Have you ever thought it would be cool if there was a class that would let you create your own curriculum, learning space and design an entire course yourself however you wanted based on something you are passionate about? Well, Mrs. Stacy Prime did with the Northwood Peak Pathways Program, which started in the 2023-2024 school year and is now in its second year running.
The Inspiration for the Program
Ms. Prime shared that the program started by “building off some of the success that the school had in the independent study program that was here previously, and the Advanced STEM research and Advanced Humanities research classes where there was definitely already some energy and opportunity. And, personally, in my career as an educator, interest projects in independent studies and passion projects have always been core to the education that I want to instill and bring to students.”
Ms. Stacy Prime, Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Innovation Hub, is leading the new Peak Pathways program. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.
Highlights from last year
In discussing the success of Peak Pathways, Ms. Prime had a lot to say. “Some things I would highlight are that lots of students who had never, actually most students had never done anything like that before got involved. I think 99% of the kids we polled had never had the opportunity to design their own learning experience. So I think right there is a huge value add for students to be able to do that while they’re still in high school and not wait as that’s usually reserved for college programs. Another highlight was that we had nearly 100 kids doing independent study-type work for likely the first time in the school’s history. And that just felt like a great opportunity to learn. I think we, the faculty, also learned a lot, and it was very cool for kids to earn certifications, to be able to speak about their experience in their college interviews, and to be able to make meaningful work products that they then shared with the community.”
Program changes in year two
At the end of the school year, Ms. Prime and other school administrators used feedback to refine and improve the program. Ms. Prime said, “We had a lot of data points and feedback last year about ways to improve the program. We definitely learned a lot, and something that came up was that some students felt like they could benefit from more structure and more support, like increased expectations and also increased support. So, over the summer, one of my passion projects was putting together the curriculum into a workbook that could be entirely student-directed so that they could work at their own pace and have resources in one central location. And I think that’s grounded the experience in a really beautiful way. We also recognized that the buckets for the pathways weren’t as useful as students’ individual project ideas. So, we are matching students with guides later this time, recognizing that students change their minds a lot as they figure out what they want to do. We’re also requiring more real-world connections and experts to be involved because some of the most successful projects last year included a lot of real-world connections. We will do a much more robust second quarter focus on real-world connections.”
Student projects
In the first semester, 40-50 students are enrolled in the Peak Pathway program, pursuing many different interests, such as creating interior design portfolios, learning new languages, making wooden guide boats, and earning certifications. Stay tuned for future articles highlighting individuals’ programs and progress.
