St. Albans Messenger (VT)

March 22, 2013

Author: Jessie Forand; Messenger Staff Writer

ENOSBURG FALLS – Seniors at Enos-burg Falls High School are not only about halfway-through their final semester, they are digging deep to complete research projects that will benefit their own lives.

The Wise Individualized Senior Experience (WISE) program was created in the 1970s to combat the “senior year slump,” and has kept a few choice students busy at school and at home.

For about two months, they have kept a daily journal, worked with mentors from within the school community, and met others outside of EFHS.

EFHS Principal Dr. Edward Grossman explained that the WISE program is a student-driven study program. Some seniors take a WISE English language as a first-semester course and tackle a WISE project for the second semester for which they receive a full English credit. Others take traditional British Literature then a WISE project.

According to Grossman, one student moved her audience emotionally when she read her early journal entries about being a teen mom. Another has taken air flights and visited airports in the pursuit of her passion – aviation.

Another student is expressing her deep concern for her brother, who has had difficulty reading. She tutors and supports him in his efforts.

“The endeavors show the range of interests and the flexibility of the WISE program. It is a terrific option for EFHS to have for our school,” Grossman explained.

Olivia Bard, 17, focused her project around her desire to enter the Army after graduation. She works with EFHS’ Marion Nelson. Bard needed to lose weight and bump up her math skills in order to pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

To join the military, she had to lose about 100 pounds. So far she is 50 pounds lighter. She’s started exercising, too.

Bard said she is learning how difficult it can be to stay motivated and on track. Her project is about more than weight loss; it is a lifestyle change, she said.

But, she said, her confidence has significantly increased. She has begun to feel she can accomplish something great.

Courtney Abele, also 17, started her project with a focus on aviation. Her work since, though, has taken flight in another way – she is now searching for what she wants to do with her life.

\Abele is working with EFHS English teacher Jessica Settles and has flown with pilot Don Taylor through the Young Eagles aviation program. She has taken a flight to Texas, spoken with flight attendants and visited the cockpit for an inside look.

Having flown regularly since the age of five, becoming a pilot appeals to Abele. Her parents have lived in a variety of places, she said, including Indiana, Montana, and Virginia.

She has always had dreams about flying – not in a plane, but Peter Pan style.

Abele said she is learning a lot about herself. She is not well organized and finds it nerve-wracking to call people for her research. But now she is aware of these things and can work on them. She will continue to explore possible career options when she attends Johnson State College.

Settles said, “I am enjoying the fact that WISE allows for flexibility. Courtney is interested in flying but from this research she has considered other life options for herself. She is still working on interviews, research for both college and aviation. We are discussing her final project and what that will look like.”

Brianna May Houghton, 17 as well, is working with EFHS’ Jodi Luten to help her brother, who has a learning disability.

Realizing she would head to college next year, at the Community College of Vermont, Houghton thought the project would be a great opportunity to become closer with her 12-year-old brother, while helping him succeed.

The siblings do homework together. Houghton assigns her brother a book to read each week, and they do worksheets together during school breaks.

The project has taught her patience. She said it is taking a lot of that to work with her younger brother.

Though she is learning about working with children, she does not plan to continue down that path. Instead, she will study business.

Kiah Switser, 17, is using her project to reach out to others, sharing her own story and hearing from those who have been through a similar experience.

Switser’s daughter, Hanna, is about seven months old.

In addition to interviewing others about their own, Switser shares her story, sometimes in a formal setting, such as in front of a health class. She has noticed in her research that everyone’s story is different. Some young moms have support from friends and family, as she does, but others are not as lucky, she said.

She has also learned that many parents do not talk to their children about sex.

“I love my kid, but this isn’t easy,” she said, of being a young mother While school may serve as a break from the stress of parenting, Switser said she has a hard time focusing because her thoughts are with her daughter, who is either at home with her family or with a babysitter.

She is working on her project with mentor Kristen Castine, an EFHS guidance counselor.

Castine said, “I have had the pleasure of working with a student who has bravely taken her own life experiences and turned them into a learning experience for others.”

Switser said she has had to grow up faster than many of her peers and knows that her project will never truly be completed, as her daughter, Hanna, will continue to grow, develop, and need her mother.

“I just want her to be successful and not be doing stupid stuff,” she said of the baby. Switser said she plans to communicate with her child so that she does not become a young mother and stays in school.

Switser will attend the Community College of Vermont to study health information, hoping to eventually do medical coding work from home. She also would like to have another child or two – someday.

Copyright, 2013, St. Albans Messenger. All Rights Reserved.

Record Number: 297864a984b1db1ff0a5f4ca2fb4c7af