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Just doing it
By LOGAN NEILL © St. Petersburg Times, published March 22, 2001 BROOKSVILLE -- Over the past couple of years, West Hernando Middle School has gained a reputation for offering its students more than a typical classroom education. Take a walk through the courtyard and you'll find a 60-foot aviary that is home to more than two dozen exotic birds. Water from a sculpted fountain flows into a pond surrounded by lush flowers and plants. Outside a classroom, a huge saltwater tank holds a living reef that supports an abundance of sea creatures. All of these projects are the pride of the students. That's because they had a major role in creating them. They drew the plans and hammered the boards that framed the aviary; they dug the foundation and laid the pipe for the fountain. They planned and helped assemble the tank that holds the living reef. They aren't done. A group of sixth-graders from the school's Gemini team have been hard at work on two new projects. Dubbed Iguana World and Prairie Dog Encounter, the two structures will house the school's growing pet collection, which today consists of seven adult iguanas and five Western prairie dogs. The students began work on the two projects in the fall and have undertaken nearly every aspect of the construction. One team worked with county building officials to draw up an approved design. Another group priced materials, many of which were donated by local businesses, and kept a budget. As before, the students have done much of the manual labor themselves. "It was fun, but there were times when it almost seemed like work," said Tara Irby, 11, one of about 100 students who worked on the construction crew. "I don't think anyone thought that concrete blocks were that heavy." The students laid two 30-square-foot concrete block walls, 4 feet high, and later covered them with stucco. They also poured the support piers on which the top structure eventually will rest. They are now working to finish steel rod and wire mesh frames that will serve as permanent shelters for the animals. "The cool thing is, we might not have ever done something like this at another school," said James Kyper, 12. "It makes you really feel good that you've got something you can look at and say, "Hey, we did all this ourselves.' " That is the idea behind the projects, said West Hernando principal Ken Pritz. Pritz has long championed the notion that getting students involved in hands-on activities instills values they're not likely to get from textbooks. Three years ago, while visiting an elementary school in north Florida, he was shown around by its principal, who pointed out several small foot bridges around the school that had been built entirely by students. Pritz saw that such an experience can be valuable in teaching life skills in a way not found in a day-to-day classroom setting. A year later, he asked the four teachers from the sixth-grade Gemini team to put together a lesson plan that would end with students' making a 75-foot wooden foot bridge. Lessons in reading and essay writing, math, history and social projects involved bridges and bridge construction. Then students began planning the bridge's construction. "They readily accepted any and all challenges," said Dennis Morissey, who teaches geography as part of the Gemini team. "A lot of people figured they would either fail or give up because it was too hard. The fact that the bridge stands there today proves that they were wrong." The students working on the current projects have great respect for what their predecessors accomplished two years ago. They hope their work will carry a legacy of its own. "I'll probably come back to see it even after I'm in college," said Ashtin Ward, 12. Doni Swafford, 11, agreed: "This will always be one of my biggest memories of middle school." The students hope to complete the projects by May. In a few weeks, they hope to start putting a protective fence around both pens. Then they will finish landscaping. Although there have been a few glitches in the construction, Pritz thinks they added to the "real-life scenario" that has proved time and again to build critical thinking skills. "It gives them a look at what the real world does," Pritz said. "And when you get kids involved in thinking for themselves, they're learning at a higher level."
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From today's Hernando Times |
