Sparking Engagement and Building Confidence with Current Events
THE CHALLENGE
As part of their continuous improvement strategy, school leaders at Whitnall Middle School, a small suburban school outside of Milwaukee, routinely survey teachers and students to gauge engagement and satisfaction with the academic schedule. In a recent annual review, they noticed a trend in their results that indicated their scheduling model might not be meeting the needs of their students.
- Lack of student engagement during daily guided study period
- Providing an equitable schedule model for students who required intervention
- Lack of media literacy and dissatisfaction with video- based current events solutions
THE RESULTS
Chris Bily, a 7th-grade teacher at Whitnall Middle School, decided to talk with the school leadership team and recommended a replacement schedule model after seeing its success in his prior school district. The new model was implemented this school year with a class called “Flight” that students cycle through on a 6-week rotation.
- Broadened Student Knowledge: Over the 6-week course, students increased their understanding of what is happening in the world.
- Increased Student Engagement: Student attention, curiosity, interest and motivation increased as a result of using The Juice.
- Fostered Student Confidence Discussing Current Events: Students gained confidence discussing current events by making connections to the articles in The Juice and their lives.
