“LTIs
expand students’ minds to the endless possibilities
that education and interest can offer. LTIs raise the bar
on quality, setting a real world standard for work.”
–
Chris Hempel, founding Met advisor and current Met principal
The most important
element of the education at a Big Picture School is that students
learn in the real world. The main component of every student’s
education is the LTI (Learning Through Internship). In this minimum
10-12 hour, two-day-a-week internship with an expert mentor
in the field of the student’s interest, the students complete
authentic projects (projects at internship sites that benefit
the student and the mentor). These projects are the main
root to deepening learning and academic growth and investigation
in the curriculum. These authentic projects are connected to the
student’s interests and needs and are “real to”
or meet the needs of the mentors. Students have an LTI each year
they are in school, unless in 12th grade their senior thesis project
(the large, culminating independent real world project) encompasses
the LTI.
There are three primary reasons for connecting real world, adult
mentors to the schooling process:
“Being
a mentor has gotten me excited about my job again. The excitement
of my intern is contagious. Her interest makes me work harder.
She brings something to my office that would never happen
if she wasn’t there.”
–
Anne Rule, Big Picture School mentor
1. Students
learn how to be adults by being with adults.
Teenagers are on the brink of adulthood. The best way for them
to learn how to be an adult
is by being immersed in the
adult world. With mentoring, a young person steps into that adult
world on a regular basis, and interacts with a variety of adults.
Mentoring moves a young person beyond the familiarity of the adults
in his or her personal life and provides a broader range of role
models.
2. The
expertise is out in the real world.
Advisors know a great deal about human development and their own
specialties. But they can’t be expected to know about all
the interests that students may have. The expertise of a mentor
in music, engineering, banking, cooking, medicine, etc., is valuable
to both the student and his or her advisor. Mentors become living
examples of the careers students are contemplating.
3. The
guidance is invaluable.
The mentor-intern relationship is special for people of all ages.
The guidance and direction mentors give is personal, and based
on the intern’s own particular needs, talents, and interests.
There is a level of comfort in this kind of guidance that makes
it possible to learn through both accomplishments and mistakes.
For teenagers, it can be an especially important haven during
the tumultuousness of adolescence.
Essential
Elements of Learning in the Real World Include:
Mentors who are experts
in their respective fields
Authentic projects at
internships (as the main core of student work) which delve into
academic investigations
Mentor training
Mentor recognitions and
celebrations
School-based LTI Coordinator
Advisor meetings with mentor(s)
(at least once/month)
Experiential learning and
trips
Summer learning (the school
helps students find summer learning opportunities)
“I
knew that I wanted to be in the culinary profession
since I was 12 years old. I used to stay home all day
on Saturdays watching cooking shows on the Discovery
Channel. I knew at that age that culinary arts was a
passion of mine. Before coming to The Met, I attended
traditional high schools, in fact I attended three,
but they were not successful decisions. I could never
attend their cooking classes because they were always
full. I grew tired of knowing that I had a passion for
cooking, and not being able to pursue it really frustrated
me.”
–
from a Big Picture School student's senior speech
