High school offers variety of opportunities
With the school year now underway, I can’t help but draw attention to the diversity of programming here on campus. Through the years, to the credit of the staff, they continue to reinvent what high school course offerings look like at Staples-Motley High School. This has been one of our strengths over the past few years. I’m proud to say they truly bring something new, semester after semester.
To start, Connections High School remains the region’s only Project Based Learning school. Their appeal has generated nearly 50 percent of their enrollment being open-enrolled to us. Recently, they attended their fall conference at Camp Shamineau where the student body and staff were put to task regarding various relationship and leadership based activities. They made solid impressions on themselves, which is sure to be long lasting as they move throughout their school year.
Lorna Bendson has been taking several of her science classes to Living Legacy Gardens for bee pollination research - an effort in conjunction with her own studies at the University of Minnesota over the past few years. The gathering of the bees teaches students about the importance of pollinators in our world and the power they possess in sustaining natural habitat and species. She’s applied for several grants to not only continue with the studies, but, perhaps, develop a garden on site that would benefit other high school courses, as well as the elementary school.
We continue to be pleased with our College in the School’s offerings, which allow students to earn college credit and remain on our campus. The courses are taught by our teachers who have pursued the credentials to do so. Of the eight courses offered this semester, 163 student seats are occupied. That’s a lot of college credit being earned!
Our eighth graders have made a great transition onto our campus and are taking advantage of exclusive course offerings ranging from Broadcasting to Project Lead the Way. Their energy is quite endearing and they enjoyed attending their first homecoming with the ninth-12th graders.
Our campus here at Staples-Motley High School is as diverse as they come in today’s era of education. We continue to strive to offer our students the opportunities that not only educate them, but also engage them with one another and the faculty. Their education is intermixed with meaningful connections and relationships with those they share their days with.
