dancers at Anne ArundelTHE PATHFINDER

August, 2014

                           NEWSLETTER OF THE PATHWAYS SCHOOLS/CROSSWOOD, INC.
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On  July 31, Pathways staff and friends gathered at Springville to mark the achievement of Raymond Alexander who completed all his academic credits and service learning hours during the ESY program.
He is now a proud Pathways graduate and recipient of a  high school diploma.  The ceremony was very meaningful for Raymond and  his supporters.  He said, "Many people told me I would never make anything of myself and I'm here today to prove them wrong."  Here he is pictured with his Pathways principal, Mr. Newton Lennon, and
Dr. Tania DuBeau.
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Graduations are over and the last day of school is past, but for students in Pathways' Extended School Year (ESY) program, the learning hasn't stopped.  We have ESY at three sites, serving students from all six Pathways schools.  ESY is one more way that Pathways meets the individual needs of students, offering an option  to continue working on academic goals and social skills.  The concept of credit recovery has been integral to Pathways educational programs since we first opened our doors and began enabling students to overcome challenges and earn the academic credits they  needed to obtain state diplomas.  Last year we expanded our credit recovery options into ESY, with the result that this summer we have a proud graduate who has finished his academic credits and service learning hours and is being awarded a high school diploma.

Learning at Pathways takes place in a variety of environments and uses creativity to engage students.  ESY is no exception.  Our teachers (and students) adapt with good humor and grace to the circumstances of the moment and can turn any situation into an opportunity for discovery.  Read below, from one of our ESY teachers.


 
IKEA Adventures
 
I was excited to walk into Springville for the start of our second week of ESY. We were getting to know our students, and we had a great team and things had been running smoothly so far. I didn't realize that we were up for our biggest team building adventure yet. It was 86 degrees and humid at 7:45 in the morning when we were informed our building's air conditioning was broken. Not that we needed to be informed since the air was already hot, muggy, and oppressive. Mr. Dobson set up fans and contemplated our next plan. Ms. Baxley suggested the IKEA food court. Great! They have tables for us to work at, a 99cent breakfast and most importantly Air Conditioning! Once we were settled at IKEA, Ms. Laramie came up with the idea for a scavenger hunt around the store.  I got to work on creating the hunt and making up teams. After lunch with the help of photo cell phones, Mr. Carchedi, and Mr. Piper, our teams were off. The students had to find 12 different items ranging from "something glass" to "a children's toy", write down their prices, and keep the whole list under $25. The second task had the teams posing in all sorts of different scenarios around the store. Have the team sit at a table and pretend to be eating a meal, sit on a couch and make faces like you're watching a scary movie, act like you're changing a lightbulb or washing dishes. The winning team was rewarded with slurpees, which was fitting since we had to go back to Springville for bus dismissal. The students had a fantastic time and learned all about budgeting and how to affordably furnish a home, and staff got the opportunity to showcase their creativity. Overall a great day!

Jessica Port