Innovative+Ideas


 * IPlease add Innovative ideas that you gathered from students at your schools:

1. I've asked around to a lot of students, and in the process I've gotten the useless (at least in our case) answers of "I hate the work," and, "I dont like the people." .....But one student, the current 1st-ranked student in the class, brought up the idea of having classes focused on the intended college major of the student, which is an idea that we have already touched base on. She also mentioned... -A. Demofonte, Sharpsville
 * The elimination of "watered down" classes
 * In all honesty, most of us, as seniors, can say we fall across this problem this year, along with every year in the past. If we want to be prepared for college and it's work-load, which is obviously something we have never experienced before, even in AP classes, having these "free-period" classes eliminated would ultimately have us more prepared for the future. In the end, some teachers need to challenge their students to the point that a good grade in their class is a low A or a high B. Since our school is meant to be success-oriented we can have this in place for every grade.
 * Group-specific classes
 * Now the title of this section may not make much sense as of now, but the idea it presents makes a lot of sense. Now, the student I interviewed and I are in almost every class together this year, excluding band and phys.ed. Because of our exact schedules we are able to discuss with each other everything that we go through throughout the day. We also tend to quiz eachother and study together for tests and other various exams. The fact that we have the same schedule creates a bond between us and allows for us to be able to communicate easily and freely to each other about our classes. We both know what we are each going through, and we can understand each other and work through our problems together. So, due to this experience, I would have to say that it would be a great idea to have the classes in our school designed specifically to have the students with the same intended majors together at all times. While some may say that this is unreasonable and that these kids wouldn't see anyone else, the fact of the matter is that they are not going to our school to socialize, like many of our peers. They are coming to our school to learn, and a schedule such as this one presented would help the students overcome problems in their day to day work.

__Laura Hlusko- Farrell Area High School__ I've attended both a small school, such as Farrell, and a large school, which is Lakeview. I've found and known people who hated both schools.


 * 1) **Class Size**. The biggest complaint at Lakeview among my peers was that they hated having classes of twenty-five kids throughout the entire day. Their viewpoint was that the class wasn't catered to them, but just some generically formatted class that really couldn't prepare them for college. It didn't matter if it was an Honors, College oriented class or a basic one; their education suffered because the teacher can't personalize with twenty-five students. At Farrell, everyone loves the smaller classes because they get a myriad more of attention from teachers and in the end, learn more. I can honestly say that I learned more at Farrell than Lakeview because my classes were smaller and it challenged me to work harder. In the smaller classes, no one could hide if they didn't do their homework and in the end, the relationship gathered from the interaction with teachers is unmatchable. I went to IUP's Summer Honors program with a full ride because my teacher pulled strings and wrote an amazing reference letter; I wouldn't have gotten that in a class of twenty five students. Instead of having a school of 150 in a class, we should have an Elite Magnet school of about 60/grade. Not only would this cut down the cost of things (Ex: school lockers cost over $20,000 at the cheapest), but it would make the statement that this is the best of the best.
 * 2) **Short Classes**. In both schools, the students that excelled hate short classes (classes shorter than an hour). By the time the teacher did roll, did a few homework problems and the other routine things, there was barely enough time to teach and get help when needed. Once the students got warmed up and focused, it was time to leave. Instead of having a daily schedule of classes everyday, many students want to have longer classes less days of the week. (Ex: insead of having French M-F for forty minutes, have French MWF for two hours). Plus, if a lot of things are being based off how college classes run, then let's base schedules out of it.
 * 3) **Gym Class When in a Sport**. Many athletes hate having gym while being in a sport because it's pointless. They get more exercise in the sport than in gym, so it should count for them. They also don't like having gym while being in sports because there's a risk of injury in gym. If we want great athletes and good participation in extra curriculars, we should make it an incentive to substitute sport participation for gym during the period the sport is played.


 * I also wanted to say that although I love the focus on college majors in high school, it isn't completely worthwhile. As a freshman, no one truly knows what they want to do specifically. If we expected students to pre-emptively pick majors, they might not discover a true passion for something new. Also, I'm going to Penn State Main for Horticulture and no high school in the area has that class, so unless we're catering to the generic Math, English, Science, History majors, then it's not beneficial to everyone. I do agree that I bond with driven students such as myself, but sometimes it's good to have a driven student in a class of "average" students because it gives them a concrete example that they can work harder and improve.

__Sara Werwie- Commodore Perry High School__ I apologize for posting this so late, but I only now figured out how to do it.

I interviewed a student, and his main complaint was many high school classes that we take will not help or prove relevant for his and others' chosen career path.

My advisor also asked my sociology class the same question of how schools should change, and here are some things that were said in the discussion: 1. More classes that will help students in life (ex: personal finance class- how to do taxes, write checks, etc.) 2. Different school hours 3. Better teachers (some students even said a few teachers are "**too** smart" and it is hard to understand them) 4. One student suggested more creative classes, like guitar 5. Few lectures 6. Whether or not gym class should be required

I know there were more comments in the discussion, and I will post those once I find the paper I took notes on.

Sarah Miller- Moniteau High School I asked a student how we could make school better and after telling him what we had already he said "sounds good to me." I asked a few other students with no avail. I made a survey and gave it to a few 8th grade reading classes. Many of the responses were similar and much of what we have already thought of, but here are a few of the most common answers: 1.Pick where your locker is 2. Swimming pool 3.More free time 4. More assemblys 5.Alternating class days 6.Allowed to sleep in study hall 7. Start later -- different hours 8.More creative classes; script writing, styling, drama 9.Allowed to have your cell phones 10.Pick your own teachers and classes. None of these ideas did I feel were "new." It may have to do with the age group that I gave the survey to so if we are not meeting for another week I will do another survey for an older class.