My first paying job in education was at Franklin High School. It was the best first professional job I could have hoped for, and provided me with a foundation in teaching that I literally could not have gotten elsewhere. In college, my original intention was social work, but that shifted quickly to education when I realized after doing some volunteering that I personally might not be able to handle the stress that the social workers I connected with were constantly under. English Education was my next stop but after two education classes and some observations, I concluded that I was going to learn nothing applicable going this route. Teaching is an art to be practiced, not something you can learn from lecture. So, my plan was to learn as much about literature as I could for my future students by switching majors to English Literature, volunteer as a tutor in a high school for new English learners and find an alternative path to certification. Franklin was my path, and my first year I made $7.25 an hour, paid by a grant through the Work Force Investment Act.
The School to Work program at Franklin served students who had multiple barriers in front of them including academic, social and generational poverty. We offered different opportunities for high school credit, Career Choices, Practical English, Practical Math and internships. We also offered additional tutoring in any other subject. Franklin taught electricity and I remember being so grateful my college physics teacher had us spend a lot of time practicing circuitry; I would not have been much help otherwise. Even though I was not the teacher of record, I was the teacher. Patricia Prescott, who I am so grateful for, helped me get started with setting up the classes, but then I was allowed creative control, to practice the art of teaching. While I was working with students, she was observing and doing other things, checking in with students, recruiting, giving specific assessments,, writing grant reports, and planning an off campus school store. That store's grand opening day is really the core of my reflection this Thursday.
Patricia Prescott with Paul Leather and then NH Commissioner of Education Nicholas Donahue at the opening of Campus Creations in Franklin NH, April 2004
The kids, Ms. Prescott and I had set up the store months before and operated it most school days. We'd start our day at school, but would travel up to the store, baked goods and all to do our lessons and serve customers in between. The store sold all things that were made at school as part of regular classes, baked goods, quilts, blankets, stuffed animals, holiday items. Some things were made by School-to-Work students in the summer program or through special projects we did as a class like card making. Did we make a lot of money? No, and that was not the point.
Students at the store learned how to run a store. It was a job. I taught them how to use spreadsheets to help us keep track of how much was sold, how much we had to pay programs like Running Start for their product they made for us daily, how much we made in profit. They made decisions about what to order on certain days. For example, the kids would go to City Hall everyday, but would only get big sales one day a week, because the clerks were practicing self-control. A pastry a day does not keep the doctor away. They practiced communication, hearing “no”, making change, collaboration, merchandising and in the back of the store we had a small white board to help with math and English lessons. These kids were also part of an initial NH DOE competency-based assessment pilot. All year they collected evidence of their abilities to communicate, solve problems, collaborate and read to present at a state-wide symposium. Those skills were practiced at Campus Creations, our little off campus store.
Our Grand Opening was fun and stressful. Ms. Prescott did an excellent job of bringing in community to highlight the work the kids were doing. Organizing and coordinating a grand opening and getting folks who make decisions about policy, funding and new ways of doing school all in the same place is no easy task, and that's the work that needs to be done. Schools are in relationship with community, and a good relationship can be fostered by sharing student learning with the community. Bring folks out to see what you are doing, have high expectations for your kids and showcase the good work they do. The fostering of this relationship is most important to the school funding conversation, not just in New Hampshire, but especially in New Hampshire.
It was impossible to capture the pride these students felt about their work. Some were a little nervous being in the spotlight, but once they got to talking about the store and what they learned, they eased right into conversation with all kinds of people who they knew held important community positions from the Governor, to the Commissioner of Education to their favorite local radio host and principal. So many community members showing up in their little city, in their little store to celebrate and learn from them was an incredible thing to witness. My 24-year-old self could not fully appreciate it all.
Governor Craig Benson talks to one of the students.
Campus Creations did not stay in that original location very long. We moved a few storefronts down and soon I left my position at Franklin. I was sad to leave AND I really wanted to teach literature. I found a job at my old high school, which brought new opportunities. I always remember the lessons from Franklin. It is here where I really came to understand the beauty of competency-based assessment, a way of thinking that NH schools still struggle to actualize almost twenty years later, including Franklin. It solidified my belief in learning by doing and performance assessment and taught me a lot about community relationships and their importance to schools.
I've been spending a lot of time in Franklin lately as I support them in their Portrait of a Graduate process. I've always felt a connection to this city, not only is it where I started teaching, my great-grandparents started their family here and my grandmother was a 1944 Franklin High School graduate. When looking at these old photos I wonder if my memories of this day and the learning that happened at the store and in the School-to-Work program are similar to those young people that were so important to me as I started my professional journey; I just might ask.