. But, shortages still occur in the typical areas.
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