WISE program excels at Rondout Valley High School

Amber Kelly BSP Reporter

At the RVSD Board of Education meeting on Feb. 21, held in the high school cafeteria, Superintendent Dr. Joseph Morgan said, “OK, tonight we have Mr. (James) Sullivan and Mr. (Andrew) Lutz to present on the WISE program.”

Sullivan began the presentation, saying, “Tonight we’re going to start off by just showing you a little video. What I did was I sent out emails and texts and Facebook requests to former WISE graduates, and said ‘hey, we just want to get a sense of your memories of WISE and how the program impacted you, and would you send me a one-minute video.’ We got a lot of responses.”

Following are samples of what the WISE graduates said in the film. “It was the first time I felt challenged.” … “I got into music production and founded Bars Behind Bars.” … “By building confidence I got my foot in the door of social services.” … “I made a robot and now I am a programmer.” … “It was the first time I took charge of my path."

Over the past 26 years, there have been 1,162 WISE graduates at Rondout. There is an average of 48 students per year, and an average of 30 community task force members per year also.

Former faculty and WISE program coordinator Francine Hertz said, “I don’t know how much any of you know about WISE. To kind of just go through the basics, there used to be five pillars and we’ve added a sixth pillar to the program. Project, mentor, journal, presentation, task force – those are the main aspects.

“Every student in the senior class is invited to participate. Philosophically, all kids – all abilities, any kid who wants to do it – are welcome, the more the better. We’re always aiming for 100% of the class coming up. We haven’t had it, but we’ve gotten close. We’ve often had close to 60%.

At the end of the film a list of over 150 mentors from 18 years at Rondout scrolled down pages of screen.

Hertz said, “In terms of participation from the faculty, I can’t say enough about this district. The professionals from kindergarten through seniors, administrators, secretaries, librarians that have participated in WISE all made it possible. I really think they’re the backbone – the mentors – of this program. That is probably the reason that this program is not at every single school. Not everyone has the quality staff who agree to be mentors, because it is voluntary, it’s an extra.” vited. You normally would have an adult from the community, a teacher and a peer. All three have read the journal from beginning to end. The student makes a presentation about their experience.

Andy Lutz, former longtime Rondout faculty member and WISE program consultant, talked about WISE practice of writing a journal. He compared the word “journal” to the word “journalist,” or one who writes about the news, clarifying the intention of journaling.

“Now look at that word presentation,” Lutz said. “What do you see at the beginning of that word? Present. Gift. That is what the kid is giving when they made their presentation. They’re saying, ‘I had a great experience, or I had a difficult experience, but whatever I had, I can’t wait to share.’ There is a variety of ways that they share their presentations.”

BlueStonePress.net

“Once they say they want to do this we help them with the application,” Hertz continued. “It’s a one-page proposal, not meant to discourage any kind of learner. Projects can be pretty much anything that is legal. As creative and diverse as the class is, that is the span of the projects. Some students take a more practical route, some students take maybe more sort of creative route, some students travel. It’s really broad. I did WISE when I was in high school. I did an internship in a special education school, and continued my career here at Rondout.”

Discover The Arts

Wednesday, March 22

4 ~ 6 p.m.

Muroff Kotler Gallery ~ VAN 265

Snow date March 23

Learn about SUNY Ulster’s Arts Programs, preview Student Work, and sign up for an optional Portfolio Review. Registration is recommended.

“The student will write about their day. It’s a daily journal,” Lutz said. “They will take it to their mentor once a week. The mentor will read it. The mentor will write comments. The next night, writing their journal entry, they will write, ‘I met with Mr. Sullivan and he said I should do this, that what I’m doing now needs to be changed,’ something to that effect. So, the journal includes not only specific information, but also reflective information, thinking back to how were the kids thinking at the time they were doing daily journals. At the end of the semester, they make a public presentation to which three members of the task force are in-

Hertz said, “The student task force meets once a month. Student coordinators help with organization and record keeping, and going into 11th grade social studies classrooms to talk about the program. They also set up the meeting room in a cozy way with the intention to foster interaction and collaboration.”

A sample of current WISE projects includes: the study of debt, the study of hair dressing for senior citizens, biology research, the study of makeup, attempting to make a viral video, how to promote a personal business, the study of passion, preparing for college, and the study of fashion.

Hertz said, “Participating students come in (to the WISE meeting room) and sometimes they are quiet and sometimes they chit-chat. It’s a great space, you all should really go see it sometime.”