Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeSunday, Sep. 14, 2008
Beyond the books: Phoenix High students in Kennewick meet requirements with projects
By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer
KENNEWICK -- Phoenix High looks more like an office than a school, with individual work stations and a computer for every student, plenty of plastic file cabinets and even a water cooler.
The nontraditional setup, coupled with an academic program that lets students meet requirements by completing projects they choose themselves, has made learning at the Kennewick school far from business-as-usual.
"It's grown so much. I hope it will get bigger," said Erron Ulvin, 16, who's in his second year at Phoenix. "I don't even like the weekends anymore. I want to be at school."
Phoenix High got its start last year within Southridge High in Kennewick. It's a public school that's part of the Kennewick School District.
This year, it has its own space in what used to be the Calvary Chapel building on West Fourth Avenue and South Vancouver Street next to the Spaghetti Establishment. The district is paying $3,473 a month in rent.
The new home isn't the only change for the school. Phoenix also has grown to 62 students this year, up from about 40 last fall. Students apply to the school and are interviewed. There's a waiting list to get in.
The goal is to build up to 160 students over the next few years, said Tracy Money, director and one of Phoenix's three teachers.
A draw of the school is that teens have the freedom to guide their own learning, several said.
They have to meet the same requirements as their counterparts in traditional high school, but they do so by completing projects -- from rebuilding a car to composing a piece of music.
The projects can take a few weeks or months to finish. Students create proposals explaining how their work will fulfill state learning standards. When they're done, they have to present their project and prove why they should be given credit.
"It's not like what we're doing is any less credible than at 'normal' high school. It all goes in to how determined you are. What we're doing is self-driven," said Steph Heckman, 16, a junior.
Each project has to include information from two "live" sources whom students interview for their expertise. The teens also take an online math class as part of their course work.
They follow a daily schedule that gives them time to plug away at their projects. The students worked quietly at their desks last week.
Many already had personalized their work stations with posters, photos and notes. They spent time with their noses in books doing research, surfing the Internet for facts and figures, or on the phone setting up interviews with sources.
The three teachers, who go by their first names at Phoenix and are known as "advisers," walked around answering questions and giving tips.
"I like it. I feel more at home. I feel I have more control of my work than at (traditional) high school," said Tyler White, 16, a junior who's in his first year at Phoenix.
He was doing Internet research for his project on djembe drums from Africa.
Across the room, Cassandra Damian, 19, a senior and returning Phoenix student, read a textbook for her project on natural medicine. She likes the school's small, personalized feel, she said.
"You get up and you want to go to school. You have fun," she said.
There's serious work done too. Students from Phoenix made gains last year in core subjects based on standardized test scores, Money said.
Math scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning lagged -- like at most schools in the state -- but the staff is working this year to address that, she said.
The idea for Phoenix High came after the Kennewick school district received a $3 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2005. One of the requirements was that leaders look into starting a small school.
"If kids are given the opportunity to set their own goals and take over their own education, they are much more likely to excel," said Sarah Ard, one of the Phoenix advisers.
Heckman, who's in her first year at Phoenix, said so far that's been the case for her.
She spent last week researching a clothing company that gives a portion of its proceeds to charity, and even managed to track the owner for a phone interview. She also looked at the company's finances.
Heckman has emerged as a leader in the school and said she loves the freedom it's given her and the chance to learn more deeply.
"I'm really stoked to be here," she said. "I feel like I've been given this opportunity, and I'm taking full advantage of it."
* On the Net: www.ksd.org/schools/secondary/Phoenix
* Sara Schilling: 582-1402; sschilling@tricityherald.com
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