Editor’s Note:
“77 Questions” is the Underground Workshop’s collaborative reporting project for the 2022-2023 school year, exploring the students’ experience of Act 77, the law that brought early college, personal learning plans, dual enrollment, proficiency-based learning, the high school completion program and other changes to Vermont’s schools.
Our first workshop for student reporters will be this Thursday, November 17 at 7:30pm. Students and teachers: Please register here to receive an RSVP.
The first announcement of the project, with a broad overview of its purpose, is here. Today’s post offers students and teachers two resources from the Underground Workshop’s student editors: 1. An example of the descriptive, on-the-ground mode for reporting students’ experiences in our schools, and 2. An overview of the collaborative reporting process.
Exemplar : PLP’s at BFA St. Albans
The reporting for this project centers on the students’ experience of Act 77.
This is a brief “snapshot” story demonstrating the Underground Workshop’s descriptive, feature style, from student editors Rachel Ledoux and Cooper O’Connell, of BFA St. Albans
On September 13, Isabella Guerino, a Sophomore at Bellows Free Academy St. Albans, was sitting in her accelerated English class when she received an email from Elaine Archambault, a guidance counselor.
“Hello Isabella,” the email read, “I needed to switch you into a career class as a 10th grade requirement that will also allow you access to your PLP work.”
The deadline for adding or dropping classes was that afternoon, and her schedule had been changed.
“This was solely for the fact that I had to complete my sophomore PLP,” Guerino said.
This year, BFA has taken strides to make the PLP (Personal Learning Plan) process more accessible to students by incorporating it into a required class, Career Explorations. Guerino had been planning to take band this semester and was confused about the change. Neither she nor her parents were given any notice. “I was just switched,” Guerino said.
Later that afternoon, Guerino went to the guidance office to figure out what was going on.
“I offered to do [the PLP] outside of class, but Mrs. Archambault said that it simply wasn’t possible,” Guerino said.
At BFA, the past decade has ushered in many attempts to revamp PLP’s. This year is no different. Instead of the goal-based PLP document of the past, students at BFA will be creating a Google site to share their goals, interests, grades, and credits in a new format. But while BFA is working hard to adjust the process, many students question the priority given to PLP’s.
Liam Mahabir is BFA’s flexible pathways coordinator.
“We’re really looking to see more of an investment in PLPs from students with this new format,” he said. “I hope students will take advantage of it; it’s a valuable resource for college and beyond.”
Mahabir noted that the success of PLP’s relies heavily on student effort.
“I think you get out of PLP’s what you put in,” Mahabir responded. “It’s up to students whether it’s helpful or not.”
Guerino says she doesn’t find it helpful. “I can no longer carry out my plans for band after this year, due to my schedule being moved around,” she said.
Guerino just bought a new clarinet last year, so when she received this news it was extra frustrating for her and her parents.
“I spent a lot of money on my clarinet, and now I will be missing opportunities to use it,” she said. “My parents are very upset by this. It just isn’t fair.”
Students: The piece above is an example to demonstrate the mode of reporting and writing for this project, focused on the students’ experience. The Underground Workshop’s collaborative reporting process combines short articles like this one (just 400 words) with pieces from other schools, using a comparative approach explore issues as they appear across the state. This piece could also be expanded to become a longer feature story. What other perspectives or information could be added, to give readers a more comprehensive view of PLP’s at BFA St. Albans?
The Collaborative Reporting Process
From student editors Anna Hoppe of Essex High School, Adelle Macdowell of Middlebury College, and Anika Turcotte of Montpelier High School.
The 77 Questions project will become a series of articles examining the different parts of Act 77. Each policy (personalized-learning plans, proficiency-based learning, dual enrollment, early college, the high school completion program, and work-based learning) will have its own article, and most will incorporate stories from multiple schools. For an example of how this format looks, see the Climate Report Card, the Underground Workshop’s major project last year.
Students can contribute to the project with small pieces or longer features and in a variety of forms, from traditional articles to photojournalism and videos. Regardless of the format you choose, your piece should focus on the human element of these programs. Discussions of policies can often get wrapped up in statistics, and while those are valuable, we want to reveal how these policies are impacting people at the individual level. People are much more compelling to the average reader than numbers.
Here are some potential story ideas:
- What tech center programs exist in your district? What does a tech student’s day-to-day look like compared to a traditional student?
- What types of students are accessing dual enrollment and early college programs? How does this impact their futures?
- How does proficiency-based learning impact students as they apply to college and as they make the transition to college grading?
- How does work-based learning open up opportunities for students post-high school? What do these experiences look like?
You will write about your school district and then your contribution will often be part of a larger article, together with stories from other schools. Additionally, the Underground Workshop will host a “students’ press conference” at the end of the series where students will have a forum to discuss their reporting and question policymakers on the future of education policy.
Important Dates for 2022:
- November 17th: Initial workshop for the Act 77 project – Introductions and Ideas
- December 15th: Reporting Workshop (sharing first experiences & challenges, pitching stories)
After these first workshops, the Underground Workshop will meet every second Thursday and organize workshops according to student needs. At any point during your reporting and writing process you can join our meetings for support. These meetings are a great place to get feedback and help on your piece. We hope to start publishing articles early in 2023 & will run the series through the school year.
Please reach out to us at undergroundworkshop@vtdigger.org with any questions.
We hope to see you on November 17th!