New year brings new opportunities

by GEOFF ANDREWS

Oberlin City Schools superintendent

There is a great deal to report from the schools as the new year beckons. Perhaps now more than ever, there are great opportunities to become meaningfully engaged with students and schools in Oberlin.

This community has an abundance of talent and compassion and a sense of commitment that never ceases to impress me. Who could forget that this community sent an orchestra to Europe last year, and is sending musicians to New York and Florida this year, as well as a passel of eighth graders to DC? Countless students are mentored by Grandparent Readers, Listening Post volunteers, various other local citizens, and OC tutors across the academic spectrum, including at the newly formed Success Tables for student-athletes and other high school students.

There is a new opportunity taking shape. As ONT readers and others know, Oberlin is implementing the International Baccalaureate programs in all grade levels, and every Oberlin student in grades PreK-10 will be fully involved.

As part of the culminating experience for students in the 10th grade, each student will produce a Personal Project. These are significant pieces of work that consume a good deal of a student's 10th grade year. The Personal Project is the culmination of the Middle Years Program, so students will be thinking about Personal Projects long before their 10th grade year.

Personal Projects are not necessarily an academic endeavor in the sense that they are not strictly about mathematics or history or science or literature; they are more about an investigative process for learning about something that interests a student. It could be learning how to make a 17th century canoe, or learning how the air traffic control system works (and you were wondering how this column was finally going to get around to opportunities to get involved ...).

As part of the Personal Project experience, students will be working with a mentor. That is where you, the reader, comes in.

Most every person in Oberlin I know has some interesting hobby, career, avocation, or other pursuit. Maybe it's sailing or flying, maybe it's a medieval instrument, perhaps an art or music or literature genre or author/composer.

What we seek to do this year is to build a database of area citizens who are willing to be available to assist a student in pursuing a topic in which a local adult has an interest or passion. The goal is that next year we can present all ninth graders (and subsequently those in grades 6-8) with a list of several hundred possible topics, from which each student can choose a topic and work with a mentor, learning through the Personal Project process and methodology to develop a deep understanding about a topic or career of interest.

So if you have an interest in being on the list of mentors and topics, please feel free to drop us an e-mail at the schools. And if you hear from your employer, your clergy, your organization leader, or some other affiliation in the next few months about serving as a Personal Project mentor, consider this your first notice.

Also, if you feel like engaging on a slightly less involved scale, you may be asked about supporting a student in the Creativity, Action and Service program, which is an 11th and 12th grade IB initiative that is part of the Diploma Program. Students there will specifically be looking for opportunities to participate in service learning, of which there are many in Oberlin.

So think about your favorite pastime and let us know. There are few experiences in life that are as rewarding as helping a young person gain a meaningful appreciation of something that has been an important part of your life.

In related news from the schools, in December we hosted examiners sent by the International Baccalaureate Organization for authorization visits on both the Middle Years Program (which encompasses grades 6-10) and the Prospect component of the Primary Years Program (Eastwood's visit does not occur until January). While it will be several months until we are informed of the authorization decision by the IBO, both visits were very well received, and we remain guardedly optimistic that our goal of being authorized by IB for every grade level is still on track.

If you would like to learn more, fell free to invite me to your local organization for a meeting, or come to Kendal on Jan. 14 at 4 p.m., where a couple of IB students and I will be talking about the IB programs. Have a safe, happy, and healthy 2010.