Of Life and Learning

I sent this letter to the school board in support of the charter school application for the Boreal Academy of Science and Art.  It is a school that places emphasis on place-based and service learning, and I feel would be an asset to the Matanuska-Susitna community.  If you share these feelings, I would encourage you to write a letter, make a phone call, or testify in person tomorrow Wednesday, November 16 at the School Board meeting at 6:00 PM.

To Whom It May Concern:

Born and raised in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, I attended Tanaina Elementary, Teeland Middle, and Wasilla High in my 19 years of life in Alaska.  I am now a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, having graduated from Wasilla High last spring.  I believe my schooling in the valley has adequately prepared me with a firm educational base for life in the post high school world.  Through a vast array of classes and extra-curricular activities, I was able to connect what I did in school to life.  However I did not make this connection until high school.  

I remember one day back in elementary school, walking into the kitchen to talk to my mom.  I was frustrated with the school system.  “It seems like one grade is just preparing us for the next.”  My complaint essentially consisted of no long-term goal.  The purpose of 3^rd grade is to prepare me for 4^th grade, the purpose of 4^th grade is to prepare me for 5^th grade, etc.  When I asked a teacher why we were learning something, the response was “Because you will need it next year, in the next grade.”  There was no final destination that I could see.  What’s the point?  My sense of efficacy was minimal.  

The goal of education is to prepare us for life.  However I failed to see how school was adequately preparing me for the world ahead.  We have seen this all too much in high school, particularly is seems, in math.  How many of you have ever heard the complaint “I’m never going to use this!”  Students fail to see how what they’re learning in math relates to their careers in the future.

Here at Northeastern for the first time in my life I am truly seeing how what I learn in the classroom will translate to the work place.  Northeastern puts a very strong emphasis on “experiential learning.”  They have developed a program that allows students to take time off from school, and apply what they have learned to life.  During my five years here, I will spend three, six-month periods working in a field relative to my major.  Besides highlighting the practical applications of knowledge, this also allows students to explore different careers and options.

While I can see the value of education and its necessity, some students fail to see its connection to life after school.  Instilling the meaning of education in children at a young age is monumental in maintaining an interest at the high school and college levels.  This is done through community connections and learning though real life experiences, not through a textbook, not through a test. Students need to be able to see that what they’re learning is applicable.

As more curriculum requirements are placed on teachers, it becomes more and more difficult to bring that experiential learning into the classroom.  The most memorable part of my elementary school experience was the 5^th grade Homer field trip.  There we took what we had been studying for weeks, and actually got to see it, touch it, smell it, even taste it.  It was experiences like these that kept me interested in school.  The real life applications and scenarios made it all worth it, because it made me understand that this is all for a reason, all for a purpose.

I hope you consider this in regards to the application for the Boreal Academy of Science and Art.  Such a school poses to bring great strides in education.  The place-based service learning featured at this school would be a huge benefit to the children in the valley, and it has my full support.

Sincerely,

Emily Ripley