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High School Renewal Newsletter | ||
October 2004Welcome to the October 2004 High School Renewal Newsletter. This month's newsletter:
The Resource Shelf provides links to a variety of resources that support high school students, teachers and community partners. Next month's edition of the newsletter will highlight news from schools and small learning communities. Add your voice to the newsletter!! Teachers, students, parents and community and business partners are invited to email Linda Younis at lyounis@boston.k12.ma.us with news stories, ideas for the Resource Shelf, and other ideas for the newsletter. P.S. Be sure to visit our school profiles to learn more about the many high schools in Boston. Schools are invited to email updates to Linda Younis (lyounis@boston.k12.ma.us). | ||
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News Stories
High School Renewal | ||
About Small Schools | |
Fulfilling the Promise of Small High SchoolsBy Larry Myatt Small high schools offer the kinds of environments we need if we are to try out some of our newer ideas in school redesign, Mr. Myatt argues. States and districts should pay attention to what these new institutions are making possible. SMALL HIGH SCHOOLS are big news, and rightfully so. They are showing us new ways to provide the social and emotional structures needed to support high achievement. Moreover, if we are open to learning from them, they can help us think differently about curriculum, assessment, and standard setting and can contribute much to the renewal of the teaching profession. Whether it's creating small neighborhood schools, scaling up successful national models, or implementing the small learning community conversion strategy to help our large comprehensive high schools become kinder and gentler places, the small high school movement offers a welcome window on the future of secondary education. | |
Development | |
Looking for Funds in All the Right Places …. | |
DYS Transition | |
Juvenile Justice WorkshopIn April 2004 Tracy Litthcut and Amy Chris Elliott joined the Office of High School Renewal to spearhead an effort to improve the transition process for students leaving Department of Youth Services facilities and returning to the Boston Public Schools. Over the past five months, Tracy and Amy have been working to create a transition process that will enable both students and staff to feel informed and supported. As an important step in increasing awareness about the court system, they are currently offering a Juvenile Justice 101 training to all interested high schools. The first portion of this training will answer the following questions:
The second portion will focus on thinking outside of the box with external partners, and leveraging community organizations to better serve youth.
If you are interested in this training or would like to find out more about the initiative as a whole, you may contact achris@boston.k12.ma.us. | |
Visitor Program | |
High School Renewal Office Announces New "Visitor Program"In Boston, we are very excited about our high school renewal initiative and welcome colleagues from across the country who want to visit and exchange ideas. | |
Student Voice | |
 | Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC)On June 18 and June 23, student leaders from The Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC) attended a 2004-05 Orientation at Madison Park Tech Voc High. Holding elections and planning fall High School Voter Registration and Election Events, the student leaders worked with representatives from Tufts University College of Citizenship and Public Service, Youth on Board, and Kids Voting. With the guidance of BSAC Coordinator Barbara Locurto, BSAC Student Advisor Keith Love, and Jenny Sazama from Youth on Board, BSAC members have great plans for a year of BPS involvement. For several BSAC members, summer meant Boston Journalistic Camp where they wrote for Boston Teens in Print (T.i.P.), a citywide newspaper "created by and for Boston public high school students." Supported by WriteBoston and the Boston Globe Foundation, this journalistic venture is a must read for all high school teachers and students. Be sure to catch its regular column "What's the buzz at BSAC?" that premiered in T.i.P.'s Fall 2004 edition. BPS Students, Grads Making a DifferenceMany of us got to know Andrew Binns, when as a Boston Latin junior and TechBoston participant he became web master for Boston TeachNet http://www.bostonteachnet.org. Three years later, still committed to maintaining our website "by and for teachers," Andrew was featured in the Boston Globe (see article). Spearheading IT at the Democratic National Convention, Andrew pursues his civic activism by working for John Kerry in D.C., Colorado, and Missouri. BSAC member Lisa Jing, was a winner in the essay contest "Future Frontrunners" sponsored by Lifetime Television this July. Showing how young women "can change the world through getting involved in the democratic process, " the Boston Latin School Junior wrote, "Let there be no page titled 'women's issues' in every presidential hopeful's agenda. Hopefully, these rights will be so fundamental, that the question of their quality or reality will no longer exist." Lisa participated in a non-partisan, day-long war room on Monday, July 26th, at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and later visited a session of the convention. She's producing a PowerPoint presentation on the experience to share with BPS peers and teachers. |
IMPACT II @ High School Renewal | |
 | Spirit of Service AwardBarbara Locurto, Director of IMPACT II @ High School Renewal and longtime Service Learning advocate received the 2004 Spirit of Service Award: Learn & Serve America Educator at the June National Conference of The Corporation for National and Community Service, in Kansas City, Missouri. Honored for engaging more than 2,000 Boston Public Schools teachers and 75,000 students in Service Learning activities, Barbara was also commended for our Boston TeachNet Web Site that provides over 1,000 pages of teacher-authored learn and serve activities. |
Resource Shelf | |
CHESP: Community, Higher Education, School PartnershipTEACHERS - SAVE THIS DATE - Saturday, November 20, 8AM - 11PM at Madison Park High
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Stock Market GameThanks to a grant from Morgan Stanley and the Boston Globe, every Boston Public School (grades 4-12) is eligible for free participation in the Stock Market Game, an innovative, fun, standards-aligned way for students to learn math and personal finance.
The fall program begins this week, but the SMG has extended the deadline for Boston teachers to register their teams and still participate fully this fall.
Read the Stock Market Game flier and press release [PDF] for more information.
Questions? | |
Smaller Learning Communities Website from USDOEThe U. S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), announces the launch of an exciting new website for Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grantees and the general public. Designed to facilitate SLC program implementation, the user-focused website was developed and will be maintained by DTI Associates, Inc., in consultation with OVAE and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL). The website features:
The new website also offers SLC grantees a private Talk section - a forum for communicating issues, challenges, and successes, as well as seeking guidance from colleagues. There is also a public Talk section for the broader SLC community Designed to be directly responsive to grantee needs, the website will provide timely information on subjects most relevant to the successful development of Smaller Learning Communities Feel free to contact the DTI website managers if you have suggestions for improving the website (contact details are on the website). Grantees are already registered to use the grantee Talk section if they wish. Go to http://www.slcresources.com/talk.htm and follow the link for the private grantee board. At the login screen, enter your email address and the default password you see there. You'll be taken to the private grantee discussion areas. New SLC Monthly Newsletter. http://www.slcresources.com/newsletter.htm You will find information about the SLC website (including new information and resources added to the website) and other important issues for the SLC community featured in this monthly newsletter. Please take a moment to review the new SLC website at http://www.slcresources.com We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this important SLC implementation resource. | |
Professional Development Opportunities At Facing HistoryFacing History and Ourselves offers the following professional development opportunities. Workshop fee is $250, which includes materials, lunch, and Facing History Resource Book. Workshops are held at Facing History and Ourselves, 16 Hurd Road, Brookline, MA.. Online registration: use the direct link provided with the course description or go to http://www.facinghistory.org, click on Professional Development at left navigation pane, Workshops & Institutes at top of page, scroll to Massachusetts, and choose the workshop you are interested in.
Please send school purchase orders or checks and correspondence to:
Princess Johnson Facing History and Ourselves Introductory Workshop: The Fragility of Democracy; A Humanities Approach The October workshop will cover the Facing History Journey with emphases on Democratic principles (What is democracy? What does it mean to be a citizen in a democracy? What does it take to create and sustain a democracy?) This workshop will stress the use of literature and history. Facing History and Ourselves Introductory Workshop: Culture, Identity and Voice: An Interdisciplinary Approach Many of the challenges of nurturing and maintaining democracy come from divisions within society. As individuals and groups struggle against intolerance, racism, anti-Semitism, and violence, it is important to learn to honor differences in cultural identity and voice. This introductory workshop will look at history and opportunities of democracy, weaving in the voices of individuals struggling to maintain their sense of humanity and belonging. What can we learn about how democracy can fail? …about the challenges and commitments that are presented? …about our individual and collective responsibilities for thoughtful decision making? Facing History and Ourselves Introductory Workshop:
Race and Membership In American History The Race and Membership In American History two-day workshop, sponsored by the Harvard/Facing History Project, introduces experienced and new Facing History educators to a decade of research focusing on a time in the early 1900s when many people believed that some races, classes, and individuals were superior to others. They used a new branch of scientific inquiry know as eugenics to justify their prejudices and advocate programs and polices aimed at solving the nation's problems by ridding society of "inferior racial traits." This workshop will utilize resources and themes developed in the Facing History and Ourselves resource book Race and Membership in American History:The Eugenics Movement. |
BPS High School Teachers are invited to a Learn & Serve Conference designed to connect Classroom~Community~College~Career to build Citizenship and Character. Participants will enjoy opportunities to apply for a $750 grant and/or plan no-cost, class visits to Adams National Historical Park and John F. Kennedy Library. Watch for more about this opportunity on BostonTeachNet