Community Building Day Reflection

For me, Community Building Day was an eye-opening experience. I had never had the opportunity to visit a choice school before, and it was especially interesting for me because I would like to be a teacher someday. I liked hearing about how On Track Academy takes an individualized approach to education. I’m a big believer in this approach, because while society promotes college as the goal of students, it isn’t the right path for everyone. Some students want to go into agriculture or trade school. Finn, the On Track Academy student in my group, wants to go to culinary school. I think it is great that a school like this exists where teachers tailor classes to their students and offer support to help them meet their unique goals.

The hands-on activities that we participated in at On Track Academy really pushed my group to think outside the box. The most challenging station for us was the doodle machines. We used cups and tape to assemble our motor and markers in numerous ways, but without much success. Then Finn came up with the idea of cutting a hole in the cup for the motor to fit in, and she was able to make the machine work with two minutes to spare. We were very impressed.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting a glimpse of a different style of education, as well as getting the chance to connect with some of the On Track Academy students. It was fun getting to know them and discussing their different interests and goals. By coming to visit with the students, our class had a chance to show them where they could be in a year or two. I could see some their faces lighting up as they asked questions about college while we ate pizza together. I believe that community is that connection we made between Whitworth students to On Track students; that support that we exchanged through team building activities and friendly conversation.