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by JONATHAN GRASS 

WINTERBORO - When you're on to a good thing, you want to spread the word.

 Melinda Maddox, director of technology initiatives for the Alabama Department of Education, gets a look at what student Cody Strickland's been working on through Winterboro High School's 21st Century Learning. Photo by Bob Crisp

That's just what Winterboro High School did Wednesday morning. The school hosted more than 120 educators, government representatives and businesses leaders from around the state and beyond to observe the students engaged in the school's first year of project-based learning through the 21st Century Framework.

"We wanted educators and all these leaders to come and see what we're doing because it's a unique thing for our students to be engaged in less traditional forms of learning, and that they're getting so much out of it," said Principal Craig Bates.

"The interest in project-based learning is there. This gives educators a chance to see it," he said.

Project-based learning incorporates technology into lessons and allows students to work together on projects and problem-solving in real-world formats as opposed to standard lectures.

At WHS this is done through the school's new learning suites, which allow two classrooms to be combined to show how different subject can interact. The students also have individual computer stations and work on skill-building assignments.

This curriculum focuses on intangible skills like creativity, entrepreneurship, teamwork and problem-solving. Bates said this helps prepare students for what is needed on the job or in college.

"Today showcased what we've been doing in our teaching and learning to energize the curriculum. It gave a glimpse of how we're changing the face of learning by increasing student engagement," said Superintendent Suzanne Lacey.

Educators from other Talladega County schools were present along with representatives from school systems in Trussville, Shelby County, Coosa County, Elmore County and others. There were also people from the governor's office, Jacksonville State University, the University of Montevallo and Alabama Best Practices Center.

Some educators even crossed state lines to see project-based learning in action. A group from Tupelo, Miss., public schools was among the crowd.

Tupelo's instructional coach, Leighann Hopkins, said they wanted to observe WHS because they are preparing to implement project-based learning in their own district.

"It looks like this will be great for our schools because the students really get to see why they're learning this," she said.

Hopkins was impressed with how well the program has worked in such a short time. She said the classes looked like they've had project-based learning a lot longer than one semester.

During the event, the visitors split into alternating groups to observe each of the school's four learning suites and interact with the students and teachers.

For example, during a combination of English and history in one suite, Jeff Musser of Talladega County Central High School took the time to speak with different students as they worked at their computer stations to create digital artistic comic panels to help learn about mythology in preparation for reading Homer's "The Odyssey."

He said he observed that the computers were a valuable tool since so many of the students didn't have their own. He said the biggest challenge to project-based learning that he observed would be in the grading procedures, particularly with so many possible responses to a given problem.

He said the procedures may be different but "anything new is good."

Bates addressed concerns such as this in his introductory speech. He said when WHS integrated the technology, administrators knew they would have to train teachers to do new things in the classroom, use the technology and branch out from the teaching methods they were used to or experienced as students themselves.

He said that many on the faculty are relatively young and so are very open to learning how to work with the 21st Century Framework.

During a student panel in the library, kids further explained how the framework operates. They went into the trust privileges allotted to them and how they can maintain or lose those privileges, making the classroom more like a professional environment.

The students also agreed that 21st Century Learning helps keep them more focused because they realize they can get left behind from their groups. The consensus was that the new learning model's use of teamwork is essential to their futures.

"In business you're going to have work with people whether you like it or not," said 10th grader Justin McMeans.

They also told the guests about their career clusters class to help them decide more about what they would like to eventually do fro work.

After touring the school, the crowd reconvened in the auditorium to hear teachers' takes on the work being done and ask questions.

Lacey said the showcase was a success and many educators expressed positive impressions. She said guests were impressed with the students. They acknowledged the value in using professional environments in classes and observed that the students saw the value and meaning in their work.

It wasn't only educators' opinions. Amy Brabham, associate director in the Governor's Office of Workforce Development, said that she often hears that students need to become more engaged and the project-based learning tackles that.

"What I saw today is a rare thing to see students able to communicate their ideas like that," she said.

She said she was surprised in that she had never seen project-based learning implemented throughout an entire school. She would like to see this done in more schools.

Bates and Lacey both hope the visitors will communicate what they saw at WHS.

Bates said he hoped more people will see what project-based learning is about and perhaps incorporate it in more schools. He said he would also be open to the idea of forming partnerships for such learning models.