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by Vic Leviatin

The National Commission on the Senior Year in High School issues its final report and recommends that high schools: "PROVIDE MORE (AND MORE RIGOROUS) ALTERNATIVES: The Commission calls for moving away from a system in which the senior year is just more of the same to one in which the senior year provides time to explore options and prove knowledge and skills.

Ideally, every senior should complete a capstone project, perform an internship, complete a research project, participate in community service, or take college-level courses. This change, like the others, will be extraordinarily demanding, requiring educators and policymakers to raise their sights beyond the traditional and the familiar and toward new alternatives for soon-to-be graduates.

The Commission also cited WISE as an exemplary alternative program:

"Students design and carry out their own senior projects in their field of interest through this national program. Most of the school day during the second semester is freed up for experiential learning projects that give students a trial run at career-oriented or college preparatory experiences.

In exchange for academic credit, students must keep a daily journal detailing experiences, readings, interviews, research, and reflection, meet weekly with a mentor, do research, and make a final presentation, which is evaluated by fellow students, teachers, and community members."

Steven Brown (WISE '73) and Eric Rothschild, WISE Directors; Ernest Piermarini, retired Lakeland School District Assistant Superintendent, Lakeland, NY; Francine Hertz, WISE and School-to-Work Coordinator at Rondout Valley, Rondout, NY, will represent WISE at a two hour session entitled "Reinventing High School" hosted by Learning Leaders and moderated by Leon Botstein, President of Bard College.