Teaching children for the 21st century

CINCINNATI - On the football field at Winton Woods High School, the marching band practices. The familiar sounds of high school burst through the air.

Inside the school, in a modular unit, some not so familiar sounds echo through the hallways. Teacher Boris Wang teaches Mandarin Chinese in the new Academy of Global Studies - a school within Winton Woods High School.

The institution launched with 97 children in the freshman class. 

"The goal of the Academy is to help students learn in a 21st century environment,"  Dr. Terri Holden, the principal of both schools, said of the Academy's mission, "so we focus on those four 21st century skills that sometimes are spoken about in the media: communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. So those are are our goals. To engage kids focusing on those areas and to provide a globally focused curriculum that will position them when they leave high school to be in a good place in the world."

Wang came here from China one month ago to lead five classes per day in Mandarin Chinese I and II.  In addition to learning Chinese, the cultural exchange between Wang and his students is also a huge part of the equation for creating a 21st century global learning environment.

"There's been a whole slew of media attention about the fact that students aren't prepared," Dr. Holden said. "They're not prepared in math or science. They don't have appropriate language skills. They can't get along with people. They don't know how to collaborate. They're not creative. So this really address a lot of those issues because we are focusing on those 4 C's, I think that makes a difference."

On the surface the classes in the traditional Winton Woods High School and the Academy of Global Studies look the same. But they're not.

Dr. Holden says the Academy is one of a kind in the United States because of two special partnerships. One with the New Tech Network - a sophisticated technology infrastructure within the school and a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks , a Cincinnati-based firm - and the other with the Asia Society International Studies Schools Network , an institution that helps coach the Academy's teachers on how to think and teach for a global environment.

"That's key because it's hard sometimes for us to think that way because we get so ingrained in what we've been doing," said Dr. Holden.

Keria Cunningham is a freshman in the Academy. She works with her team on a project in her physical science class. Everyone in the class works on individual laptops. Soon all 97 students in the Academy will have laptops to work with in school thanks a $750,000 Ohio State Department of Education Race to the Top grant to be used over the next three years.

Principal Holden says the Race to the Top funds arrived this week. In addition to funding the laptops, the dollars will support the New Tech Network fee, Echo software, coaching and professional development for teachers and the principal.

If Dr. Holden had one additional wish, it would be for more space. 

"The building was built in the 70's, so it's not designed to educate students in the way that we want to educate them today," she said.

Like any principal, she'd love to have a new or renovated space with which to grow the Academy of Global Studies.

"If we have a waiting list next year for this program, that to me is a sign that we've done our job as we said we would," Dr. Holden said.