The art, theater and band rooms need a little attention at Carroll County High School, so a group of girls in the Project-Based Learning (PBL) program decided to tackle the job.
Hailey Kurtz, Robin Dillard, Summer Perry and Arleth Malo teamed up for this project. The girls began by taking down shelving in the art room. Their goal is to install an island for the sculpting class to use and create more room near the back of the art class, which is currently pretty crowded.
Project Based Learning (PBL) is a concept in which students identify a need or problem, collaborate on how to solve the problem and present their findings. It is a long-term project that is led by the students, but they will be supervised by their teachers Kevin States and Joseph Creager and assisted by Jeff Fremin, the district’s new school community liaison.
The original plans this group drafted did not come to fruition, but they learned redesigning and rethinking ideas are part of the real-life process. Ultimately, they settled on renovating the arts spaces. They will make a presentation to administrators and await final approval of their project.
In the band room, they would like to repurpose the room used for the Guard. The Guard are members of the marching band who visually enhance the performance with flags or other auxiliary items. Robin is a member of the Guard and said their space “is like a little closet.” It doubles as storage for concessions as well.
The theater department, which is housed on one side of the stage between the gymnasium and cafeteria, needs organization and removal. This department is undergoing some change this year with new advisors.
“We’d like to try to do all these at one time,” Robin said. They would like to collaborate with the carpentry class at the Carroll County Area Technology Center to build the island for the art room.
The PBL group includes approximately 60 seniors who will be divided into groups during their math and English classes. Their projects will incorporate skills learned in those two classes, such as writing a proposal for a project or measuring for supplies. Each quarter they will select a new plan.
The PBL students work on their projects every Friday. Eventually, they may incorporate work days into the remainder of the week. This year’s projects will begin on campus, but the goal is to move their efforts into the community.
“This is just another example of how our leaders are thinking about how to educate the whole child by allowing them to have time to show their talents while teaching the content and how to connect with their school and community,” said Carroll County Schools Superintendent Casey Jaynes.