We Are CREW (EL School informational video - QuickTime)
High School Program
The Reuther Central High School program has adopted Expeditionary Learning as a primary instructional method for our school. Expeditionary Learning is a New American Schools design that is based upon Outward Bound, an adventure and service-based education program founded by Kurt Hahn. In these schools students learn to take responsibility to achieve their personal best. Expeditionary Learning is built around ten design principles that grow out of the work of Hahn and other educational leaders These principles and five core practices guide the teaching and learning in our school, and are listed below:
The design principles express the philosophy of education and core values of Expeditionary Learning. Drawn from the work of Outward Bound's founder Kurt Hahn, and other educational leaders, they shape school culture and provide a foundation for the moral purpose of schools.
1. THE PRIMACY OF SELF-DISCOVERY
Learning happens best with emotion, challenge and the requisite support. People discover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the unexpected. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students undertake tasks that require perseverance, fitness, craftsmanship, imagination, self-discipline, and significant achievement. A teacher's primary task is to help students overcome their fears and discover they can do more than they think they can.
2. THE HAVING OF WONDERFUL IDEAS
Teaching in Expeditionary Learning schools fosters curiosity about the world by creating learning situations that provide something important to think about, time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed.
3. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING
Learning is both a personal process of discovery and a social activity. Everyone learns both individually and as part of a group. Every aspect of an Expeditionary Learning school encourages both children and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.
4. EMPATHY AND CARING
Learning is fostered best in communities where students' and teachers' ideas are respected and where there is mutual trust. Learning groups are small in Expeditionary Learning schools, with a caring adult looking after the progress and acting as an advocate for each child. Older students mentor younger ones, and students feel physically and emotionally safe.
5. SUCCESS AND FAILURE
All students need to be successful if they are to build the confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important for students to learn from their failures, to persevere when things are hard, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.
6. COLLABORATION AND COMPETITION
Individual development and group development are integrated so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.
7. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Both diversity and inclusion increase the richness of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and respect for others. In Expeditionary Learning schools, students investigate and value their different histories and talents as well as those of other communities and cultures. Schools and learning groups are heterogeneous.
8. THE NATURAL WORLD
A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.
9. SOLITUDE AND REFLECTION
Students and teachers need time alone to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections, and create their own ideas. They also need time to exchange their reflections with other students and with adults.
10. SERVICE AND COMPASSION
We are crew, not passengers. Students and teachers are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others, and one of an Expeditionary Learning school's primary functions is to prepare students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service.
For more details about the 10 design principles of EL Schools elschools.org
“Expeditionary Learning's Core Practice Benchmarks provide the perfect structure and help to define Lighthouse's shared practices and pedagogy.”
- Stephen Sexton, Lighthouse Community Charter School Oakland, CA
The Core Practice Benchmarks describe Expeditionary Learning in practice: what teachers, students, school leaders, families, and other partners do in fully implemented Expeditionary Learning schools. The five core practices--learning expeditions, active pedagogy, school culture and character, leadership and school improvement, and structures--work in concert and support one another to promote high achievement through active learning, character growth, and teamwork.
The Core Practice Benchmarks serve several purposes. They provide a comprehensive overview of the Expeditionary Learning practices, a planning guide for school leaders and teachers, a framework for designing professional development, and a tool for evaluating implementation.
Each of the five core practices is comprised of a series of benchmarks. Each benchmark describes a particular area of practice and is organized by lettered components and numbered descriptors.
For more details about the Core Practice Benchmarks of EL Schools elschools.org
At the heart of our design is the learning expedition. Learning expeditions are purposeful, extensive studies of a single topic. They revolve around challenging projects, fieldwork, adventure, service, and culminate in exhibits, performances, or publications. Teachers design their own learning expeditions that align with district and state standards. Harnessing the power of adventure and discovery, expeditions lead students to become more motivated in their academic work and develop perseverance and self-discipline. These investigations inspire and compel students to learn reading, writing, mathematics, and other skills and content they need to produce high quality, original work. They help students excel on the standardized test by which student and school performance are regularly measured.Reuther Central High School offers students the opportunity to earn their high school credits at an accelerated rate, and within a schedule that allows for more flexibility. All of our students are required to meet the same academic standards as the other high school student in our district, and are expected to fully participate in the programs in which they are enrolled.
Contact Person: Andy Baumgart at 653-5911 (please leave a message)