The Ohio High School Transformation Initiative: Champion of Change - Diane Smith, Southview's Pride School, Lorain
Eleven ninth-grade students in Lorain Southview’s Pride School may not realize it but one of their recent school projects is a perfect example of the benefits of a small schools environment. The students, along with the ninth-grade teacher team, wrote, designed and published an eight-page Black History Month special supplement to the Lorain Morning Journal, the city’s daily newspaper.
Veteran history/social studies teacher Diana Smith led the project. “This is our fifth year for this collaboration and every year I feel I’ve got to top myself,” she said. This year’s publication highlighted the struggles of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who against all odds registered to attend an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1956.
The cross-curricular flexibility of small schools made producing the supplement easier, Smith said. Science teacher Sue Pileski constructed a timeline while English teacher Laura Manning worked on the cover design. All, including math teacher Brian Hilko, allowed students to use team teaching time to work on the writing project in the library.
Smith said her biggest daily challenge – with this project and in general – is keeping students focused on academics without letting socioeconomic factors come into play. “As an educator I can’t change students’ circumstances but I can change their future,” she said.
To read the article go here
Veteran history/social studies teacher Diana Smith led the project. “This is our fifth year for this collaboration and every year I feel I’ve got to top myself,” she said. This year’s publication highlighted the struggles of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who against all odds registered to attend an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1956.
The cross-curricular flexibility of small schools made producing the supplement easier, Smith said. Science teacher Sue Pileski constructed a timeline while English teacher Laura Manning worked on the cover design. All, including math teacher Brian Hilko, allowed students to use team teaching time to work on the writing project in the library.
Smith said her biggest daily challenge – with this project and in general – is keeping students focused on academics without letting socioeconomic factors come into play. “As an educator I can’t change students’ circumstances but I can change their future,” she said.
To read the article go here
posted by susan at 10:57 AM
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