The “democratization of school” will give students more opportunities to develop and use the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that are integral to a vibrant and active democracy. Harwood Union High School wants to integrate rigor, relevance, and relationship for the lives of their students and as a result increase student engagement.

This project focuses broadly on student voice and the role of ethnography in learning. More specifically it seeks to include many best practices that will ultimately increase opportunities for student voice in their schools and greater communities. For example, future curriculum will be developed collaboratively between teachers, students and community. Students will participate in the responsibilities of auditing, researching, and assessing needs for school reform. Finally, students will strive to understand themselves relative to the various communities they interact with both virtually and for real. In doing so they will become stronger democratic citizens that will not only seek to improve the world around them for themselves, but also for others around them.

“This gift has allowed me to make meaningful and rich connections with a plethora of individuals and organizations both near and far. At the same time, it has provided me with the right balance of time and space to both collect and ponder so much about how to improve the quality of education at my school.”

Matthew DeBlois, Vergennes Union High School (mdeblois@anwsu.org)

The personalization of learning at Vergennes Union High School begins with Morning Meeting, our advisory system. The system grows a community of learners partnered with an academic mentor - their advisor. This partnership, forged with parents and guidance counselors, assists them in identifying what success means for them, how they will go about achieving it and what kind of success they engage in long-term. The assessment of this system and our partnered callback system remain key pieces that aim to create an equitable opportunity for each student in our school.

Extended Learning Opportunities meet the needs of our increasingly diverse student body by offering learning experiences not only outside the building, but outside two traditional constraints of the school - setting and time. These endeavors will offer students insights into the community, opportunity to engage in a desired subject of study and a partnering endeavor rich with meaning. These guided experiences will facilitate collaboration with the school, a community resource team and the community itself creating a sustainable learning community.

“The opportunity presented by the Rowland Fellowship provides the means and opportunity to closely examine not only my own school's placement on the continuum of amelioration, but that of other more and less experienced schools to ascertain the correct path for us. Further, it strengthens our students understanding of their success, creates opportunities for them to contribute and grow in new and transformational ways.”

Jessica DeCarolis and Sarah Kiefer, Fair Haven Union High School (jdecarolis@arsu.org) (skiefer@arsu.org)

The focus of our project is to expand upon and operationalize a new alternative education program, the Learning Annex. We are working to establish an environment that can support and educate students with a variety of individual needs in a dynamic way with local resources. We plan to promote a structured, sustainable, evidence/outcome based program that would not only address academic needs, but also interpersonal and community-based needs. Cultivating life long learners, involved community members, and self-reliant individuals is our vision. We have three goals for this Fellowship: to audit the current program, to research existing programs and current theory, and to create and implement a structured program.

"The Rowland Foundation Fellowship has allowed us the opportunity to pursue a passion in the making for 6 years. We have been formulating this plan for implementing a dynamic education in an alternative setting, yet did not have the time or resources to pursue this dream. This Fellowship has provided these resources. We are very proud to be among this group of professionals and eternally grateful for this opportunity."

Michael Martin, Champlain Valley Union High School (mike@cvuhs.org)

If you walk down the halls of any high school you will notice that some students don't want to be there. And anyone who has seen how some students truly resent going to school must wonder what happened to the exuberant first-graders they once were. Why do so many children who loved elementary school seem to struggle in high school? At just the moment when students need to build advanced skills for college or a career, why do so many seem to think that high school is a waste of time? Of course young people will always crave freedom, and maybe there will always be “senioritis”, but this shouldn't mean that they can only escape high school by graduating early or dropping out.

And students who don't want to be there create significant challenges to a school's climate.

The goal of Mike Martin's Rowland Foundation Fellowship is to create a school transformation pilot program at Champlain Valley Union High School composed of the following: an interdisciplinary team of excellent teachers, community experience, rigorous standards, flexible scheduling, and the best in information and communication technology.

Mike is spending his sabbatical semester to conduct research, complete relevant graduate coursework at the University of Vermont, and visit schools where similar school transformation programs exist. In the hopes of designing a global education strand, Mike will also visit Senegal to lay the groundwork for a sister school relationship in West Africa.

"At a time when everyone seems to have an opinion on education, The Rowland Foundation had the faith and wisdom to ask Vermont teachers for their ideas on how to improve our schools. The Rowland Fellowship is a great opportunity for Vermont schools and a vote of confidence for dedicated educators working to change schools from the ground up."

Caitlin Steele and Jason Finley, Otter Valley Union High School (csteele@rnesu.org) (jason_finley@antiochne.edu)

The Rowland Initiative at Otter Valley is about creating a unified vision for school change. Caitlin and Jason are leading the development of two programs: (1) an interdisciplinary, sustainability-themed Freshman Academy and (2) the framework for External Learning Opportunities to encourage upperclassmen to design their own inspired, standards-based courses and projects. Beyond developing new programs, the Rowland Initiative is about supporting what Otter Valley already does well (including programs like the successful Moosalamoo Center and well-established interdisciplinary courses) and aligning all of these initiatives under a common mission: to use local natural and social communities to make connections and give meaning to classroom lessons; to inspire students to find personal relevance in their learning.

"The Rowland Fellowship is an inspired program offering teachers what they need most: Time." - Caitlin Steele

"The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is action. The Rowland Fellowships allow educators an opportunity to take those actions."
- Jason Finley