EAST lab: ‘Freedom to learn’

Projects give students relevance in their education

Earlene Ward - Yosemite High School

An Arkansas teacher’s vision of how to motivate 20 at-risk students at Greenbrier High School has grown into an educational initiative that serves over 20,000 students in 202 schools in seven states. Yosemite High School is one of those schools.

The EAST Initiative [Environmental and Spatial Technology] started in Arkansas in 1995 as a partnership involving government, education and corporations.

Yosemite High School was one of the first 10 schools in California to be awarded a grant to establish an EAST lab in 2001. Students installed the technology equipment during the summer of 2001 and the first students were enrolled for the 2001-02 school year.

There is a waiting list of students who want to enroll in the class.

Using the state-of-the-art technology equipment provided through the grant, students in EAST labs complete service-learning projects.

Some of the YHS students are currently working with the Chamber Foundation to design benches and garbage cans to be located in 31 locations along sidewalks in Oakhurst. The students will also prepare a presentation to be shown to clubs and organizations to seek donations for the project. According to Bob Brosi of the Chamber Foundation, they hope to start the presentations in March or April.

Students appreciate the opportunity to serve their community.

“It’s good for the community and it’s a good program to work and learn individually and go your own pace,” says first year EAST student Rebecca Manion, a sophomore at YHS. “You can make your own choices about how to help your community and country. It offers a lot of opportunities.”

 

Relevant education

Tim Stephenson, the retired law enforcement officer turned teacher who started the EAST Initiative, had the belief that students would want to learn if their education was relevant, challenging, purposeful and student-centered. He believes all students have value and they need to be able to demonstrate that value to their school and community. Mr. Stephenson also believes students need state-of-the-art real-world tools and they have to be able to work in a business-like setting.

The students should be able to drive their own projects and these projects should be oriented toward the world outside of school. Teachers should serve as resource guides, facilitators and managers to help the students direct their own learning.

From this philosophy, EAST was born and has thrived.

Mr. Stephenson visited the EAST lab at Yosemite High School last year and was impressed with what he saw. He said he could tell the staff at YHS had a strong vision that would make EAST work the first time he met them at a workshop in Fresno.

Larry Pesetski is the EAST coordinator and has been the lead facilitator since the beginning of the program. Bob Collins is also an EAST facilitator. The facilitators receive extensive training through the EAST program.

Just as in the work world, EAST projects don’t always turn out the way they were envisioned and students find that refreshing and challenging.

“One of the great things about the class is that you don’t have to get everything done perfectly,” says Cameron Lane, a sophomore in his second year in the EAST program. “My project last year failed. Last year I tried to refurbish computers but then I found out the cost of licenses was too high. Now I’ve figured out a way to use a free operating system; I will work on the project again next year.” Cameron says he enjoys the class because “you are free to learn what you want to learn.”

Students are allowed to select their own projects. Some work on a project individually while others work as a team.

 

Marquee project came first

One of the first major team projects for the EAST class was the digital marquee at the entrance to Yosemite High School. When Billy and Joyce Vukovich donated funds to the school for a memorial marquee for their son, YHS graduate Billy Vukovich, the EAST students were asked to design the memorial, solicit donations and plan the area where the marquee is located.

Students were successful in their efforts to get donations. The Raymond Granite Company donated granite for the memorial; Sierra Telephone was also a major donor to the project.

Currently, students are mapping the YHS campus, using the Global Positioning System [GPS], and they are also mapping Madera County for the county Sheriff’s Department.

Some of the EAST students attended a week-long training session in Sacramento to learn to use the GPS/GIS [Geographic Information Systems] equipment. Their project in Sacramento was to map restaurants and tourist sites and to show the best routes from the convention center to hotels, the subway station and other points of interest.

Another project the students are currently involved with is the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They are designing collection boxes, making a training video and a promotional video for a Fresno youth, Joshua Dunton, to use as he tries to raise $35,000 so 10 wishes can be granted. Joshua and his mother have visited the YHS lab several times to work with the students.

Other projects the students have worked on include the YHS Film Festival, the Merced River Watershed area, the YHS swimming pool project, the Greatest Generation and Web page design.

Students have produced promotional videos for a number of agencies, including YHS, the EAST Initiative, the California EAST program and the California Department of Education.

They are working with the Eastern Madera County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals this semester to create a Web site.

 

Self-motivation

Students see EAST as a way to learn employment skills. “I took the class to get skills in computer animation so I can go to college,” says Lawrence Mielke, a senior in his first year in EAST. “I’m getting work-based skills. I get to meet a lot of people in the community and help them out.”

Because the EAST Initiative emphasizes the need for students to work on their own, they must be self-motivated.

Joseph Williams, a junior at YHS who is in his first year of EAST, finds this to be true. “I think EAST lab is a great place to be if you’re tired of doing what everyone else is doing and want to go off on your own and do what you want. If you are the type who has to be pushed to get things done, you’re in the wrong place,” he says.

Steve Raupp, principal of Yosemite High School, has been supportive of, and involved with, the EAST program since its inception. “EAST is clearly one of the most exciting things we have seen in education. It provides students with the opportunity to engage in learning experiences in a real life context, in collaboration with community members, and using state of the art technology. Students work with cutting-edge technology that most students don’t have the opportunity to experience. More importantly, students get the opportunity to collaborate with adults on real-life projects that helps them to acquire skills that will be extremely valuable to them as they go on to further education and the world of work.”

 

School committed to EAST

The grant that has funded the program has been expended, but the school is committed to continuing the program.

According to Mr. Raupp, “We have seen the tremendous opportunity that the EAST program provides to students and are committed to continuing the program even though the grant has run out. We will continue working on developing business and community partnerships that will help us to support the program, both in terms of the financial costs of upgrading the technology, but also in striving to make the real life connections that provide enriching educational experiences.”

Mr. Pesetski is also firmly convinced of the value of the EAST program. “In 32 years of education, I have never seen a program as powerful as the EAST program. It is designed to enable students to be in charge of their own education. Student-centered curriculum allows ownership by the students. The community service aspect of EAST forces students to acquire all the skills outlined in the SCANS report of necessary skills for the 21st century.” (SCANS is the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. It is a report prepared by the commission appointed by the Secretary of Labor to determine the skills young people need to succeed in the world of work.)

The EAST Initiative is currently in schools in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi. The main headquarters are located in Little Rock, Arkansas; a training center has been opened in Sacramento.

EAST hosts a conference each year for all of the participating schools. In the past, YHS students and staff have traveled to Little Rock to attend; this year there was a Western Region conference in Sacramento in early March.

In 2002, YHS student Adam Hartesveldt won the EAST logo contest. His work was displayed on everything at the conference in Little Rock, including T-shirts.

This year’s slogan for EAST is, “The EAST Vision ... Catch It Share It.”

YHS was fortunate enough to be one of the first schools in California to catch the vision and now, thanks to the students in the class, they are sharing the vision throughout the county and beyond.

Information about EAST: Larry Pesetski, 683-8801 extension 343.