YouthSpeaks Out! discussed "Revisioning High School, Part 5." on KZYX/Z The show includes a 20 minute recording from an educational forum held last month for Leadership Mendocino. John Kirchiro, current Principal at Willits Charter School, gave excellent insights into the state of our schools and how we can improve them. It is REALLY worth listening to- if you can't hear the show live, you could hear the recording of John here- http://youthspeaksout.net/LeaderShipPanel_John.mp3 The other panels from the forum are also posted at our website- http://youthspeaksout.net/radioshows.html
Today our topic is âRevisioning High School, Part 5.â Over the 15 years of its existence, YouthSpeaksOut! has had 4 programs exploring the possible changes to the way in which we configure high school. All of these shows are available to listen to at our website www.youthspeaksout.net. This version of âRevisioningâ will begin with the insights of the current principal of the Willits Charter School, John Kirchiro. John was on a panel at an Educational Forum hosted by Leadership Mendocino last month. Johnâs remarks were recorded by our showâs director, Dan Roberts, and edited into the 20 minute long segment we are about to hear. After we hear the recording we will describe our experiences with high school and then open the phone lines so that you can join in the discussion. Here is the recording of John Kirchiro- *********************************************** PLAY 20 minute long talk by John Kirchiro
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You are listening to YouthSpeaksOut! The recording we just listened to was John Kirchiro, Principal of the Willits Charter School, speaking to an Educational Forum at Leadership Mendocino three weeks ago. I am Rowyn from Laytonville High School, and (point to others, who will state their names and high schools). We are going to discuss what John said for 10 or 15 minutes and then we will want you to call in and let us know how you feel about the current form of high school. Our number will be 707 456-9991. We will let you know when it is time to call. One of the points that John made was that success in education is a shift from youth extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation. That is, developing an inner passion in the students to want to learn, to seek knowledge willingly instead of being forced to study. Letâs go around and describe what subjects we have found ourselves personally motivated to study. **************************************** Another point John made was that the average American now changes jobs or career 8 times in a lifetime. A college degree is not a guarantee of a job. This means we need to develop flexibility and the ability to evolve our skills. Do you think that high school is preparing us to adapt to changing job markets? **************************************** John said that we should encourage the youth to âchase the meaningâ rather than âchase the moneyâ. What does this mean? ****************************************
Weâre going to open the phone lines now. The phone number is 456-9991. Everyone is welcome to call, and weâd especially like to encourage the youth, their parents, and concerned friends in the listening audience. Please call in if you have questions or insights about revisioning high school. What parts of Johnâs talk made you think about your high school experience? Or that of your children? How do you think that schools can cope with ever decreasing funds? If you had to cut out parts of high school what would you remove? What are the most essential parts of high school? What parts of high school develop practical skills, life skills? Should there be a return to emphasizing job skills, like woodworking, culinary arts, auto mechanics, and carpentry? Should high school be managed primarily as a preparation for college? Is college prep leaving students graduating from high school with no skills to earn a living? Who should high school serve- students? community? staff? Who is served?
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