NMHS Academy Program

Last week while attending Edscape, Patch asked the principal of NMHS, Eric Sheninger, to explain the Academy program. Rather than talk about it, he invited Patch to come and visit the Academy to see it in action.

Emphasis on action because there is nothing passive about New Milford High School's Academy program or the students and teachers who define it. 

The best way to describe the Academy is to quote from the book "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, that the Arts & Letter and Global Leadership groups were reading and discussing on the day of our visit:

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." 

In the case of these students, the administration and educators are working hard to expose as much of the universe as possible to them to help them achieve an understanding of the life that awaits them after graduation. An example of this is the conference some of them recently attended.

On October 5th, some of the young women in the Academy attended the United Nations 2011 Global Conference for Social Change and Women and Girls Education Summit. The impact that the conference had on them was palpable, and when asked about the experience their responses flew fast and furious.

"It's so nice to see that there are global organizations out there doing such good things for girls and women who don't have the opportunities that we have."

"We were there seeing the world coming together to fight for uneducated girls and women."

"We learned how much we have that we take for granted--like the internet and easy access to information. It made all of us want to be 'do leaders'."

When asked what 'do leaders' are the group explained that they are people who take action and make a difference in the world. Just the type of people they want to be. 

Rebecca, an Academy student, put it best when she said, "Being at that conference taught me that we take education for granted. It's one thing to read about it, but being there listening to real stories and knowing that there are kids out there in other countries who don't have the opportunity to go to school is different. They're not guaranteed an education. Or if they are going to school they're being taught by teachers who aren't trained educators and struggle themselves."

The lasting impression they took from the conference was how educational empowerment is the key to economic development. Just the type of heady thinking that Sheninger and his staff is hard at work encouraging.

After leaving the Arts & Letters and Global Leadership students, we had the opportunity to meet with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students who were gathered around an Apple Mac Book Pro collaborating on a design for their new STEM Academy crest.

"We want to be facilitators of learning," Sheninger explained as the students bounced their ideas off one another.

Director of Curriculum, Danielle Shanley, who led the book discussion group, said that the goal of the Academy program is to provide authentic relationships for the students.

"We want the students to learn about the world around them through shared experience," Shanley said. And one of the most effective ways to learn is by exposing the students to real life situations, such as the trip to the United Nations conference. Other trips will include a visit to Google's headquarters; watching a live open heart surgery via Skype at the Liberty Science Center; a tech tour of Stevens Institute of Technology; arts events at BergenPac; and a trip guided by the Hackensack Riverkeeper.

Both Shanley and Sheninger said that the goal of the Academy is to create, discuss, ask, and collaborate. 

As Shanley put it, "We want the kids to have lofty goals, and this is what we offer them--an authentic learning experience that offers lifechanging experiences."