For too long, we’ve been doing education the same way — and it’s doing our students a disservice.
At least, that’s what the administrators at Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES believe. And they’re trying to address the problem by introducing a new kind of instruction in Central New York.
OCM BOCES held an official grand opening for its new Innovation Tech high school Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the facility at the Lee G. Peters Career Training Center in Liverpool. Classes began Sept. 3.
“We wanted to use this ceremony to formally recognize this innovative approach to teaching and learning,” BOCES Superintendent Jody Manning said at the ceremony. “Innovation Tech has been designed to empower students to take control of their education and future.”
Manning said the vision for Innovation Tech came from administrators and lawmakers across OCM BOCES’ coverage area.
“It began with a regional vision: college, career and citizenship readiness in Central New York,” Manning said. “The vision states, what if all students were motivated? Not some, but all? What if all students were engaged? What if all students were ready for college and career? What if they can communicate, collaborate, think critically and collaboratively solve problems? That is what Innovation Tech is all about. [It] is about preparing our students for life beyond these walls.”
The occasion also marked the first public appearance of the New York State Department of Education’s new deputy commissioner, Cos Tagorra.
“This is a demonstration of what can happen when higher education and the business community and government work together with [the state education department] to create a vision for tomorrow’s education,” Tagorra said. “For far too long, 21st-century students really are educated in a 19th-century model via 20th-century instructional technology and methods. This is the future.”
Innovation Tech utilizes the New Tech Network curriculum, which incorporates computer technology and project-based learning to teach students. Students learn by collaborating on projects that require critical thinking. They make frequent presentations, not only to their teachers and classmates, but also to community and business leaders. Each classroom has a one-on-one computer ratio and uses the Echo program, a web-based service that includes course resources, project plans, assignment, gradebooks, online groups and a library of instructional resources for students and teachers. It incorporates Google Apps for Education’s suite of tools, like Gmail, Google Docs and Google Sites. The entire program, according to proponents, better prepares students for both college and career by giving them “real-world” experience.
The first New Tech school was founded in 1996 Napa, Calif., in response to concerns by business leaders that students weren’t getting the instruction they needed to succeed in the modern economy. Now, New Tech has more than 150 schools in 26 states, as well as Australia.
The program came to Central New York through the work of administrators in OCM BOCES’ 23 member districts after Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Jeff Craig visited a similar program in Texas. He brought the idea back to Syracuse.
“A number of us started to visit schools in Texas, Michigan, Indiana, New York near Albany, and really came to pull superintendents in and say, ‘Here’s a model that works,’’ said Innovation Tech Director Karen Clark. “We took superintendents to schools to see how it worked, and we decided we would start a program here, converting one of our existing programs.”
The program will ultimately replace BOCES’ Career Academy, which will be phased out after this year’s juniors graduate in 2016. Full enrollment is 150 students; the school currently has a full load of ninth- and 10th-graders with 75 students.
Among those students is Cayleigh Ostrander, a 10th-grader from the North Syracuse Central School District. Ostrander said she was wary of the program at first, but now that it’s underway, she’s thrilled to be a part of it.
“The facilitators get to know us on a personal level, and they’re always willing to help us succeed. Students are allowed to use their voice and have choices,” Ostrander said. “I was kind of scared at first going to a new school. But then I realized that this is really the right place for me to be. Going down this path, I feel like my future is a lot brighter now.”
