October 6-12 is Mental Illness Awareness Week- I encourage each of you at some point this week to do a little investigative research to educate yourself about this condition. Most of us have assumptions or stigmas in our minds about those affected by mental illness, but in reality, 1 in 4 American’s live with mental illness om a given year. Moreover, there are a great deal of students that we serve who are affected by one or more than one illness. These may include:
Dual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
Eating Disorders
There are many ways to educate yourself and become better versed in the characteristics and behaviors of mental illness. Again, I encourage you to become more aware of these so we can end the negative stigmas our society has attached to individuals living with a MI.
What Can You Do? You might:
Read a book:
The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks
Crazy by Pete Earley
Divided Minds by Pamela Spiro Wagner and Carolyn S. Spiro, M.D.
The Soloist by Steve Lopez
Watch a movie (and read a fact sheet about the mental illness that’s part of the plot):
While students and many of our teachers enjoy a variety of things during the summer months, there is a flurry of activity in our summer office. Between the end of June and late August, various individuals are working to set and develop coursework for the school year to come. The contributing members of this process include the Curriculum Committee, Instructional Systems Design Team, and highly qualified, certified teachers. We all work to accomplish two primary things.
First, the Instructional Systems Design Team must clear all information out of the courses from the previous quarter (be it summer school, or spring coursework). Gradebooks, comments, feedback, and saved assignments are all cleaned from the courses to make room for new students. So long as there are no students in a given class shell, we can easily make changes to these classes based on the previous running of the course. In some cases, this means editing content and/or assignments. We adapt lessons according to how well students understood, grasped, or liked aspects of their classes. We work to refine the things that we can for the next round of students to come.
Second, we work to develop new courses. This means building a class from the ground up. We start with curriculum mapping. We develop content and assignments that match up to PA state standards and the Common Core. For us, this is a hugely important. Many schools use a given set of textbooks in their classrooms. Because textbooks are crafted for wide, sweeping audiences, they are not necessarily as specifically aligned to a state’s given set of educational standards. When we craft our own courses, everything is aligned in a way that is efficient and strongly supports student learning in our home state.
Next, we add in differentiated assignments and stream new videos and audio clips. This year, we are working to develop 11 brand new classes, which include classes in core subject areas (chemistry, math essentials, and middle school language arts) and electives (marketing, digital photography, and study skills).
By the first day of school, on August 28th, students will have the opportunity to take courses built just for them. They will have the chance to learn from content that is hand-crafted, adaptable, creative, and helpful to students of various learning needs. What makes this process really special is the fact that students can hear and see our own teachers in these classes. In many cases, they record and develop their own videos. Their voices are also present in the content itself. Within all of the text, teachers explain concepts to their students in a familiar tone. This helps to make learning fun and conversational. In a cyber environment, we feel this is extremely important. In an age when online curricular content is frequently purchased from larger companies, we feel proud to offer our students hands-on, approachable learning that is aligned to standards.
Keep your eyes and ears open for new 2013-2014 courses! Our teachers will be working hard to continually adapt and modify these courses. We look forward to working on them with you throughout the school year!
Life takes each of us to a different place. Sometimes, we are pleasantly surprised to see where we land. After leaving 21CCCS, Teresa found herself in the rainforest. In this “Alumni Spotlight Blog,” read below to learn more about her incredible adventures following graduation!
Teresa:
A few years ago I couldn’t possibly have imagined that the summer after my freshman year of college, I would find myself in the rainforests of Malaysian Borneo, living out my dream of studying birds. But, last summer that’s where I was: living in an idyllic cabin on a pond in the jungle, watching and filming the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen, and helping to answer (and ask!) questions about their poorly-known biology.
I had this wonderful opportunity because I joined a research group at my college. Participating in it has taught me so much about planning international expeditions, coming up with research questions, and doing real-world science (which is a lot more exciting than reading textbooks!) My experience with Borneo and my classes at Cornell have reinforced my desire to pursue this kind of work for the rest of my life, and I plan to continue my studies to become an ornithologist.
My advice to current high school students is that you shouldn’t dismiss your dreams, even if they’re a little out of the ordinary. Doing what I love motivates me to work hard and do the best that I can. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Also, get to know your professors if you go to college; they may seem a little intimidating at first, but in my experience they love what they do and they love sharing it with their students. Some of them know of exciting research opportunities as well!
If you’d like to read about the research I helped with in Borneo (or just see pictures of gorgeous birds and other Bornean wildlife), check out my group’s website by CLICKING HERE.
Anna Siftar, a senior at 21CCCS and member of National Honor Society, organized and lead a group of youth and adults in a “Maze Garden Clean Up Day” as a part of Bethlehem’s First Friday Festivities. The group and community enjoyed DJ Arm 18 and DJ Marcelino’s spinning while uprooting out of control thistles, taming overgrown grass and clearing weed-filled brick paths. At the end of the day, the group’s hard work was rewarded with a beautiful garden for all the community to enjoy. Mr. Miller, Mr. Petters and all the staff at 21CCCS would like to thank and congratulate Anna and her workers for their efforts in making their community a better place. Check out some photos of the event below!
This year, the state of Pennsylvania (as well as several others) offered an online version of their standardized tests for students. For us, this means the PSSAs and Keystone exams could be taken on a computer. 21CCCS was one of the first schools in PA to opt-in for online testing. While reports across the country have shared some issues with offering standardized state tests online, we encountered minimal issues.
For schools that have been swamped with paper-based state standardized exams for years, this was a huge change with the potential for a variety of positive effects. For the students, it means traveling to a designated location with his/her computer in tote, and logging into a web site from that personal computers. This removes the immediate anxiety of suddenly switching from the computer they’ve become comfortable using to something entirely new.
How does this contribute to comfort? The writing test for the PSSAs requires students to type their responses, instead of clicking through multiple-choice answers. It may sound strange, but something as simple as feeling comfortable with the spacing of keys on your keyboard will contribute to lowered anxiety and more comfortability during testing. When students can type on a keyboard they normally use, they work efficiently and without the worry of having to make an adjustment.
The tests are timed, answers are recorded, and students can easily scroll back through questions and return to those they weren’t sure about. This gives students the opportunity to rethink their responses and answer to the best of their ability, while eliminating the common human error seen when students have to fill in tiny bubbles on answer sheets. Working back and forth between the test booklet and answer booklet is not a problem when everything a student needs appears on a screen in separate windows for each test question. Additionally, as soon as students log in and submit their tests, attendance and participation in the assessment is automatically tracked and recorded.
For proctors and administrators working to organize and distribute these exams, online testing is clean, organized, and easy to distribute. There are no test or answer booklets. There is no counting, collecting, checking, and double-checking that all materials are received from and returned to the state. The fear of losing something along the way has been eliminated.
So, how did things pan out? Now that the PSSA testing is behind us, we can begin to reflect on our experience. We’ve received nothing but positive feedback from parents and students. We were fortunate to learn that Data Recognition Core (DRC) would be the company managing all PSSA and Keystone online testing. This is a company we have worked with before, to issue students preparation testing and materials called the Classroom Diagnostic Tool (CDT). We were familiar with their services and best practices. They were incredibly responsive, helpful, and resourceful in answering questions and helping us to feel confident to issue the test to our students. They were willing and able to troubleshoot, and did so in one instance when a student’s answer screen froze.
In some areas where we held testing, if the site’s network quality was not strong, we had an issue. But, that was more so a problem because we needed to rely on the connectivity of the sites where we offered the test. With a variety of testing sites, it was no easy task to ensure that all networks would be ideal.
We hope to continue to offer state assessments online. It has proven to be a seamless process that helps the students to feel confident and more at ease. School Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Lyle reports, “This is a much cleaner process now. Moving forward, I will pick it every time, hands-down. We’re an online school, and this is how the kids are comfortable. It just makes sense.”
Read below to learn more about some of our spectacular alumni! Rachel has a lot of great things to say about college and making a life transition.
Rachel:
I’m currently a freshman at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Most of my first year here will be spent taking general intro classes, but I plan to get a biology degree and become a medical researcher. I love late-night sociopolitical discussions, sweet potatoes, and the BBC’s Sherlock. I’ve also been dancing (ballet and ballroom, mostly) since I was about 7, and I’ve continued that at MIT as well.
There are a lot of things I could say pertaining to the 21cccs—college transition, but I’m going to focus on time management. (Typical, I know, sorry.) Seriously, though, it’s been one of the most useful skills I’ve brought with me and I’ve noticed that it’s a challenge for some of my fellow freshmen. I was cyber-schooled throughout middle and high school, and I was a 21cccs student from 10th-12th grades. Online schooling takes a lot of self-motivation, especially in later grades. There is no explicit schedule, and no teacher at the front of the room. It’s up to you to finish that essay or take that math test. Teachers are always available for help, but you have to reach out to them; there’s no way for them to know that you’re struggling if you don’t say anything. It’s unbelievably easy to procrastinate, especially when the Internet is a click away. Most of these challenges are unique to cyber-schooling, and I think it’s really important to acknowledge that online education doesn’t work for everyone. It didn’t work for my siblings. It was perfect for me, however, and by the time I graduated I had gotten really good at managing my time, taking control of my own education, and asking for help when I needed it.
When I got to MIT, these skills were just as important! The workload here dwarfs anything I ever experienced in high school, but I’ve been able to stay on top of everything. My first week here, I knew that I needed to start my homework early, make sure I knew about deadlines and exam schedules, and ask other people for help when I didn’t understand a chemistry concept or a physics problem. I’m definitely not a model student, but I had a much smoother transition than some of my friends. I definitely attribute this to cyber-schooling and the fact that I learned how to structure my own schedule in middle school (instead of three weeks into my freshman year of college).
I’ve already exceeded my word limit by over 100 words, so I’ll stop there. If there’s anyone out there who’s applying to colleges or thinking about applying or wondering more about the relationship between cyber-schooling and college, you should email me! Seriously!
We are so proud of Rachel’s successes so far. Often times, that hardest part about transitioning to college is learning how to adapt to the schedule change, and find a routine that works well for you. Thanks for sharing, Rachel! And best of luck!
High school junior here at 21CCCS, Lexi Burkholder, is a speed skater. She has been training and practicing for years. As a result, she has a pretty atypical lifestyle. When I asked her to describe a few things for me about her life, she was happy to create a blog post for us. Read below to learn more about the complex, dedicated life of Lexi!
Photo from the AmCup Finals
Hi! My name is Lexi Burkholder and I’m a short track speed skater. I also attend 21st Century Cyber Charter School. I’ve been skating since I was 10 and went to public school until 8th grade, which was when I won my second age group national championship. At that point, my parents finally relented and allowed me to enroll in cyber school so I could have more time to train.
I trained on my home ice rink in Pittsburgh during my freshman year of high school, and qualified for my first junior world team. I had previously only competed at domestic meets, mainly in the Midwest and Northeast. These areas are hotbeds for speed skating. So I raced in Courmayeur, Italy at the Junior World Championships and learned the hard way just how different (and difficult) international racing was.
I continued training in Pittsburgh through October of my sophomore year. Later that year, I decided to stop ignoring the pain that had been building for months in my left knee. After various doctor visits, MRIs, and lots of physical therapy, it was determined that I had partially torn my quadriceps tendon and I needed surgery to “patch things up.” Believe me, going from training five hours per day to nil is pretty rough, and I think I jumped into things too quickly afterward! I was back on the ice that December, and raced a qualifier in late January for Junior Worlds (which was in Australia that year, and had been on my bucket list).
I didn’t make it. Around that same time, I lost my coach and needed to find somewhere else to train and rehabilitate myself. Washington DC was close and had a great team, so I trained there for the rest of that season and throughout the summer.
I liked DC, but couldn’t afford the training and living costs. At the beginning of my junior year (this year), I moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to try out an experimental program they were starting out. I could hardly do off-ice training at this point, since I was still recovering from my knee surgery. I really had to figure out how to listen to my body and learn when to push and when to stop. I also had to learn to be diligent enough to stretch more and to strengthen my smaller muscles.
I raced two senior qualifiers this year, finishing around 11th place in both. I qualified for the Junior World team in late January. Then, my schedule really started to pick up. I trained in Salt Lake City for all of February, then left for Warsaw, Poland from there to compete at the Junior World Championships. I placed 35th, which I’m really not proud of at all, but I was super thankful for all the hard lessons I learned to even get there. I know that those lessons will serve me in the future. I finished this season up with the American Cup Finals in Omaha, Nebraska, where after some remarkably dumb racing decisions, I still came in 5th.
Since Omaha, I’ve been enjoying my off-season in Pittsburgh and planning my move to Salt Lake City. I’ll be driving cross-country mid-April and will be there probably until next March. I’m excited to train this summer since my knees are finally starting to cooperate. I’m also excited for next season because it’s Olympic season and people actually take some interest in speed skating!
Lexi is currently an eleventh grade student here at 21CCCS. She enjoys running, reading, and spending time with friends. She hopes to pursue psychology as a major after graduating from 21CCCS.
One of our students, Badera, started to get apprehensive about the thought of beginning college. Since fretting can only do so much for a person, Badera got ACTIVE! She decided to build a blogsite to help other people who might share his thoughts and feelings, with college days looming. Read below to learn what she had to say about developing her new site. Also, click on the link below to check out this great new resource!
Badera writes:
“I have many mixed feelings about college. I am nervous, excited, and utterly terrified to leave home and be out on my own. Not only that, the SAT’s are coming up and I want to do really well. That is why I created this blog. I don’t really have anyone to talk to about college and the application process. I made this blog so that kids like me can talk and express our fears about college. We can discuss what colleges we want to attend, SATs/ACTs, college essays, and everything that has to do with post-secondary education.”
21CCCS is proud to announce the launching of our very own Pinterest page. Thanks to the hard work of Ms. Vice and Ms. Kennelly, there is now a space where parents and students can browse articles, events, educational resources, and more. Our teachers have developed separate “Pinboards” for each content area within our school, along with a few other areas of interest. Some of the boards include: Humanities, Student Showcase, Parent Resources, Math Department, Science Department, and Exceptional Learners. But, don’t take our word for it! Check out our page for yourself by CLICKING HERE. Enjoy!
