"I Highly encourage everyone to take advantage of these [Flexible Learning] opportunities and if they have any interest in a profession to shadow someone in that field to see what it's really like before they go to college or enter into that career."
"[It was through my Flexible Pathways that] I learned all of my valuable life skills." "Every single high school student on the planet has something that really does interest them. They have passions. They have things that they like to learn about." "I really, really fell in love with learning [through my Flexible Pathways experience] in a very different way than [traditional] school had taught me. It's been really cool. It's been something I'll treasure forever."
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Guest reflections by Bella Estes: Last semester, I had the opportunity to shadow nurses in the Family Birth Center, Pediatrics, and the OBGYN offices at Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans. I was able to accompany the nurses into patients’ rooms and see firsthand everything that a nurse in their field encountered. I got to ask the nurses personal questions and received great advice to apply to my own future. My goals were to see if nursing is what I want to do as a career; if it’s something I can physically and mentally handle.
The knowledge I gathered from this experience is helping me plan for college and my life after college. I’ve read books and watched shows about nurses and working with women and children’s health, but Seeing the real world and real scenarios gave me deeper insight on what the nurses actually do and their relationship with doctors, patients, coworkers, and other hospital staff. I am excited to take everything I experienced and use it for my future. I've Learned so much from following the labor and delivery nurses, pediatric nurses and OBGYN nurses. I've learned so many new things that I am passionate about, like the placenta and how fascinating it really is and all its purposes. I've gotten to see a cesarean section in person. I've gotten to hold and care for babies born with drug-addiction, I’ve seen circumcisions, pap smears, IUD insertions, ultrasounds, heart beats, strep tests, glucose shots, and so much more. I will now use everything I’ve seen and learned and put it towards my future. I know now that I want to work specifically in women’s and children's health . I've helped to teach our school’s Sex Education unit in Freshmen Health class, and I've presented for our school’s annual Diversity/Unity Day presentations on Women's Health and Sexual Knowledge. One thing that challenged me throughout my experience was the fact that I had to commit to get up early every Monday and Tuesday morning and drive 45 minutes to the hospital. That was hard because sometimes I had so much school work and I was exhausted from the night before from homework. It was also hard to be quiet in the patients’ rooms and just observe because I wanted so badly to participate and interact with the patients. Overall, this experience was phenomenal. I've learned what I’m passionate about. I have met new people. I have matured greatly from being exposed to talking with adults and doctors. I've gained experience in communication and how to present myself professionally. I Highly encourage everyone to take advantage of these opportunities and if they have any interest in a profession to shadow someone in that field to see what it's really like before they go to college or enter into that career.
BFA Fairfax students joined students from Richford, MVU, BFA St. Albans, Enosburg, and Milton high schools to tour the Vermont Air National Guard base on Thursday for the first ever Franklin County Military Tour. The tour was organized and arranged through the Franklin/Grand Isle Workforce Investment Board Work-Based Learning Hub.
Students and staff at BFA Fairfax have created a Youth and Adult Partnership team with the help of UP for Learning's YATST program (Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together) to ensure student voice in the great changes that we are in the midst of throughout schools across Vermont. This past Fall, the BFA Fairfax YATST Team joined the LUHS YATST team for Design Day, which was filled with collaboration between both schools to support their teams in making progress and moving forward with their goals. Students and staff are focusing their efforts on Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements (PBGRs) and their enactment in our learners' classrooms. UP for Learning supports educational institutions across the country in fully engaging students in their own learning through a research-based model that focuses on deepening youth-adult partnerships in schools. On the cutting edge of the national movement toward student-centered education, UP for Learning provides expert coaching, facilitation and training to youth-adult teams. It offers strategies and tools for building a school community in which learning is engaging for everyone and youth are fully empowered. Based in Vermont, UP for Learning also conducts policy advocacy to elevate student voice in learning and decision-making on a state level and supports schools in fully embracing student voice and youth-adult partnership as central to their school culture.
Our Do Not Listen to This Podcast project launched their second title this week: The BitConspirators.
Do Not Listen to this Podcast was born out of three angsty teens’ and an educator’s frustration with our culture’s habit of closing ourselves into our social and cultural bubbles, and blocking off new thoughts, ideas, and perspectives other than our own. We realized that it is still possible to have rational, compassionate conversations with people whose perspectives may differ from each other’s, and that it is actually okay to learn and grow from each other’s stories and opinions. The BitConspirators is the new iteration of the podcast this year, with a new slant: The BitConspirators are specifically focused on all things technological. We'll be talking about hardware, software, firmware, systems, and the integration of tech and culture. In our first episode, we focus on motherboards and their significance, BIOS and how to troubleshoot it, and answer mailbox questions from the audience. We would love for you to join the conversation. Be sure to leave us your feedback, questions or thoughts to be addressed in future episodes through the contact page on our website! |