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Cafe on the horizon
Another learning opportunity is coming to the Performance Learning Center as efforts are under way to involve students in the planning, design and implementation of a cafe.
Students interested in interior design will assist with the esthetics of the room which is awaiting work by the school system’s IT and maintenance departments.
Those with culinary arts interests will be involved in decisions about vending companies and business-minded will assist with the financial aspects of the endeavor.
cpeterson@barrowcountynews.com
"You remember when you were in high school and you had that one teacher you could always go to? That’s every teacher on this hall."
That’s how one student describes the Performance Learning Center, the non-traditional high school located in Winder. For five years, the PLC has helped students who struggle in traditional high schools to graduate and succeed in the working world.
Four students – Madison Morgan, Lisa Lor, Alpha Balde and John Siggers – are preparing to fulfill the PLC goal by graduating this spring.
All four came to the PLC for different reasons. Morgan wanted to graduate early and get a head start on college. Lor, who is pregnant, and Siggers, who has enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, were both falling behind in their classes and would not have been able to graduate. For Siggers, this could have kept him out of basic training. Balde had moved several times, and attending the PLC allowed him to remain at one school.
With the exception of Siggers, who will pursue a military career, all plan to attend college after graduation.
These four students are examples of the type of students best served by the PLC: academically capable, but unmotivated by traditional classrooms or struggling due to circumstances such as pregnancy or poverty.
Focusing on computer-based instruction with teachers acting as advisors, the PLC model allows students to work at their own pace. Classes are taken online using e2020, which has proven so successful that both Apalachee and Winder-Barrow High School are now using the program for credit recovery.
Because e2020 allows students to learn and move through courses at their own pace, students who may have graduated late or not at all are able to complete their credit requirements and graduate on or ahead of schedule.
During its first four years, the PLC has served more than 360 students and 145 have graduated. In its third year of operation, the PLC was responsible for 4.5 percent of Barrow County’s graduation rate.
Due to the limited number of computers, only 75 students can be in the school at one time; however, Services Coordinator Wanda Pentecost and Academic Coordinator Molly Stiltner hope to have room for 100 students within five years.
The 75-student maximum creates a constant student-teacher ratio of 15 to one. That low ratio is one of the school’s biggest selling points for many teachers and students.
"You can keep going back [over material] with the teacher until you understand," Balde said.
"I have the ability to interact with the students more frequently on a one-on-one basis, and that’s beneficial for them," agreed math instructor Tam’ra Kerch. "It’s not a teacher standing in front of the class and hoping everyone gets it."
Kerch, who has been with the PLC since its formation, knows first-hand the value of non-traditional education.
"My son is a non-traditional student," she said. "Alternative education and kids who don’t fit into the mold have always been my heart. I love that education is changing. It’s realizing that not all children are the same, and it’s creating options for them, opportunities that are different."
Lynn Rambo, PLC’s social studies instructor and 2010 Teacher of the Year, echoed the need for options in education.
"I saw the need as a traditional teacher," Rambo said. "While traditional education does a fabulous job for most of our kids, it doesn’t work well for a significant few who need another way."
Teaching at an alternative school has unique challenges, as Rambo pointed out. At any time in her classroom, students may be working through one of seven classes, and she must be able to explain the content of each.
Teaching is a balancing act for the five PLC instructors, who must keep track of each student’s individual course plans. According to Rambo, it is a balancing act driven by a desire to see students succeed.
"I think what makes us work is our team," Rambo said. "I think we are blessed – fortunate – that [all] of us are all on the same page. We work well together. That team effort makes it fun for me to come to work and it helps the kids know there is more than one advocate here. We’re all working toward that goal of graduating and moving on."
Morgan agreed.
"You really have a team of five teachers ready to do anything for you," she said.
