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The ASK Academy celebrates two major accomplishments this year: The graduation of its first class and the addition of grades seven and eight.
The brainchild of former Rio Rancho Public Schools teachers Paul Stephenson and Dan Barbour, the charter school focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM). The school’s unique approach focuses on project-based learning designed to mimic a workplace environment where employees are given a task, asked to define the project’s framework by identifying a problem and tasked with designing a solution.
Students are encouraged to work in teams and make presentations to their peers. And classroom atmospheres tolerate errors and change as key components to the learning experience.
Instructors are called “project managers,” and students are called “scholars.”
At first, scholars are exposed to a wide variety of programs that eventually encourages them to focus on career pathways of engineering and design or biomedical sciences. In their freshman year, scholars select a career path that matches their test scores and interests. Then, the remainder of their classes focus on that career pathway. Scholars wear color-coded shirts that give their schoolmates instant recognition of their pathway emphasis.
The academic setting may not be for all students, but for those who find traditional schools a bit boring and unchallenging, it may be the way to go. When the school opened with ninth- and 10th-grade students in 2010, some of the students had been problem students at public schools. The demanding curriculum and need to work in teams either brought new life to the students or they were weeded out of the school.
Now, that first sophomore class is the senior class producing high academic success that has empowered them to seek further education or become productive workers.
Juniors Jacob Lutz and Samantha Kellogg-Howell have accepted plum paid internships at Sandia National Laboratory, a select program offered to the brightest students who get to work with accomplished scientists at the lab. They will get $2,000 each for the opportunity that will surely pad their résumés as they head to college the following year.
Adding the seventh and eighth grades will complete the original charter goal. Leaders are contemplating revising the original charter to add the sixth grade to make it compatible with Rio Rancho schools.
The academy is also looking at purchasing additional classroom and gym space to accommodate more students while ensuring all the students engage in physical activity on a regular basis.
Founders Barbour and Stephenson have obviously developed a successful model that they hope someday will expand to state and national areas. The academy should be proud of what it has accomplished in four short years and should be congratulated for spreading its wings — just as it encourages its scholars to do.
The ASK Academy celebrates two major accomplishments this year: The graduation of its first class and the addition of grades seven and eight.
The brainchild of former Rio Rancho Public Schools teachers Paul Stephenson and Dan Barbour, the charter school focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM). The school’s unique approach focuses on project-based learning designed to mimic a workplace environment where employees are given a task, asked to define the project’s framework by identifying a problem and tasked with designing a solution.
Students are encouraged to work in teams and make presentations to their peers. And classroom atmospheres tolerate errors and change as key components to the learning experience.
Instructors are called “project managers,” and students are called “scholars.”
At first, scholars are exposed to a wide variety of programs that eventually encourages them to focus on career pathways of engineering and design or biomedical sciences. In their freshman year, scholars select a career path that matches their test scores and interests. Then, the remainder of their classes focus on that career pathway. Scholars wear color-coded shirts that give their schoolmates instant recognition of their pathway emphasis.
The academic setting may not be for all students, but for those who find traditional schools a bit boring and unchallenging, it may be the way to go. When the school opened with ninth- and 10th-grade students in 2010, some of the students had been problem students at public schools. The demanding curriculum and need to work in teams either brought new life to the students or they were weeded out of the school.
Now, that first sophomore class is the senior class producing high academic success that has empowered them to seek further education or become productive workers.
Juniors Jacob Lutz and Samantha Kellogg-Howell have accepted plum paid internships at Sandia National Laboratory, a select program offered to the brightest students who get to work with accomplished scientists at the lab. They will get $2,000 each for the opportunity that will surely pad their résumés as they head to college the following year.
Adding the seventh and eighth grades will complete the original charter goal. Leaders are contemplating revising the original charter to add the sixth grade to make it compatible with Rio Rancho schools.
The academy is also looking at purchasing additional classroom and gym space to accommodate more students while ensuring all the students engage in physical activity on a regular basis.
Founders Barbour and Stephenson have obviously developed a successful model that they hope someday will expand to state and national areas. The academy should be proud of what it has accomplished in four short years and should be congratulated for spreading its wings — just as it encourages its scholars to do.
