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Health
Leadership High School is a new high school opening in Albuquerque, New Mexico
committed to providing the best education to the students who need it the most.
We will serve poor students and from low socioeconomic families that are
between 14 and 24 years of age. The school anticipates that most of the
students will be under-credited and off track to graduation and we expect that
80% of all students enrolled will fit this profile. This demographic of young
people need a relevant highly personalized approach to learning. Many studies
have documented the need for relevancy and purpose in their learning for
at-risk students and the school is committed to making school directly related
to their future ambitions to work in the health care sector.
This
is the time to re-engineer career preparation in high school. The health sector
is changing at an unprecedented rate and we face an unknown future. However, we
know that in an era of scarce resources, a well-educated and skilled workforce
is our best chance to shape a healthy future for our communities. Regardless of
the job any of our graduates hold, they will need a broad understanding of the
determinants of healthy communities, families and individuals. They must also
understand the systems that can improve the services that support the health of
our citizens and that have the capacity to actually serve their clients well.
Finally, they will have a diploma with currency in the workplace and be
prepared for a career in the sector directly after graduation and/or continue
to college after they graduate.
As an experienced principal, I felt confident running the day-to-day
operation of a school, working with teachers and students, developing
relationships with families, and even working with a tight budget. However, as I took the move into opening up a
brand new charter school, I knew I was going to need to push outside of my
comfort zone of schools to build a school schedule receptive to the needs of
students and reflective of work in the industry, develop relationships with
industry partners, and create a project-based curriculum responsive to our
industry partners yet intriguing to students.
Eagle Rock Professional Development Center came to my aid to be not only
a thought partner in this new work, but a mentor to me as I worked to through
deconstructing school design and redesign a curriculum relevant to students who
are disengaged in the current system of school.
Eagle Rock Director of Professional Development, Michael Soguero and Dan
Condon, Associate Director of Eagle Rock Professional Development Center sat
down with me to engage me in a conversation about vision, redesign, and
re-engaging students. I was inspired by
their confidence and enthusiasm in the work ahead of us at Health Leadership
High School. Rather than instruct me
with a recipe of what to do with the design of the school, Michael and Dan
posed questions to me in my vision and mission of the school. Their ability to push me in my thinking
enabled me to come up with a concrete plan for my own professional development
goals as I developed the school.
Based on our conversation, I
developed two professional development goals. The first goal included creating
a PBL project based on the health sectors outlined by the industry and the
needs of the community. The second goal
was to engage our industry partners from the health field in the development of
our projects. This work was important
for me to obtain relevant information to inform our projects and demonstrate
the value of our industry partners in school design. With the constant listening ear of Dan as he
thoughtfully pushed me in my thinking to ensure I was true to what I laid out
as the goals of my work, we were able to develop three PBL projects to share
with industry partners.
Sharing curriculum with
industry partners is exciting, cutting edge, and frightening. Sometimes as educators we share a finished
product, but rarely do we engage with industry partners at the layer of
curriculum development and design. I was
a bit hesitant to share the information, gather input, and redesign as needed
by the industry. Yet, with the help of
Dan having honest conversations with me about outcomes for students and sharing
protocols to guide the discussions with our partners I was able to facilitate a
successful curriculum meeting with 12 partners from the health field. Industry partners responded that they had
never been part of such progressive curriculum design, nor had they ever had
the opportunity to ensure the curriculum was directly aligned and relevant to
their industry.
As I followed up with
Michael and Dan on the success of our creating curriculum with industry
partners, I realized I was in a place to start organizing the daily schedule to
reflect the work of the curriculum.
Thoughtfully, Michael and Dan asked me to articulate the essential
elements we need to add in the school and without the constraint of time
discuss what a day in the life of a student at Health Leadership High School
would look like. As they listened
carefully to my vision, Michael was able to help organize a weekly schedule
with me in a way to reflect the cutting edge work, align to the vision and
mission of the school, and transfer onto paper in a way graspable to the daily
work of students and teachers.
The work of Eagle Rock Professional
Development Center allowed me to begin putting ideas of school design centered
on student re-engagement into reality.
Their ability to listen, organize ideas, and provide tools applicable to
my work was of astounding service. Their
work and passion is admirable and inspiring.
They have shared their knowledge in a way to encourage me as I embark on
this new venture to create a healthy, meaningful learning environment for our
students who need it the most.
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