Building a PBL Program Going Into Year 3

As we neared the close of the 2015-16 school year, for whatever reason, the Arete PBL program had 66 kids committed for next year and many of our 9th graders were beside themselves that there wouldn't be 4 sections of each core area.  Many accepted the fate that we would have to cut two classes worth of students to fit the prospective class sizes. A few students took it upon themselves to make sure there would be enough students to continue the program as it was this year.  They examined the 9th grade class list, identified students they had gone to school with for the last 10 years and then organized the list of possible students by friend group and specifically talked with each student about joining.

The position of the PBL students is that anyone who is not doing PBL is missing out on a great experience..  Our current students organized meetings with their classmates to inform them about the benefits of PBL and how it will change their lives.

Many people, whether they are students or not, have difficulty presenting to their peers, not to mention asking them tough questions about their goals in their academic career and what they hope to get out of school.  As impressive as our students were in assembling the groups to meet with and composing their sales pitch, some of their target group members were equally as impressive asking great questions. Another interesting aspect of the whole arrangement is that they kids who asked the best questions were the ones who decided to join us.

Thanks to the hard work of a few students, the Arete PBL Academy at Neenah High School will have four sections of each core content area for next year!