| SAT scores dip all along the line
Local scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test fell slightly this year, following a state and national pattern. But McMinnville High School Principal Kris Olsen said the college entrance exams also give evidence of a positive trend: more students planning to continue their education. "It's positive that more kids are taking advantage of our college preparatory program and learning what's expected in order to be ready for college," he said. Encouraging students to go on to post-high school education, whether it's college, technical school or another program, has been a major focus for several years, he noted. The school offers several career pathways, designed to prepare students in areas such as culinary skills or health sciences. It is developing small learning communities, and the first self-contained one, the McMinnville Arts and Communications Academy, will open its doors next week.
Rockland people in the news
Corinne Schild was awarded a scholarship grant from the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI Inc. Schild of Valley Cottage is the granddaughter of former special agent Charles O. Davis. She is a recent graduate of Nyack High School and will attend Hope College in Holland, Mich. History scholar
Marc Spencer Appel was named a finalist in the Gilder Lehrman History Scholars program. Appel from West Nyack was one of 45 finalists who was chosen to meet with history scholars during a one-week program in New York City. Appel is a student at Yale University. Alston graduates
Daniel J. Alston has received a degree in Culinary Arts from the Art Institute of New York City. He is from Valley Cottage. Fouda graduates
Rana Fouda graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in marketing communications.
Barren High students cook up college credit
In teams of two, 11 Barren High School students went on a scavenger hunt in the kitchen at Bowling Green Technical College.Friday marked the first day of a culinary arts class for the 11 high school students - allowing the students to go beyond the high school classroom for hands-on experience and college credit.Checking inside drawers, under counters and on shelves, the students had to find everything on the list, from the handwashing sink to pizza cutters.“We do this for all our students," said Mike Riggs, chief executive chef for the culinary arts program at the college. “It's a way to get them oriented in the kitchen. If we don't this, it could take them up to two months to find where everything is."While the high school offers dual credit courses - those that garner credits toward a college degree - this particular course is one of the first that allow students to leave the high school campus and enter a college setting, said Silas Matchem, career pathways coordinator for the college.
Hands-on, hand up
THERE ARE two great challenges for Georgia's high schools: Preparing students for continued schooling or the workplace; and demonstrating to students who might otherwise drop out the real-life value of getting an education. The newly opened Woodville-Tompkins Career and Technical Institute should be a big step in the right direction on both fronts for the Savannah-Chatham school system. Starting this year, students will be able to take classes at Woodville-Tomkins in financial services, health care sciences, hospitality and information technology programs such as CISCO Systems. Students who are interested in studying one of the career fields offer at Woodville-Tompkins will begin their course of study there in their junior years. For their final two years of high school, the students will go to the technical school every other day to study in their career paths.
Empowerment Academy helps high school dropouts
It's not your typical high school classroom. Instead, 12 bright-eyed teenagers huddle around carpenter Jon Rykse. With circular saw in hand, he is spraying a cloud of sawdust into the air as he cuts through a thick board. "Watch closely now," Rykse tells his students. But these teens, all of them high school dropouts, are already watching every move he makes. Welcome to an educational program called the Empowerment Academy. Started six years ago by John George, president of the mighty Motor City Blightbusters, Detroit's Empowerment Academy takes kids who've dropped out of school and offers them the opportunity to earn their GED and learn a skilled trade, such as building construction or Internet Web design. The program is free and open to all high school dropouts, age 16 to 19.
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