GHS and HHS students, teachers become ambassadors for new academy model
Data driven, future focused, student autonomy, classroom management.
These were a few themes a group of sophomores wanted to discuss at length during their two-day Academy Ambassador training. Led by a professional trainer from the National Career Academy Coalition, five to seven Glendale and Hillcrest high school students from each of the five new College and Career Academies learned the how, why and what of their new learning model.
“The purpose of the training was to prepare students to understand what College and Career Academies are, the benefits of them and how it will impact their experience in high school,” said Dr. Marissa LeClaire Weaver, academy coach for GHS and HHS.
The Academy Student Ambassador Program is a student-led organization who represents the student body in schools in a variety of roles that range from raising awareness of the academies to serving as a voice for their peers, said Weaver.
On Sept. 16-17, students completed two days of intense training to become effective student leaders, learning about the role of an Ambassador, while also unpacking and summarizing the entire academic framework of the Academy model.
“Even if your career aspirations change while you’re in the Academy, and that’s OK,” said Hannah Rohrbaugh, GHS STEM Academy Ambassador. “Because every experience in the Academy helps students be more prepared in their future careers.”
Students completed a number of exercises, from general leadership to communication training when interacting with various audiences. Student Academy Ambassadors will lead the communication efforts of their individual Academies, serving as liaisons between their learning communities and the public at large.
Later this year, Ambassadors will give school tours, as well as speak in front of groups who vary from business executives to freshmen trying to choose their Academy pathway. And to articulate the complicated themes they have to present, students were given specific, personalized direction on public speaking.
Students were repeatedly directed to give a voice to their own Academies and learning by their trainer, Kris Elliott. An innovative education leader at Oregon State University, Elliott even led students through an exercise on crafting and embodying the brand of their Academy.
“This is your Academy and your brand,” said Elliott to the students. “Every student can be successful in an Academy and we know that, because the data shows that are academies are successful nationwide. But you have to be all in on this model, and that’s up to you, our student leaders.”
Part of the student Ambassadors’ charge was to provide ongoing feedback on the Academies’ impact and effectiveness to district leaders, school administrators and, most critically, their own Academy teachers.
For two days the same week, Academy teachers went on a similar learning journey, digging into effective team development practices, as well as defining both their academic and personal goals for student success.
“It’s so exciting to see our Academy teachers dig into the process and review, together, best practices for collaborative teams,” said Dr. Shane Dublin, executive director of secondary learning. “We know the more we support our Academy teachers, the more it strengthens our College & Career Academies at SPS. We can’t wait to see the impact of these teaching teams.”