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As students get ready to head back to school for reading, writing and arithmetic, sixth-graders in Wayne County will be doing a lot more than that.
That’s because Buffalo Middle School has teamed up with Marshall University and the Empowerment Collaborative for a new approach to learning that’s already showing some impressive results.
“In a fully operational empowerment schools, the students show up and they go to their company and they own and they operate their company,” Kathy D’Antoni, project director for the Empowerment Collaborative, said. “They take on projects in their company and they have their project managers, they have CEOs. And instead of going to an English class, a math class, so it’s siloed, they do major authentic projects and all of their standards, the math, English, social studies are incorporated into these projects.
Empowerment Schools are already in action at Midland Trail High School, Valley PK-8 Middle School, Meadow Bridge Regional School, Oak Hill Middle School and Fayette PK-8 school in Fayette County.
One student-led project in Fayette County included a plan to improve safety on a state road near the New River Gorge Bridge. “And so today, the highway department is in the process of changing that roadway,” D’Antoni said.
Another involved a plan to draw an influx of tourists from one part of the county to visit lesser-known areas.
“The chamber and the state parks fell in love with the idea and they developed a huge campaign called North of the New and it exists now and they’ve had over, I think it’s over, a thousand visitors,” D’Antoni said.
The partnership between Marshall University and Wayne County Schools will focus on career pathways, starting with the youngest students at Buffalo Middle School.
“They’ll be doing projects with manufacturing, projects with aviation, all these career fields that can lead into Marshall. All the projects these kids will be doing will center around these career pathways,” D’Antoni said.
“Through this partnership with Marshall University and the Empowerment Collaborative, we are creating authentic learning experiences that connect academics, leadership, and career exploration,” said Wayne County Schools Superintendent Todd Alexander.
In the Fayette County schools where empowerment learning is in use, D’Antoni said discipline referrals have dropped 80% while test scores and attendance have gone up.