Strand3_Community

Strand 3: Community Partnership: 12/17/2009 How do we ensure that students develop identitites not only in their local community but also in the broader global community of which they are also members? What does it mean to be a member of a community and how does Millbrook High School shape a student’s understanding of his responsibility to his community? Through 21st century technology, communities have expanded and merged and it is critical that today’s high school students envision a future, and their role in it, that does not yet exist. Promoting an attachment to one’s community and enabling students to devise their own relationship to other members of the community is essential preparation for all students. The International Baccalaureate programmes provide the framework for meaningful and relevant participation in local and global communities and allow students to develop a sincere appreciation for individuals and cultures from around the globe.

//Community Service: //Community service is a foundation for both the IBMYP and the IBDP programmes. While Millbrook does get involved in community service projects the opportunities are only there for a few select groups, such as Student Government, Key Club, and National Honor Society, and those groups only make up a small percentage of the total student body. Millbrook does not currently have a community service program so the resources of this grant would enable the school to establish a world class community service program that provides significant opportunities for all students. While the community service requirements for the DP and the MYP are structured in a different way and hold to certain requirements unique to their programs, the overarching objectives are the same. The goal of the programmes is to create opportunities for students to interact with and serve their communities in ways that are selfless, meaningful, and personal growth experiences. In the IB programme, where international mindedness is central to the core, a student's community is defined in both local and global terms. Thus the idea of serving a student's community through action must allow for opportunities to interact with a population outside of the student's immediate environment.

The requirements for community service differ from the MYP to the DP. At the MYP level community service is intended to be an integral part of the student's learning experience. As one of the programme's Areas of Interaction, community and service are built into the core model of the classroom interaction. As such the teachers within the programme must be able to provide a context for students to seek service opportunities as extensions to their coursework. Thus teachers must be given the resources to provide those opportunities through projects, field trips, and classroom resources that demonstrate and expose the students to the broader community and the needs of that population. These resources must also provide information to the student regarding how they can integrate themselves into this broader society and take action that would promote both personal growth and development and value added to the community. (too much use of the term community?)

An example of this is a teacher who's students are learning how to construct skirts in her Apparels class. Upon hearing of an opportunity to help others, the students coordinated to send those skirts to a village in Haiti for girls who lack resources. As the students became increasingly engaged in the opportunity to help, they wanted to send skirts and other clothing that was not "classroom practice." They wanted to spend greater amounts of time on clothing that they themselves would wear. In conversation with this teacher I have learned that they are expanding their ways of assisting this village by sending school supplies, and they are looking for other ways to help. Through training on the part of the teacher, equipment for the students, and opportunity to travel to this village to establish a stronger partnership, the students can become more effective in their assistance to this group and can be impacted on a level that they did not originally conceive of. This example is a clear demonstration of the MYP goals of community and service, and directly answer the questions posed by the programme: how can my community help my learning and how is my involvement helping me develop?

At the DP level community service takes greater structure, but retains its abiding directive of encouraging students to engage and serve their communities in ways that are selfless, meaningful, and personally fulfilling. Since the students are now older and more mature, the expectation is that the community service opportunities they pursue are more appropriate to their stages of development. (NEED information that will highlight how the grant can set up a programme)

In order to best assist the students' needs and their opportunities for a meaningful service experience in both programmes, Millbrook will hire a coordinator to devise the IB Community Service Program. This coordinator will be responsible for writing guidelines, establishing relationships with community mentors, creating meaningful community services opportunities and implementing the Community, Action and Services guidelines for the Diploma programme. This coordinator will hold informational sessions for students and parents to ensure that all participants in the IB programmes understand the role that community service plays in enhancing education and that the MYP service requirements and CAS are clearly defined. This coordinator will also play an integral role in developing the framework for the MYP Personal Project, since community mentors are essential to the PP experience for students. Through contacts established within the community, the Service Coordinator will connect MYP students and mentors and will facilitate the PP presentations with the MYP Coordinator to ensure that students are afforded a valuable opportunity to showcase the culmination of their work. The Service Coordinator will work closely with DP students to ensure that the complex documentation for CAS is complete and that students leverage CAS opportunities to maximize their high school experience in preparation for post-seondary success.

In pursuit of the IB programme and the MSAP grant, one of our primary target populations is the 9th grade class that historically suffers from difficult transitions, high incidence of suspension, and high rates of retention. It is our determination that one of the most powerful local relationships we can establish to combat the problem of suspensions and retentions is with local colleges and universities. The goal is to expose students while they are in the first years to career opportunities that await their successful completion of high school. With early exposure we hope to instill a level of ambition that only comes from knowing what types of opportunities are or will be available to these students. With each visit students will see greater choices made available to them, and as such they will likely approach their classroom learning as the means to an end that is more tangible and concrete. Once students can answer for themselves, "why do I have to know this?" they have a greater likelihood of engaging the material in an excited and relevant way. Of course this partnership will impact all of the students at Millbrook. But we believe that those who will most benefit from it are the students who are most likely to be suspended, retained, or eventually drop out. The unfortunate reality is that Millbrook (insert data) reflects the state and national reality (insert data) that minority students are far more likely to suffer these end results. This data meshes with economic data that shows the disparity in economic opportunity available to minority students. It is not a difficult stretch to suggest that the condition of poverty (MHS F&R data) is a cycle and that parents who do not have a college background are less likely to insist on their students pursuing a college education. It is also less likely that said parents will have the experience to pass on through anecdotes and examples the value of college and the opportunities it creates. For that reason we are convinced we must step in and "fill the gap" between high school reality and college and professional opportunity.

In order to best fulfill the above goal of filling that gap, we will create a series of partnerships with local universities, including N.C. State, N.C. Central, St. Augustines, and UNC. The intent is to create a schedule of college visits to different universities and specific courses at those universities. Millbrook freshmen will have the opportunity to visit specific classrooms and labs, talk with professors, TAs, and students, and get a glimpse into the college experience. They will have the chance to see what careers exist open up with college educations (and those they did not even know existed). To reinforce these visits, we will have members of the college community come to Millbrook to visit classes and talk with students about the college experience and career opportunities.

Another partnership that will supplement the college piece is with members of the business community. An appropriate way of demonstrating to students the reasons for professional ambitions is to give them examples and create a program that allows stuudents to visit and follow up with those individuals, whether they are local or out of state, to better understand their choices.

DEVELOP SISTERS SCHOOL IN PERU NAD CHINA IB k-12 continuum Partnerships with agencies (World View, Center for Int’l Understanding, 1000 People 