News
Heatly students engaging in new learning opportunities
As printed in the December 2011 district newsletter
A whole new door to the world has opened for Heatly High School students. Through a first-year partnership with the international program Virtual High School (VHS), Green Island School District has expanded high school course offerings to include more than 250 online elective classes. The district is also offering a new in-house elective called History of the Hudson River.
This semester, 13 Heatly juniors and seniors are taking VHS courses, including Russian, oceanography, anatomy and physiology, computational science and engineering and Advanced Placement Economics: Macro and Micro, with their peers from around the world.
Classes are conducted entirely over the Internet, and offer students the flexibility to work at their own pace, although they do have deadlines for projects and assignments.
“Students in a VHS course are responsible
for much of their own success,” said Dana Zeppieri, the school’s
guidance counselor and site coordinator for the VHS program.
Students can work on VHS coursework at school during study hall and at
home. And even though the students are all taking different courses,
each month they come together to support one another.
“The mentoring meetings give the students the opportunity to help each other navigate VHS, share any frustrations, and learn from each other on how they can be most successful in an online learning environment,” said Zeppieri.
Senior Melissa Heffern, a self-described
“big fan of sports,” both on the field playing for the Heatly varsity
soccer team and off, is taking the course, Sports and American Society.
She appreciates having the opportunity to take a course in a subject she
enjoys so much, while at the same time building a more robust high
school transcript.
“The course covers different topics in sports history, such as women’s
professional leagues, which is very interesting,” Heffern said. “VHS is
also helping me to develop time management skills and learn from my
classmates.”
Katie Connelly, also a senior, has always loved English and reading. She plans to pursue business and marketing and a minor in English in college and is taking a young adult literature course that focuses on people with disabilities.
“The course has shown me a whole new side of people who struggle to do what we do every day,” she said. And with a visually impaired peer in her class, Connelly says, “It’s cool to know this program is accessible to everyone.”
Heatly’s membership with VHS allows 25 students per semester to take online courses. Current students were selected based on their transcripts, attendance record, behavior and teacher recommendations. Courses run for half a year and are each worth half a high school credit.
Each school that joins VHS is required to provide a teacher to offer an online course each semester. This semester, Matthew Manning is teaching a course in world religions. All VHS teachers are certified in the areas they teach and must successfully complete a VHS training program.
Funding for this first year of the VHS program has been provided by an anonymous and generous donor. The district hopes to sustain VHS learning opportunities for students in next school year’s budget.
“The donor directed the district to plant seeds for future success and we are doing that with Virtual High School,” said Green Island Superintendent Dr. Michael Mugits. “By investing in our learning community, we can provide varied learning opportunities our students seek and need to compete with graduates of other schools in college and career.”
New Hudson River course
In addition to teaching a VHS course, Manning is also teaching History of the Hudson River, a new elective this school year for juniors and seniors. Students meet twice a week for the full school year and, since the course is designed as a co-curricular course, students can earn a half credit in either social studies or English.
After an introductory unit on the geography of the Hudson River, its valley and surrounding communities, the course traces the history of the Hudson River from pre-Columbian times through the present. Along this historial journey, students incorporate their English language arts skills as they explore authors and literature related to the Hudson River Valley.
The course also offers plenty of hands-on opportunities for students to see what it was like to live on the Hudson River.
“Students were able to touch reproductions that represent the Hudson River Valley during a classroom visit by the Albany Institute of History and Art,” said Manning. “We will also be incorporating modern technology into the coursework, so that students can chart navigation courses."
“Virtual High School and the Hudson River courses are very exciting advances in our educational program,” said Mugits. “We are continuing to explore ways we can expand opportunities for Heatly’s learners.”
