Sabbatical Blog
The Onion River Schoolhouse Takes Shape
By Rachel Howes and Brent Litterer, WHS Teachers and 2022 Rowland Fellows
March 2022
In the last issue of the newsletter, we highlighted the goal of our Rowland Fellowship: to create the Onion River Schoolhouse, a school within a school.The project began with Winoosk’s pod model last year. Based on feedback we received, it was clear that for some students, small is better. As one student said, “I think having a small group of students that stay together throughout the day and grow closer creates a better sense of community and comfort for some students who might have a harder time or feel behind.” Clearly, creating school within a school could be a worthy project for a sabbatical.
We are now over a month into our sabbatical. In that time, we have visited a couple of inspirational programs, read countless articles, explored curriculum, met with teachers, administrators, and students. Through these efforts, we have formulated an exciting model for the Onion River Schoolhouse.
In order to meet the needs of our students, the Onion River Schoolhouse will offer half-day and full-day options. Students could then choose the morning option, afternoon, option, or full-day. This schedule would allow students to attend regularly scheduled classes if they desire.
The morning program, which will run from 9:30am - 12:10 pm (lunch included), will begin with a structured check-in, then focus on whole group, project-based learning. During this time, students will work on real projects that have real-world applications and audiences. For example, we plan on exploring housing issues in Vermont. To solve some of these issues, our students will design and build a tiny house for a real client. Through the project, students would practice math, science, reading, and communication skills. More importantly, this project would be both engaging and meaningful.
The afternoon portion of the school day, which would run from 12:10 pm - 2:55 pm will be dedicated to independent learning, internships, mentorships, college classes, and other learning opportunities that do not easily fit into a 5-period schedule. During this time, we hope that students can explore their passions while continuing to work on graduation requirements.
Between the morning and/or afternoon sessions, students can join the program which best meets their needs and educational journeys.
Perhaps our most exciting program feature, inspired by the Walden Project at Vergennes High School, is our January Term, aka J-term. During the month of January, students will engage in outdoor, place-based learning that focuses on a single GX. Our classes will meet around a fire, where we will cook our meals, share about our learning, and reflect on our experiences. We will explore the outdoor activities while working on the Wellbeing GX. This term is designed to provide students with an alternative to traditional classroom learning with a focus on wellness.
Finally, we are looking forward to our upcoming student focus groups where we will hear from students about their experience as WHS students and gather feedback for our program. We will continue to fine-tune our vision for the program.
The Onion River Schoolhouse
Creating a Small Scale Educational Program to Meets the Needs of all Winooski High School Students
By Brenton Litterer and Rachel Howes
February 2022
This January, Winooski Middle High School teachers Rachel Howes and Brenton Litterer began working on their Rowland Fellowship project. Each year, The Rowland Foundation awards grants of up to $100,000 to Vermont high school teachers who are visionary, willing to lead, motivated and committed to affecting change in an area of concern within their respective schools.
WMHS continues to benefit from the transformational work of several Rowland Fellows including teachers Luke Dorfman and Lindsey Cox, and WMHS Co-Principal Jean Berthiaume. Now, our learning community will benefit from the “schoolhouse” vision of Ms. Howes and Mr. Litterer. During their year-long exploration, they will provide progress updates about their project, which they are calling The Onion River Schoolhouse project.
A few years ago, Todd Rose, author and Harvard School of Education graduate, began a widely viewed Ted Talk with a simple analogy comparing education to fighter jets. It seems that for years, fighter jets were designed to fit a statistical average body of a pilot. This design led to a significant problem: most pilots did not fit the statistical average and, as such, did not fit in the jets in which they were trained to fly. Eventually, jet designers stopped designing for “average” and started building in adjustability so that the jet would fit the pilot, rather than the pilot fitting the jet. Rose connected this to education by noting that most schools are designed to fit the average students, which means that many students can’t fit in the educational fighter jet. Instead, he suggested, schools should adjust to the student.
The Winooski School district has worked hard to make an adjustable jet. The High School has a proficiency system that respects that learners come in with varied skill sets, but that all learners need certain skills for success. We believe that learning is the constant, and time is the variable. The school offers whole group instruction, small group instruction, teacher-paced classes, self-paced classes, a robust advisory, flexible pathways, student-created learning opportunities, and free college classes. And yet, some students still struggle to fit in and end up feeling forced to find opportunities elsewhere or give up on their dreams of graduating from Winooski High School.
Interestingly, some of the same students who struggled to fit in and have recently left our district had success last school year in the COVID necessitated pod model. In this elementary school style model, students stayed in one classroom and were taught by one or two teachers. We know, however, that for most students, in a non-pandemic year, this model will not work for the long term. For some, though, the approach could have saved them. Making their school world smaller has allowed some traditionally unsuccessful students to make progress and, for some, to flourish. In this small pod model, students had one or two teachers all day long, which allowed relationships to develop and environments to remain consistent and predictable.. Every teacher in our school can name at least one student who directly benefited from this model. This experience inspired us to explore the concept of creating a smaller High School Pod Model that would be embedded into the fabric of Winooski High School. We began this work in January with the support of the Rowland Foundation and the Winooski Community. We hope to build on some of the successes of the Pod Model, which we’re calling the Onion River Schoolhouse, so that we can keep our promise to the community, and ensure that all students can “lead healthy, productive, and successful lives” through our small-scale, customized, adaptable high school program.