What we learned today...
In the weeks leading up to today’s Inauguration Ceremonies, we set many ambitious goals regarding how we would document this historic event.
We knew that communication between Springfield, PA, and Philadelphia, PA, and Washington DC would be difficult, if not impossible. We knew that our reporters, anchors, videographers, and bloggers were attempting something that is typically only done by a network news team, not a group of high school students. We knew that large portions of our plan relied on communication tools that would be highly strained because of the volumes of people who wanted to see and hear the moment when Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States.
That is what we knew. We fully understood and accepted every challenge, weakness, and pitfall.
What we learned; however, makes the time and effort of the last few months so completely worthwhile.
We learned that a high school student can speak with the confidence and competence of a professional reporter.
We learned that our youth, who are so often accused of apathy, are engaged, passionate citizens, driven by a sincere desire to make our world a place we all can be proud of.
We discovered that we teachers can learn far more from our students than we could teach them.
Most importantly, we learned that the process of collaboration between students and teachers is far richer than any end-product we may have originally intended.
On this historic day, we celebrate our students, and the future that they will build. After observing and working with them so closely for the last few weeks, I know that the world we will entrust to them is in very, very good hands.
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To the students at Springfield High School: Your work is inspiring and we are delighted that you had this opportunity to participate in such an historic event.
ReplyDeleteI am most touched by the reflections of what you have learned. You are embodying the principles of the Classrooms for the Future program in participating in real-world, authentic activities, doing research, communicating what you are learning, and most importantly changing the roles of teachers and students: you are becoming partners in learning. This will be a lesson you will never forget and I am confident in the future of the US with youth such as you as our future leaders. Keep up the great work! As President Obama indicated yesterday: this is the beginning.
Best wishes,
Holly Jobe
Project Manager
Classrooms for the Future, PDE