Proponents say turnout at charter high meeting shows need for school
Islander News. September 11, 2008. By Kelly Josephsen kjosephsen@islandernews.com
With the Community Room at Village Hall filling up fast with kids clad in the Key Biscayne K-8 Center uniform of khaki pants and white, navy or light blue polos, promoters of a local charter high school came to a pair of conclusions during a Wednesday, September 3 meeting.
One, that local pre-teens are indeed interested in attending high school on the island.
And two, that they needed more chairs. School advocate Angel Martin said the flood of people says a lot:
"There were 76 students and something like 28 parents," he noted. "That proves there is a significant need in this community."
So, after the call for additional seating was answered and more than 100 students and parents were settled in on the 3rd, charter school advocate Michele Manjarrez — not only a local mom but the holder of a University of Miami master's degree in education — took center stage to make the case for a local high school.
"Why would a community of this size not have a high school? It doesn't make sense," Manjarrez, part of the Key Biscayne High School Stakeholders Group that is pushing for a municipal charter high school on the island, told her young audience. "There's nothing here yet. There are just ideas of what we want this state-of-the-art school to be like. Do you know how cool it is to start something from scratch?"
Along with describing the Stakeholders' basic concept, Manjarrez sought input and support from the K-8 Center students, some of whom would stand to make up a local high school's first graduating class. She presented a video about her group's idea of "project-based learning," and passed out index cards for audience members to write down questions and suggestions.
She also urged the students — and their parents — to ask the Village Council to act quickly on the school. The Stakeholders are pressing the Council to hold workshops right away so a school could open next year, but local leaders currently have those sessions set for January 2009.
Martin expressed frustration at what he said was a "180-degree twist" by the Council between July and August regarding the workshop scheduling. "We feel we've been pushed into a corner," he said. "When the Council promises something and doesn't deliver, it worries us a lot."
Mayor Robert Vernon, however, said the Council remains very much committed to a thorough vetting of the charter school concept — but that scrambling to hold workshops now will make for a rushed public process that lacks continuity and doesn't give all residents a chance to weigh in (see sidebar this page).
The concept
Although the Stakeholders stress the specifics of the school are still up to the community, they support a style of hands-on education that gives students control of how they learn.
It's called "project-based learning," and Manjarrez's video gave several examples: students producing a news program, teams designing electric racing cars, a young girl surveying coral reefs.
Educators in the video said the projects build self esteem and help kids learn about their strengths — and the classic school subjects like math, English, science and social studies. Students said the projects make school fun and turn learning into a privilege that helps them decide what to do with their lives.
According to Manjarrez, project-based learning is what happens if education evolves as it should.
The video gave examples of other things that evolved — rotary telephones becoming cellular, typewriters progressing to computers. Kids in the audience, who audibly gasped at the images of a dial phone and manual typewriter, added examples like TVs, transportation and video games, prompting Manjarrez to laugh, "I used to play Atari — in black and white."
However, she noted, the message is serious: if so much else in life has changed for the better, why not education? She argued today's classrooms, with their rows of desks and dictation from a teacher at the front, still do nothing more than prepare students to work on assembly lines — even though the young person of today will have 10-14 careers in a world of instant information and communication.
Manjarrez asked the local students if they ever sit in their classrooms and think, "Why am I learning this?" — and every hand in the room was raised in the air.
Then, Manjarrez showed pictures of what the Stakeholders feel is a better method: kids seated on the floor working on laptop computers, or lounging under a tree having a discussion with their teacher.
The images drew appreciative murmurs from the kids, who applauded when Manjarrez asked, "What if you could go to a school where the teacher really wants you to participate? What if you could study on the Village Green? What if you could learn what you want, have fun while learning and learn about things that matter in the real world?"
Key Biscayne is the perfect place to do it, she argued, with access to the UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and Miami Seaquarium on Virginia Key; plus local facilities like the Key Biscayne Yacht Club or Crandon Park's golf course, tennis center and nature center. "Education has to be a lot more progressive, and encompass everything we have in our surroundings," she said.
Feedback
After Manjarrez made the Stakeholders' case, it was the students' turn to submit their index cards.
After reviewing the cards and talking with kids at the meeting, Martin said he's more certain than ever of the need for a Key Biscayne high school. "They are thrilled," he said of the middle schoolers. "They really look forward to continuing their education in the community."
Martin said he constantly hears kids ask each other, "Where are you going to school next year?
"Those friendships formed in the middle of school years get broken when they go in different directions," he pointed out.
Along with that, Martin said, kids expressed interest in project-based learning, especially as it relates to Key Biscayne's marine environment.
Staying involved
Buoyed by the good feedback and strong turnout at Wednesday's meeting, Stakeholders members are urging local pre-teens to stay involved in the charter school issue - and to spur their parents to action.
Manjarrez told the kids they can support a local high school even if they're already enrolled in private school or, like one student she spoke to, moving off the Key. "It's important for you guys to support your friends," she said, as they aren't "getting the quality education they should in their own community."
She urged the audience to tell their parents about what they learned at last week's meeting, and to form small groups to spread the word among the rest of the K-8 Center's 350 middle-schoolers.
Martin said he hopes the kids continue providing input, not only so they stay engaged in the process, but so the school that is ultimately built reflects their desires. So far so good, he noted - a lot of the kids seem to be forming groups to talk to their peers about the high school.
"I hope these kids understand the opportunity we have and wilt express their sincere interest in attending a school in their community," he said.
Manjarrez told students they and their parents can contact Council members to voice their support.
The key issue with the Council is that members of the Stakeholders want workshops to start immediately - rather than in early 2009, as the Council suggests. That would allow the school to open next year, although Martin stressed his group is willing to wait for a 2010 opening if that is what is feasible.
Overall, Manjarrez said, it is essential to reach a consensus. She hopes even residents who don't have school-age kids can see the benefits of the school - for example, she noted, students at some municipal charter schools have taken on community projects like teaching elderly residents to use the Internet.
"We need to have the majority of the citizens behind this," she said.
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