As in WISE Projects, WISE Programs                                                                           We all know the things that make WISE projects successful: a glorious combination of daring, passion,”stick-to-it-ness”, flexibility, collaboration, independence, commitment, introspection and resilience. Daring to try something new, daring to fail and willingness to pick one-self up and keep going afterwards; passion for a subject, a job, a cause; stick-to-it-ness when the going gets rough or the routine begins to wear; flexibility to change direction when that is necessary; commitment to seeing something through even though it may change as you do so; introspection that allows you to see what is going right and keep it going AND what is going wrong and change it; and resilience as you wend your way from beginning to end and run afoul of  the inevitable bumps, or even chasms, in the road that you encounter during your journey.

These are exactly the same things that make WISE programs successful, the identical characteristics displayed by successful schools (by coordinators, teachers and mentors, supportive community members and on-site supervisors and, of course, WISE students).

Rondout Valley Focuses on Essentials to Pave the Way in WISE

It’s worth paying attention to the things that successful WISE schools do to keep their programs not only thriving but on the cutting edge of WISE enterprises. One such school, Rondout Valley, takes time to examine and review all aspects of its program and highlight those aspects that make it successful. In a recent (the evening of April 21, 2016)­­ meeting of its task force, Rondout Valley conducted a  Project Assessment Workshop. With WISE Coordinator Franny Hertz, WISE Student Coordinator Danielle DuBord and community members, staff and students in attendance, the workshop focused on the essentials of project assessment.

The Essentials of Project Assessment                                      

These  strategic items were clearly delineated:

• Reading the entire journal
• Taking notes
• Noticing the mentor relationship
• Becoming aware of time management
• Checking for research and interviews
• Assessing strategic traits of resilience, collaboration, growth and initiatives taken by the student
• Identifying annotations in the bibliography

Process, not Presentation                                                                                               Also underscored, the idea that the presentation is a gift from the student to the evaluators and audience BUT NOT the entire focus of the semester’s work. What is crucial is the process: where students were in February and how they adjusted as they pursued their passions and faced both the elations and the inevitable disappointments encountered over the long haul.

Now that seniors are into the homestretch, for the most part, on their projects, this is the time to remember what the important parts of WISE truly are.