Meet Izzy!

Izzy just wrapped up her Fellowship year at the LINC High School, which stands for Learning In New Contexts. As a project-based school, the LINC offers students an education built around understanding and addressing problems they see in the world.

In this post, she brings her listeners through a day in the life of what working at a 12 Plus partner school looks. Check out her podcast episode below!

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From Izzy:

“That’s one of the things that I love about working at a school full time. There’s always an element of adaptability and surprise and strangeness… you just never know what you’re going to get. Makes life interesting!”

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listen to the rest here

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Say hi to Jelayna!

Whoops, you seem to have fallen into the hawk's nest! Don't worry, I'm the current Fellow at Hill Freedman World Academy and have the survival guide. While I consider myself an advocate and designer, the students claim that I'm the worst food critic around . I support students in achieving their post-secondary goals while making the process as enjoyable as possible through games, events, and celebrations!

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Say hi to Joe!

Joe is a Fellow at Camden High Campus where he and the rest of the team work with three high schools: Camden High School, Brimm Medical Arts, and Big Picture Learning Academy. Joe and the rest of the team are in Senior Seminar classes each day working with students as they navigate post-secondary planning. 

In his blog post, Joe shares about his experience as a Fellow and conversation he had with one of his advisees, Jose.

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Starting high school can be a scary time for students. You’re entering a new environment and meeting new people. There are so many expectations and just as many uncertainties. For some, it is an opportunity to start fresh and for many it is a time of learning about yourself. In a way, my Fellow’s experience mirrors some of these feelings. I wasn’t really sure what to expect this year and I was entering a new environment. I moved across the country for this opportunity wanting to learn to be an advisor and help students create post-secondary plans. As a Fellow at Camden High, I’ve learned so much more. I’ve learned the importance of community building in our work and the impact it can have.

Our students at Camden High Campus are incredible. They always brighten my day and inspire my work. Whether it be in the Plus Center or in their seminar classes, students are always eager to talk to us. One of the seniors who we see everyday is Jose. He is a senior at Camden High who moved to Camden when he was in the 8th grade. One of our regulars in the Plus Center, he is on his way to college after graduation. I asked Jose to sit down and talk about his time at Camden High.

“For me, it was a lot different than I expected,” Jose said when reflecting on his time in high school,  “I feel like my first three years I had to push myself more than this year because this year I’ve had more help, from people like 12 Plus.”

As he was reflecting on his experience in high school, I asked Jose what advice he would have for future students. 

“It’s important to build friendships with peers and trusting relationships with teachers in high school. You don’t have to push yourself to go talk to everybody, but find people who you trust and bring you happiness. My friends kept me happy and made me smile. Without friends high school wouldn’t have been the same.”

Working with Jose, you can see how much he values those relationships. He always checks in on his friends and makes sure they’re doing all the work they need to do, even if that means dragging them along. Even just walking from Camden High to the Plus Center, Jose is constantly interacting with and saying hello to people. I asked him about those interactions that he has with people all over the school.

“Even if you only interact with that person once, it can go a long way for a person ”

This last thought Jose shared really stuck with me. In a way it reflects a lot of the work I’m doing here with 12 Plus. It can be hard sometimes to see the full impact of our work. There are, of course, the numbers that show our impact... the FAFSAs we are able to complete or the pathways our students choose for themselves after high school. There are also, though, all the conversations we have with students. We often lend an ear for students to talk about their day to day problems. They might talk to us about their upcoming game or what they’re going to wear to prom. Every conversation is important and each interaction we have might just make high school a little bit easier for that student. There are so many moments of joy that they come to share and celebrate with us and in turn their joy is reflected on us.