The ScholarShift Experience

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THE SCHOLARSHIFT EXPERIENCE

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SCHOLARSHIFT e xp e r ie nc e Shifting Traditional Learning At Shattuck-St. Mary’s, we are committed to embracing innovation. We firmly believe in transitioning the high school educational experience to one that better prioritizes the development of initiative, independence, innovation, and intellectual curiosity in today’s students.

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ur academic leaders have spent many years researching, conversing with curriculum experts around the country, and working with our students to develop a program that shifts towards a more modern learning model.

Our program, called ScholarShift®, is a series of educational experiences that includes passion exploration, diverse learning modules, and a year-long selfdesigned educational project.

10th Grade weCreate® Projects The program begins in 10th grade where students work on projects designed to introduce them to a variety of tools in our innovation lab, the weCreate Center. The weCreate Center was built to encourage creative thinking and inspire the pursuit of individual interests and passions. For many students, exploring various technology and resources in weCreate helps them gain unique hands-on experience at a young age and develop new skills while being introduced to the concept of self-managing a multi-step project. This year students are working in graphic design with Photoshop, textile design, video creation with iMovie or Final Cut Pro, laser printing with the Glowforge printer, and mosaic installation.

11th Grade ScholarShift Modules The sophomores’ work leads into the Junior ScholarShift program, where juniors continue to explore new skills and interests through a diverse set of learning modules that range from Shakespearean theatre performances and personal finance basics to maple syruping and snowshoeing.

These opportunities help students prepare for selecting a Senior Initiative, the culminating ScholarShift experience for our students.

12th Grade Senior Initiatives This year marks the third year our seniors (and a select group of juniors) are taking

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on a year-long project of their own design.

In these Senior and Junior Initiatives, students are starting businesses, writing children’s books and research essays, recording albums, learning new musical instruments, coaching and teaching in the Faribault community, shadowing and studying career fields, designing clothing lines, completing capstone research projects in Honors, BioScience, Engineering, and The Major Centers of Excellence, and learning in many other ways outside of the traditional classroom.

Students document their progress and show how they have met monthly benchmarks in portfolios they maintain in Google Sites. Through this work, our students develop personal responsibility and accountability, collaborate with others, and explore areas of passion, talent, and interest. And they keep learning, often in very different ways than they are used to!

Blended Learning For juniors and seniors, most academic classes are offered in a blended class model which mirrors many college courses that meet in the classroom only a few days a week. This model opens up the weekly schedule so that students can engage in the learning opportunities ScholarShift provides alongside their traditional, classroom-based academic program. It also requires students to hone their time management skills and prepares them for the college model in which each day is not predetermined hour by hour and seeking extra help from professors requires planning and initiative.

We are proud to share examples of how our students are using these opportunities to explore interests, support their community, experience Minnesota, and develop their creativity.

Students have participated in 88 ScholarShift modules so far this year, experiencing hands-on learning in a wide range of activities, including sushi making, snowshoeing, and flower farming.

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THE SCHOLARSHIFT EXPERIENCE

JAKOB STONE ’20 Anchorage, Alaska

Jakob Stone ’20 has many passions. He’s a member of the Boys Soccer Center of Excellence and he started an Outdoors Club this year. He also loves to fly.

Beginning in his junior year, he studied for the written test on the ground, while logging hours flying with an instructor, both in Faribault and back home in Alaska.

When he returned for his senior year in September, Jakob flew his first solo flight, completing three takeoffs and three landings while his instructor watched from the taxiway. Since then, he has continued to accomplish flying goals, such as flying at night, flying in different weathers, and completing cross-country flights. On February 14th, he passed his check ride and officially became a private pilot!

What sparked your interest in aviation?

I became interested in flying at a very young age. Growing up in Alaska and living just a few minutes from the largest seaplane base in the world, I was always looking up into the sky at the planes flying around. It is from moments like these that I first became bitten by the aviation bug.

How does your project fit in with the rest of your life as a student at SSM?

My project has taken up a lot of my time. Not just because of how many hours I have to fly to earn my license, but because of how obsessed I am with aviation. Apart from my time studying for flight tests and written exams, I am usually watching videos about flying and about the different careers in aviation.

What has been your favorite part of your project?

My favorite part of my project has been flying alone. Although I was terrified my first time flying without my instructor, it was such a cool experience, one that I don’t think I will ever forget.

Jakob performs preflight checks on a 1976 Piper PA-28 Warrior airplane at the Faribault Municipal Airport where he completes his flight training.

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What has been the most challenging part for you?

The most challenging part of my project has been trying to find a consistent flying schedule. With the weather, school, and soccer, it has been difficult juggling everything and finding time to make it all work.

How do you plan to take what you’ve learned beyond SSM?

After graduation, I plan to attend the United States Air Force Academy where my goal is to one day become a fighter pilot in the Air Force. My project of earning my private pilot’s license will help in so many ways. Not only will it help me in becoming a pilot in the Air Force, but in life with the perseverance I’ve had to have and the dedication it takes to accomplish such a task.

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RAY LIU ’21 Beijing, China

In today’s society, we are constantly pushing the limits of technology to the next level. In digital photography in particular, taking photos has never been easier or more accessible, but SSM student XiaoRui (Ray) Liu ’21 is using technology to reverse engineer the world of photography. With the resources provided in WeCreate, Ray has used a 3D printer to design and build a large-format film camera using the film techniques first developed almost 200 years ago. Ray’s interest and skill in photography has not gone unnoticed. The SSM Marketing and Communications office appreciates Ray’s skill and availability as a “staff photographer” covering events and shooting assignments for the Whipple Weekly community e-newsletter.

How did you become interested in photography?

My dad bought a camera probably 10 years ago and I got interested in taking photos with it. But starting around 2018, I saw someone who took great photos with exactly the same camera and I felt that maybe I should utilize the camera better.

When I got to SSM, it seemed like ScholarShift would be a good fit.

What made you decide to take it to the next step with ScholarShift?

I took a class from Ms. Vagle in weCreate and realized it was really fun. I was able to photograph with a medium format camera and learn to develop film and make prints. We were able to get a new 3D printer that allowed me to basically make the large format camera body and put it together by hand.

What have you found to be the most challenging?

Working with film is really tricky. There are many opportunities to make mistakes and have errors such as focus and exposure.

Building the camera from scratch was also a challenge, but through some experimenting, has been successful.

How do you plan to take what you’ve learned beyond SSM?

Although photography is something I enjoy, I will probably do it as a side job. It’s hard to be a photographer. It needs a lot of practice and a lot of thinking. Using alternative format techniques is making me a better photographer because I really have to think a lot more before taking each photo.

What has been your favorite part of your project?

Working with technology to make and try new things. But I love the amazing quality of the medium and large format cameras. The photo resolution is so high and you can work with such shallow depth of field. Even from a distance, you can blur the background of the photo. Using the large format camera has forced me to think about what I’m doing with each photograph. Unlike shooting on a digital camera, I have to stop and consider composition, shutter speed, and aperture to make each individual photograph work out.

Ray uses his medium format camera to capture photographs of three classmates on the SSM Parade Field.

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SOFIA RUEDA-GENE ’20 Merida, Mexico

Throughout this year, Sofia Rueda-Gene ’20 has been visiting the Cannon River STEM School located on the St. James campus to work with some of the second graders on their Spanish. As the only Mexican student attending Shattuck-St. Mary’s this year, it was important to Sofia that she be able to speak her home language and express herself in that way.

At the STEM School, she focuses on working with Latinx kids with some background in Spanish, but who are perhaps losing some of their Spanish language skills and traditions because they attend an English-speaking school. After creating an initial lesson plan, Sofia was surprised to learn how little Spanish the kids knew and wondered if perhaps their parents weren’t speaking Spanish at home out of a desire to assimilate. Despite this added challenge, Sofia was inspired by the limitless energy and enthusiasm of the second graders, and she resolved to work with them as long as they wanted to learn.

What led you to choose this as your project?

Here at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, I don’t get to share my language very often. Going to the Cannon River STEM School allows me to not only speak Spanish, but to help others with it. The second graders came from families that speak Spanish, but it seems like they do not speak it on a regular basis and lacked an appreciation for the heritage of their language.

How does your project fit in with the rest of your life as a student at SSM?

ScholarShift and blended learning allow me space and time with my own language and culture. I get to really help the little kids out.

What has been your favorite part of your project?

My favorite part this year has been getting to work with second graders and getting to share my language with them. I love the energy of the kids. They won’t stop talking—in English! They do speak when I remind them to speak in Spanish too.

What challenges have you faced?

The most challenging part of my project so far has been arranging transportation. In this project, I have been working alone. It is not easy. But that has helped me grow.

How do you plan to take what you’ve learned beyond SSM?

Planning any project is hard. I have done that and will be more prepared going forward.

Sophia spends a morning at the Cannon River STEM School with second grade students, teaching them Spanish language skills.

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BONCL TANG ’21 Boncl participates in the Chinese Yachting Association sailing competition.

Suzhou, China

XuChen (Boncl) Tang ’21 is known for being endlessly curious. The answer to a question of his is likely to spark new questions, and he possesses a remarkable motivation to keep searching for new answers. When he discovered sailing last summer as a form of recreation and competition, his life changed forever. Boncl decided to use ScholarShift as an opportunity to improve his sailing skills by taking lessons at the Minneapolis Sailing Center, joining the Lake Calhoun Yacht Club, and participating in as many competitions as possible.

Throughout his Junior Initiative, he has gone out on the water whenever possible, and even when the Minnesota winter keeps him indoors, he has been hard at work building his own sailboats, using the 3D printer in the weCreate Center. Boncl plans to build eight remote-controlled sailboats in total, three of which already have functioning sails and tillers. He also plans to use his Senior Initiative next year to build a fullsize sailboat that he can use in his sailing competitions.

How did you become interested in sailing?

I was really curious about how a sailboat works. How can a sailboat move fast in the dense water? How do they sail against the wind? How did our ancestors know where they are by reading the stars? By asking and answering these questions, I found that more and more questions pop up. A good captain or a sailor is not only a good athlete, but also a mechanic, engineer, et cetera. Most importantly, they are passionate.

What made you decide to take it to the next step with ScholarShift?

I love the wild side of sailing. Once, I was sailing in China half a day before a typhoon came, which brought heavy wind and rain.

The rain did not look like rain but fog where I felt like I was in the clouds. The wind was so heavy that my boat was like a leaf.

I tried to control my boat but I couldn’t stop it from tipping.

Once I got thrown out of my boat and tried to swim back to her.

She just blew away by the wind and the waves.

Competition is a big part of sailing. After two months of training, I fought in a national competition. I was so confident throughout the whole game even when I knew my competitors were well-trained, or I dropped from third place to last place.

Getting fifth place in such a high-leveled regatta really made me feel like I was a prodigy. After all these experiences, I declared that I am obsessed with sailing.

What has been your favorite part of your project?

Being able to sail on the ice. I could feel the acceleration pushing on my back. I heard the howling sound of blades carving through the ice, and I felt the amount of centrifugal force that wanted to pull me out of the boat. Despite the freezing, heavy wind, I felt like I was flying.

What do you find the most challenging about it?

I will need financial support if I want to keep sailing after SSM. Should I do what I want to do or do what society forces me to do? Also, there’s a fine line between passion and obsession, and I think I’m obsessed. It’s hard to keep it from interrupting the rest of my school life.

How does your project fit in with the rest of your life at SSM?

I don’t think there is a “rest of my life” at SSM. My life here is bonded with SSM which means that I am one and a half hours from the closest sailing club with five months of no sailing season. Learning online, reading books, and trying to make a remote-controlled sailboat are the things I can do to fulfill my sailing obsession. A few weeks ago, I sailed in an ice boat which travels on blades on top of the ice. It went two times faster than going on water, up to twenty-five miles per hour.

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