Chance at success: Freshmen Academy helps students with transition, goals

Although there are approximately 230 freshmen at Bunker Hill High School, the school is taking extra measures to ensure every student in this year's class will graduate from the school in four years.

This year, Principal Jeff Taylor started the Freshmen Academy, which includes a required class freshmen take first semester, called Success.

"This is an initiative to help freshmen transition from middle school to high school," said Taylor. "They learn study skills and how to focus on goals to help them in the future. They also create a 10-year plan for life. A lot of students don't have a clear goal for life, and this will help them."

Josh Chase, 15, said the class talked a lot about careers during its first week. He plans to be a lawyer, and said the class has already benefited him.

"It's helped me plan what I want to do, step-by-step," he said.

Chase said when he initially heard he would have to take the freshman class, he wasn't pleased.

"I wasn't happy at first, but it's not as bad as it seems," he said.

Freshman Caroline Ward said she wanted to take the class.

"We talk about which careers to take and how to pursue it," she said. "I want to be a veterinarian. We've talked about my career goals and tips for the future."

The only freshmen who are exempt from the class are those taking ROTC 1, because a lot of what's covered in that class is the same, Taylor said. The ROTC instructor also agreed to incorporate some of the material from the Success class into his class.

Core subject teachers, who were selected by Taylor, teach the freshmen Success classes.

"We spent a year picking teachers and planning this," Taylor said. "We tried to pick teachers who wanted to work with freshmen. We have eight to 10 teachers who are working with this class, and can tell if something is wrong or upsetting the students."

Doug Watters is one of the teachers selected to teach the freshmen. He teaches English, as well as the Success classes. He connects with the students, making the lesson plans relevant to them, by sprinkling his own experiences in with what he's teaching so the students remain interested in topics.

Watters is not afraid to be candid with students about their thoughts and feelings, telling them his own, in turn.

"I can make more money doing something else, but I do this because I enjoy it," Watters said to the class while discussing a unit in their workbooks on what is success. "Successful people enjoy what they do. A job is something you do because you have to."

Taylor said the candidness teachers express with the freshmen is something that's needed for the Freshmen Academy to work.

"Kids don't care what you know until they know that you care," he said.

Taylor got the idea from a conference he went to more than a year ago.

"I want the students to get off to a good start and stay on track," Taylor said. "If we can get them on track, they'll be more productive citizens. I also want to help instill school pride and school spirit in them."

For the first time, the freshmen have all their classes in one wing of the school, except for PE and electives. Most of the freshmen also have the same lunch period. Although this was designed so the freshmen would feel more cohesive, this has had a benefit Taylor hadn't planned on.

"It has forced the rest of the student body into classes in the other hallways, and it has cut down on the number of tardies for the whole school, because they don't have as far to go for their classes," he said.

Taylor said he's still working on what they might do with this class after the semester is completed. He said the school might host a career fair for the students, to further push them to think about their goals for the future.

"We just want to get them more prepared for their walk of life," he said.