Putting Tools in their Hands

There are many special moments with the start of each school year here in Saline.  One of the truly special moments this year happened on Thursday in the High School Orchestra room during the Senior Capstone Experience class.  It was a day that was a year in the making… we were able to distribute and activate over 60 Samsung Galaxy Tabs which is one for each student in the course.  This exciting step was made possible by the generous support of Deb Peterson, the owner of the Wireless Zone-Saline.  Additionally, representatives from corporate partner  and project supporter United Bank & Trust were present to witness the transition.  Given the current financial challenges,  it was wonderful to watch the students see the possibilities of having a mobile device in a blended learning environment.

Senior Capstone Experience (SCE) is a year-long interdisciplinary course. Two main components of the course are the college style lecture and recitation, and 60 required hours of community service. Students have a choice in their area of study, but the focus is on educating world citizenship.

The course will be centered on one guiding question: What are a student’s home, local, state, national, and world responsibilities?  The purpose of the course is for seniors to synthesize areas of future study in light of the local and global community.

The course culminates in a Senior Project, an individualized plan that students envision, enact, and reflect upon over the course of their senior year.  In this course students will not be “in class” each day and will stay connected to the curriculum with mobile devices and Moodle.