LINDBLOM MATH & SCIENCE ACADEMY
ILLINOISPROGRAM(S) PARTICIPATED IN: Sprint 2014, Solution 2014-2015
TEAM MEMBERS
Alan Mather, Principal
Brandon Strawn, Resident Principal
Jesus Duran, Teacher
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
School Type: Selective
Grades served: 7-12
Enrollment: 1295
PROBLEM
There is a connotation in the community that Lindblom is out of reach for most Englewood children and, consequently, few apply and fewer are accepted.
SOLUTION
Leveraging service learning hours a pilot program was developed to have our high school students mentor and instruct neighborhood elementary school students in the field of computer programming while also engaging and educating parents regarding the selective enrollment process.
KEY LEARNING
During the freestyle session we created a storyboard and a physical model as a metaphor for our larger vision. These actions reminded us of our big vision and how we might be able to plan now for addressing some potential longer term needs in accomplishing our big vision through this pilot program. The most instructive feedback we received was a question posed by Kemi; “How can your students have more ownership of this program?” This was a pivot point for us in that we now considered a shift in leveraging this program to allow our students to gain a more unique experience and contribute to its design.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Hours input by team: 110
- Students impacted: 70
- Additional educators impacted: 5
- Community members: 300
OBSERVED IMPACT
- Elementary students were provided earlier introduction to STEM concepts
- Parent understanding of Selective Enrollment process improved
- 44 high school students applied to the program for next year (vs 18 this year)
PLANS TO SCALE
We plan on expanding our efforts to include a second neighborhood elementary school class. There are a number of schools that have expressed interest in our program and we will work with them to determine the best fit. We have increased the number of applicants for the colloquium course so we will have more Lindblom students interested in mentoring. Our plan is to provide more mentoring training up front for our students and to provide an opportunity for our veteran students more agency in planning and implementing ongoing direction of the program. Lindblom students that will be returning next year have expressed interest in more of the planning of the program, trips, dinners and activities.