Anzar exhibitions are a ‘sophisticated approach’

An Anzar High School student’s father become an alcoholic so when she was asked to do a final project for graduation, she decided to explore how an addictive personality might connect to binge drinking.
The student, who presented her work Tuesday, was one senior doing graduation exhibition presentations this week. The presentations have no sway on class grades, do not receive letter-grade evaluations and are completed in addition to the end-of-year finals. They’re also required to graduate.
Anzar Principal Charlene McKowen noted graduation exhibitions—which include a written and oral component—aren’t reports but are much more complicated. Each one takes a semester or more to develop.
“We’re talking about a much more refined and sophisticated approach where you’re examining all the gray areas,” the administrator said.
Students begin the graduation requirement as juniors completing two to five projects over their upper classmen years that cover the topics of history, language arts, science, math, post graduate plan/service learning, a second language and art.
Students earn a score on a number system where “2” means passing, “2+” is the equivalent of a C+ or B- and average work, a “3” is above average or college level and the illusive “3+” is “rare,” according to students.
There are usually a few 3+ scores captured in each exhibition presentation cycle, explained Chris Wardlaw, a math and biology teacher.
“And it’s not always the A+ students that get it,” the instructor said. “It’s all about enthusiasm … We’ve had kids who are C+ students pull off a 3+.”
This graduation requirement has been part of the curriculum plan since the school started 21 years ago, explained the principal.
The high school’s two K-8 grade feeder schools originally belonged to the San Juan Union School District and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, but the campuses were geographically isolated so they eventually combined and created a new district: the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District. As part of the new district, Anzar High School was built, McKowen said.
At the time, the trustees were “very progressive” and flew around the country to get ideas for the new high school, the principal said. They decided they wanted three things: some form of service learning, student advisory and graduation exhibitions, she said.
Following that decision, teachers were hired based on their interest in the school’s exhibition process.
“I love it. That’s why I work here,” said Dan Faurot-Daniels, a math and woodshop teacher. “I think it’s a great learning process, a confidence booster.”
Since students pick the topics for their exhibitions, many connect their work to personal interests and the projects often take a personal spin.
“It’s something that either comes from an interest of theirs—a hobby, a passion—or something that’s a little more troubling to them and they’re working through it,” McKowen said.
The second was certainly the case for the student who took to the front of a classroom this week after school to present about alcoholism.
She used a five-part questionnaire she found online and surveyed 25 youth to see how many received scores suggesting they were “at risk” for displaying the traits of an addictive personality disorder, which may be associated with binge drinking.
Her survey of teens revealed most were at a “high risk” of the disorder and she used advanced math, including the chi-squared test, to determine whether there was a significant difference between the actual data and what was expected.
A panel of three judges including two teachers and a member of the community listened to her presentation. One suggested that an unusually high number of participants might have scored “at risk” for the disorder because they were all in the same age group.
“It’s scary. It’s probably the most stressful thing about Anzar, ” she said as she waited for the judges to give her a score. “But I definitely think its purpose is valid.”
McKowen argues the process helps prepare students for the real world, especially as the youth enter college or seek their first jobs.
“I don’t know how to say that it translates to the work world except they’re never nervous going into interviews, like I was in college,” she said.