The “A” in EAST

Matt Dozier

“What does EAST stand for?”

That’s a good question. This is the second in a four part series that examines the components that make EAST so powerful for our students and facilitators. It goes without saying that our students and facilitators are what makes EAST succeed the way it does and not be yet another “great idea that won’t work in the real world”. This week, our President and CEO Matt Dozier takes a look at the “A” in EAST: And.

I’m fascinated by the “little words”. We often read right past them; we don’t stop to consider them; sometimes we don’t even see them. But often, it’s the “little” words that hold the secret to the meaning of phrases, clauses, and documents. Sometimes the little words are the key to life, the universe, and everything else. Consider the infamous case of the so-called “Wicked Bible”. Published in England as a reprint of the King James Bible back in1631, it omitted one small – but crucial – word from the seventh commandment.

The word? “Not.”

Now once you’ve stopped laughing, consider how those three little letters hold the entire concept of that declaration in its metaphorical hand. Without them, it leads you straight down the road to pandemonium.

If you don’t believe me, you can go check the “Wicked Bible” out for yourself in the Bible Museum in Branson, Missouri. They own one of the last eleven copies of the “Wicked Bible” that are in existence after King Charles I led a completely understandable bible burning. Though most of them were destroyed, at least one copy sits under glass in the Ozarks, a short car-ride away from where I currently sit writing this. All because of a “Not.”

Small world, huh?

Today I want to look at another little three letter word that helps make up the acronym “EAST.” To prove my point, consider that it holds a lot more meaning than just a simple connector between the “E” and the “S”. The “A” in EAST stands for “And.” “And” is a powerful idea. I think our schools and our world would be far better off with more “ands” and far fewer “ors.”

Computing is based on “ors.” At the very heart of every computer command is a simple instruction for a switch to be either on or off. Computers exist in a binary mindset that we represent as a 1 or a 0. What a comforting concept. Something is either a 1 or a 0; entire programs can be boiled down into one of two options. The bad guys in Call of Duty could be as simple as 11101011010101010101011101110000011010101010, right? If you’ve ever tried to program anything, you begin to understand that it’s not quite that easy. There’s a large gap between the conceptual and the actual, even if both are built on the same logic train.

Have I confused you yet? Because I just confused myself. Let’s take a step away from the circuit board and the first person shooter and back into the real world. Too, often—far too often—people see the world in a binary fashion. Something is either one thing or another. There’s a right or a wrong answer. We tend to boil down the complexities of society and life as a series of choices based on a “this or that” construction and that’s just not how the world works.

The forks in this metaphysical road are not two-pronged, they are most often twenty pronged. Our choices for dinner are not just burgers or pizza, we can have burgers or pizza or tacos or fish or salad or chicken or, or, or, ad infinitum. But if you want a great dinner you need to move beyond the or into the and. How great is it to have roast beef and potatoes and gravy and carrots and spinach and fresh yeast rolls and (most especially and) brownies! I’m hungry just thinking about it and having all those options are way better than just choosing between fish or chicken, right?

The “and” in EAST is critical to our work beyond the silly (yet delicious) examples above. Too many people in the educational world think that school is built on “or.” You have to make choices and those choices draw lines around everything else you do in school, and I don’t think it should be that simple. We live in a world where too much emphasis is placed on three hours, one day a year, staring at a multiple-choice test. But because those tests exist, everything else about school is reverse engineered to lead inevitably to that test. There is so much more to learning than 6th period science—and that idea isn’t even binary, it assumes that there is only one option and that leads to school being six to eight one option experiences.

Students need to read the book and learn from their teachers and have their questions answered and find the answers to some questions themselves and experiment with and explore the things they’re learning and make mistakes and learn from their mistakes and teach others and explain what they learned and take a test. Unfortunately, the educational system is built on the premise that you learn from either lectures or exploring; testing or presenting. It doesn’t have to be this way.

We need solid, well crafted, courses that are rigorous in content and taught by gifted educators. We need to cover all the important stuff in each class in the 36 weeks we have for a school year. We need to be able to read, and write, and take tests…we need to embrace the “and.” It makes everything stronger.

EAST lives in the “and.” It’s in the center of our name. We believe that working in the connection points between education, service, career preparation, and innovation makes our students the best prepared and most dynamic in the country.

It’s a great place to be.

To read part one of Matt Dozier’s “What is EAST?” Series, click here. 

Keeping it REAL

This week we introduce to you the leader of our newest initiative, REAL: Relevant Education for Active Learners. We welcome Ms. Dondi Jackson to our staff and look forward to sharing more of the REAL story as it develops.—MD

Dondi Jackson

Hello from EAST Initiative’s Regional Field Office for REAL: Relevant Education for Active Learners! I am very excited to serve as the Senior Director of Curricular Integration and look forward to innovative work with several school districts that will be piloting the REAL program.

If you aren’t familiar with REAL, it is part of Governor Beebe’s STEM Works Initiative, which seeks to encourage and accelerate students entering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields in order to meet the growing demand for a more competitive workforce. The Departments of Education, Higher Education, Workforce Services, Career Education, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges and the Governor’s Office form the Workforce Cabinet will be responsible for the STEM Works implementation.

Our pilot REAL schools will focus on science and math classes, with strong support from our offices, as well as supporting agencies such as the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies from the University of Arkansas. Other organizations have also asked to collaborate with us and the tremendous response from school districts across the state has been electrifying!

If we haven’t met, please allow me to share a little bit about myself. I have 20 years of experience teaching all grades from K-12 in many different subject areas. As a third generation educator, learning, exploring and sharing have always been vital parts of my life. In 2007 I had my first experience as an EAST facilitator, which inspired me to return to graduate school and earn my Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, with the intent to serve in some capacity that supported or extended the EAST philosophy of education. When asked about my career goal for my new degree I would laugh and say that the job for which I aspire has yet to be created. I was alluding to the concept that we as educators are charged with the responsibility of preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist. Though I intended this comment in a tongue-in-cheek sense, there was also a veiled hope that it would be true, some day.

October 1^st, 2011 was the first day on my REAL job and it has been an invigorating whirlwind of activity since. I have traveled across the state and met many very enthusiastic teachers and administrators who are passionate about providing superior learning opportunities for their students. It is not surprising that these educators are dynamic individuals themselves, who also embrace opportunities to grow professionally. Though I love working in the classroom with students, it is gratifying to be provided the opportunity to assist in moving our schools towards more genuine and authentic practices.

Our REAL field office is located at Crowley’s Ridge Educational Service Cooperative in Harrisburg, Arkansas, just south of Jonesboro. It is exhilarating to see that EAST Initiative is expanding in new ways! If you have any questions please contact me or Matt Dozier, CEO, EAST Initiative. We are looking forward to a VERY exciting REAL adventure!

The “E” in EAST

Matt Dozier

“What does EAST stand for?”

That’s a good question. This is the first in a four part series that examines the components that make EAST so powerful for our students and facilitators. It goes without saying that our students and facilitators are what makes EAST succeed the way it does and not be yet another “great idea that won’t work in the real world”. This week, our President and CEO Matt Dozier takes a look at the “E” in EAST: Environmental.

Several years ago we quit giving the long explanation of the EAST name. The first class of students named the course Environmental and Spatial Technology because:

1.) They were in an environmental science class.

2.) It sounded cool.

3.) It made an acronym: “EAST.”

We quit using the long title several years ago because EAST had developed beyond just spatial technologies and moved into other technological areas. Also, we like that we had moved from the long title to the basic acronym—it made us feel like we were becoming a “thing” that others knew like IBM or 3M (look up that acronym). Still, the most common question asked of me (besides the obvious, “Have you always been this funny looking?”) is still, “What does EAST stand for?”

The individual components of the EAST name are important to the makeup of both the EAST programs and the EAST model; they’re not just words. The “E” in EAST stands for “Environmental”. When most people talk about the environment, particularly these days, they’re talking about the natural world and how to protect and preserve it…and that’s important. I’m all in favor of protecting the limited and fragile resources that make life worth living (or capable of living). Just imagine what would happen if all the trees were clear-cut or all the water was poisoned. You can’t, and that’s all right, because in either of those scenarios there wouldn’t be anyone left to worry about anyway.

Many EAST projects focus on education, advocacy, and protection for local natural resources—and that’s a great thing. I am constantly amazed at the passion, intelligence, and dedication I see in EAST students when it comes to environmental topics. I don’t see what others are complaining about when they talk about “kids these days”. The kids I know are smart, hardworking, articulate and impassioned. If that energy is focused on protecting a watershed or ridding a community of an invasive and destructive species of plant or wildlife, then look at the good that comes of it. The resources are protected. Very often, the community comes together because it’s their kids that are leading this effort. Students are allowed to channel their interests in a positive direction that might just help them find a lifelong path to something vocational or avocational. Everybody (and thing) wins; what a deal!

But the “Environmental” that starts our name goes beyond the natural world and directly into the educational realm. EAST classrooms don’t look or feel like other classrooms. The environment is one of self-affirming action. It looks more interesting and exciting. It feels more interesting and exciting. It is more interesting and exciting. Why? Because it’s about doing something.

In the best EAST classes, there is a mutual respect between the students and each other and the students and their facilitator. Everyone is pulling together to do something important and interesting…even when they’re working on different things. It’s a real and palpable team spirit that electrifies the room. The EAST environment focuses on the dichotomy between individual need and mass (school and program) need.

It really is possible to create a classroom where students want to come to school, want to work hard, and want to learn and achieve beyond their own reckoning. How do I know? Because I’ve seen it hundreds of times. The EAST environment is the first key to EAST success. The facilitators set the tone. The students accept the responsibility. The community is a better place.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

To read part two of Matt Dozier’s “What is EAST?” series, please click here. 

A Year in the Life of a New EAST Facilitator — Part VI

Paula Nixon

I find it hard to believe it’s already November. School has been extremely busy as usual. Where do I start? How about with EAST Night Out? Let’s just say that this was a big area of concern for me this month. It consumed every minute of my life it seems for weeks. I even dreamed about it! My plotter decided to take a siesta right before the big event. After spending an hour and a half on the phone with HP, they decided to send out a tech to fix it. It was up and running at 3:10 the day of the big event! Holy smokes!! Once the big night arrived, it went fairly well. I did learn one valuable lesson which was not to serve only cookies, candy and punch. Several of my students consumed way to much sugar. Let’s just leave it at that. Next year I think I will serve a veggie platter.

Two of my students attended the Virtual Reality Training and enjoyed it immensely. I also attended Phase II training where I had the chance to listen to other facilitators voice their frustrations and rejoice in their accomplishments. I enjoyed getting to hear what other facilitators were doing in their classrooms.

I had two students attend a luncheon at Who Dat’s (local Cajun restaurant) and speak to the Lions Club about our EAST program. They were very excited to get to do this. They said they felt very professional.

Overall, October has been a very busy month here at BKMS. I’m looking forward to a fast and furious November.

A Year in the Life of a New EAST Facilitator — Part V

Josh Worthy

Our first EAST Night Out is in the books and the road to conference begins.  It’s been a wild ride since my last “A Day in the Life…” submission.

Our biggest obstacle was our official school dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for our new building.  Sonora Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas was officially dedicated to the community on October 13^th, which EAST played a huge role in making this event happen.  One of our 4^th grade teams displayed our school’s mission, Innovate to Educate, by using Prezi and Final Cut Pro to portray the innovative programs and technology that exists in our school.  Another team showcased their findings of “The Historical Sonora School: A 2-Room School House” to the school board, the district admin, and several state legislatures who were in attendance.

EAST Students Samantha and Keenan emceed the dedication event at Sonora Elementary

This historical documentary is being developed by a 5^th grade team that has interviewed many of the alumni of this school that opened just before the Civil War and that closed down during the mid-1950s.  They plan to submit their findings to several local historical societies and museums.

The entire dedication event was even emceed by two EAST students, Keenan and Samantha, which their stage presence and enthusiasm did not disappoint.  EAST student, Isaac, also gave a personal testimony about how Sonora and EAST is different than anything he’s very participated in before and how it’s quickly changed his life.  You will be able to see the entire dedication ceremony, our Prezi, and the trailer to our documentary on our official YouTube channel – SonoraEAST.  The day was capped off with Matt Dozier coming to check out the EAST classroom.  Melanie Bradford from the ADE also made an appearance.  Both guests put the cherry on top of a very special day for our program.

Josh Worthy (center, in red shirt) and some of his EAST students at the dedication for the new Sonora Elementary School.

Along with dedication, our kids attended their first EAST training.  We teamed up with CAST at the University of Arkansas to learn out ArcGIS and community mapping.  Dr. Robyn Dennis and Hayley Hames were AMAZING with our kids.  If you have not utilized their talents in student training with GIS/GPS and community mapping, I strongly recommend you get involved with one of their training sessions.  We had two young elementary students in a class of several older High School EAST kids – Robyn and Hayley never let our two girls fall behind for one second and kept their attention throughout the entire class.  Elementary or secondary, these two educators are great with our EAST kids.

KNWA Meterologist Dan Skoff came in to teach the Sonora Elementary EAST kids about green screen television production.

Local meteorologist, Dan Skoff, from NBC’s KNWA station came by in early October to show the kids a few tricks of the trade with utilizing the green screen and audio/visual technology.  Later, our 4^th grade teams plan to teach the rest of their classmates about weather patterns, different types of weather fronts, and how changes in air pressure can really stir up some severe weather.  The kids were featured on the 5 o’clock weather broadcast and have been invited to tour the KNWA station and rejoin Skoff to help forecast a few weather predictions.  This was our first taste of working with a seasoned professional in the local community.

Students and parents watch as projects are explained at the 2011 EAST Night Out at Sonora Elementary

EAST Night Out at Sonora was a success as well.  We tried to not reinvent the wheel with our Open House event, which we modeled a lot of the successes that Har-Ber and Springdale EAST programs have used in the past.  We had well over 250 in attendance and several special guests that checked out our kids’ projects.  I was a little skeptical of how the event would go down, but I was most impressed with the high level conversations our kids had with the parents and local community members.  Our EAST kids really have learned a thing or two, if at least how to speak to adults properly and share their innovative ideas.  The highlight of the night would have been our video guestbook that the kids implemented during the event.  Parents were able to give a shout-out to their children and wish them well.  The kids also sent our guests on a world tour, using the green screen to send them anywhere in the world that they would like to go.  You can also check out our virtual guestbook below.

As a facilitator, I also had the opportunity to reunite with some of my Phase I buddies last month at Phase II.  It was so much fun to share projects successes and even failures to my fellow facilitators.  Many of us were going through the same struggles and it was nice to feel that we were all in the same boat.  The major theme for me at Phase II would be learning how to push the kids to be more sophisticated.   Our program has a lot of really “cool” projects and some that are even spectacular.  But how does a team make their project sophisticated?  That’s been the real trick during this last week or two.  How do you turn a typical Historical Documentary into a sophisticated GIS project?  How do you morph an ordinary Google SketchUp Greenhouse project into a sophisticated community changing program?  How do you facilitate kids to promote their Holiday Food Drive idea into something more sophisticated that will help prevent homelessness or decrease poverty in the area?  I always tell the kids “I have no idea” – but we’re getting there; we’re getting sophisticated.  The kids aren’t becoming more proficient with the technology…that’s not sophistication.  They are becoming more proficient at higher order thinking and they are developing better problem solving skills.  Its fun (and sometimes frustrating) to watch, but it’s what keeps the kids going.

What’s ahead?  Our kids plan to host a few fundraisers for conference, a booth design committee has been formed, and Phase III is right around the corner.  We also plan to hook up with the Har-Ber EAST program on Nov. 11^th to observe the “Hour with a Hero” project that they’ve perfected for Veterans Day.  More project ideas are in the developmental stages, including a GIS project involving fish migration/spawning patters and some sort of talk about a solar powered car.  I don’t know what they all have planned or where they’re going with it – I just sit back and enjoy watching it happen.  So many projects… so little time.

A Year in the Life of a New EAST Facilitator — Part IV

Paula Nixon

The EAST classroom is very different from the traditional one where teachers dole out information and students attempt to memorize it. In EAST, students design and self-direct their own projects. EAST teacher-facilitators must complete special training in facilitating this form of project-based learning.

We thought it might be interesting to follow the progress of some EAST newbies throughout their first year of facilitating an EAST classroom. Paula Nixon of Bald Knob (Arkansas) Middle School gives us a peek behind the scenes.

Paula Nixon: Students in the EAST program at Bald Knob Middle School have been steadily working on trying to decide which projects are right for them.  Several of my students have started on their service projects and seem to be enjoying what they are doing.  I have some who are working with the elementary counselor and Rice Depot filling backpacks with food for underprivileged kids to take home on the weekends.  Another group came up with the idea of “Pie in the Eye” to help bring in more canned goods for this program.  They asked teachers if they would be willing to take a pie in the face if they received the most donations under their name.  Fortunately, we have some teachers who are willing to do this!  I have another group that is working with a few kindergarten teachers and helping students with sight words.  They have made flash cards and found some educational games on the computer to help these students improve their letter/word identification.

At the beginning of the school year, we sent out a paper surveying our teachers’ needs on campus.  Unfortunately, only a few have replied and we have helped them with various things.  We are hoping to team up with some clubs or organizations as they get projects started.

This is really the first class that my students have been in where they have had to take the initiative to pursue what they are interested in.  I must say that we have had some difficult days.  There have been a few students who have wanted to do projects that were not realistic just yet.  Finding and starting projects that are interesting to them has been a little overwhelming at times.

I have had my students make a PowerPoint presentation about themselves complete with action buttons and hyperlinks.  It was amazing listening and watching them figure out how to insert an action button or a hyperlink.  Some were so excited.  They were good about helping others along the way as they completed this project.  Currently we are working on a brochure of our town.  They are researching to find facts and information about Bald Knob.

I would love to hear from other EAST facilitators about things that they do in their classroom in order to make it successful.  My email is nixonp@bkps.k12.ar.us.  Please email me about projects for 7th and 8th grade students and things that you do in your classroom when they are not working on a particular project.   I would also love some advice about EAST night out!  Thanks so much!!

A Year in the Life of a New EAST Facilitator — Part III

New EAST Facilitator Training Phase I Grads, July 1, 2011

The EAST classroom is very different from the traditional one where teachers dole out information and students attempt to memorize it. In EAST, students design and self-direct their own projects. EAST teacher-facilitators must complete special training in facilitating this form of project-based learning. We thought it might be interesting to follow the progress of some EAST newbies throughout their first year of facilitating an EAST classroom. Our two volunteers, Josh Worthy of Sonora Elementary School in Springdale, Arkansas (front row, far left, kneeling) and Paula Nixon of Bald Knob (Arkansas) High School (front row, third from right), will each report in once a month or so, giving us a peek behind the scenes. Wish them luck!

A month older… a month wiser. We’re now a few weeks into the school year and Sonora Elementary’s EAST program has really taken off! As a facilitator, I’ve had my ups and downs…but I’m really pleased with the direction our program is going. I’m learning a lot and our kids are diving right in.

In a brand new school, installing an EAST classroom can be a difficult task. I have to give a HUGE thanks to Ruben Canada and Doug Gusewelle for showing our kids the ropes of our new hardware and software. Our install was the day before our first day of school, which with construction workers and painters rushing to finish up the brand new building…our two EAST techs had a couple of hurdles to jump. After running a few network cables, drilling a few holes into freshly painted walls, and using 3 rolls of duct-tape…our classroom really started to come together. By day two, we had over 650 elementary students fill the hallways and we were still loading software onto the HP workstations and iMacs. Toss in about three local television stations, two newspaper reporters, and a local school district PR representative…you could say day two was organized chaos. When everything was said and done, Ruben and Doug survived their first day of elementary school and our students had a living, breathing EAST classroom.

After a very generous barrage of local media, it was time for our EAST kids to start doing the talking with their efforts. We’ve set up a Facebook page (Sonora EAST), a Twitter account (@sonoraeast), and we’ve even designed and printed professional business cards for our kids. I struggled a bit setting up student email accounts and operating the server, but we succeeded in getting all of our EAST kids logged in and ready to produce. We submitted our first EAST After Hours Grant. The kids really have taken a lot of pride in this grant after several brainstorming sessions and multiple revisions. The kids look forward to finding out how the grant turns out in the weeks to come (fingers crossed!).

Personally, I feel really grateful for teaching in this position…I may just have the best job, ever. Our Principal, Dr. Regina Stewman, has really pressed our school motto, Innovate to Educate. It is a phrase our faculty has strongly adopted. We took a count and our school averages 1.7 students per computer in the building (That beats the two Apple II’s we had in the corner of the library when I was a kid…I miss those Oregon Trail days). When our local community members and business owners ask how our school is doing, it is “How are WE doing?” not “How is your school doing?” The community has really come alive in Sonora, the more rural side of Springdale. It’s very cool to watch people welcome EAST and our kids with open arms. Even today, our EAST students presented to our school board and district administration; I could not be more proud. One of our 4th grade students showed an Assistant Superintendent how to log on to the EAST Initiative website and she even displayed the project proposal she plans to complete this month. It just doesn’t get any better, right?

So what’s next? We’ve got a local Pancake Breakfast lined up for September 17th, EAST Night Out of course, Day 3 Installation, our Community Mapping training in Fayetteville, and the introduction of EAST to our 3rd grade kids. It looks like there is no slowing down yet!

Josh Worthy
Sonora Elementary School
Springdale, Arkansas

A Year in the Life of a New EAST Facilitator — Part II

New EAST Facilitator Training Phase I Grads, July 1, 2011

The EAST classroom is very different from the traditional one where teachers dole out information and students attempt to memorize it. In EAST, students design and self-direct their own projects. EAST teacher-facilitators must complete special training in facilitating this form of project-based learning. We thought it might be interesting to follow the progress of some EAST newbies throughout their first year of facilitating an EAST classroom. Our two volunteers, Josh Worthy of Sonora Elementary School in Springdale, Arkansas (front row, far left, kneeling) and Paula Nixon of Bald Knob (Arkansas) High School (front row, third from right), will each report in once a month or so, giving us a peek behind the scenes. Wish them luck!

This will be my 21st year of teaching. Along with EAST, I will be teaching two 6th grade science classes.  I hope to incorporate more student-based inquiry into my science classes this upcoming year. My goal is to
move away from the traditional classroom setting and focus more on letting students take responsibility for their learning. Although I feel like I am moving in the right direction, I’m still trying to figure out how to accomplish this and complete the science frameworks. My plan is to take it one day at a time and monitor and adjust as needed!

My summer months have been filled with many exciting events from softball, basketball, the beach, to—you guessed it—a week of EAST facilitator training. The latter of these events left me with feelings of excitement for the upcoming school year. However, along with the excitement are thoughts of, “Snap, what did I get myself into?”

I was fortunate to visit a couple of schools with successful EAST programs at the end of the school year. Each facilitator shared ideas of how they started off their school year in the EAST classroom. One idea that I thought would be beneficial to my students is doing a scavenger hunt on the EAST user website in order to gain knowledge of EAST and explore activities that others are doing. I also attended the EAST conference in Hot Springs in March and kept a folder of the brochures that were given out by many different schools.  My plan is to let my students go through these brochures and see what types of projects other students are doing and hopefully this will ignite a spark in their minds.

I am still awaiting the call from Mr. Tim Van Dusen, EAST network manager, stating that all the equipment has arrived and is ready to be set up. Unfortunately, I am also awaiting the call from school saying that my room is ready! I have been to school on three separate occasions to measure computer tables and walls and  finally the furniture was placed. Next in line: electrical hook-ups. I am hoping that they were able to get that completed last week, but I haven’t received that news yet.

Overall, I welcome the challenge that the upcoming school year holds. I am ready to put 100% into this new position and feel very confident that I have plenty of people to look to for support. Wish me luck!

Paula Nixon
Bald Knob Middle School
Bald Knob, Arkansas

A Year in the Life of a New EAST Facilitator

New EAST Facilitator Training Phase I Grads, July 1, 2011

The EAST classroom is very different from the traditional one where teachers dole out information and students attempt to memorize it. In EAST, students design and self-direct their own projects. EAST teacher-facilitators must complete special training in facilitating this form of project-based learning. We thought it might be interesting to follow the progress of some EAST newbies throughout their first year of facilitating an EAST classroom. Our two volunteers, Josh Worthy of Sonora Elementary School in Springdale, Arkansas (front row, far left, kneeling) and Paula Nixon of Bald Knob (Arkansas) High School (front row, third from right), will each report in once a month or so, giving us a peek behind the scenes. Wish them luck!

I have taught junior high Social Studies for the past 6 years in Rogers, Arkansas. Over the summer, I have left my comfort zone to move to Springdale to facilitate an EAST program at Sonora Elementary. Sonora is a brand new school for the 2011-2012 school year and EAST will be a new addition for the elementary level in the district.

And so begins the journey of an EAST facilitator! So many questions; so little time. I’m sure many new EAST facilitators have, like I do, new ideas and plans just surging through their heads. How are we going to recruit and select our kids? What are we going to pull together for EAST Night Out?  What exactly is EAST again?  After an eventful and productive Phase I week of facilitator training in Little Rock, things are starting to become more clear and I’m finally starting to realize that these anxieties will eventually cease. The EAST process will happen. Growth will happen. To tell you the truth, I’m fully expecting to actually grow with the students.

My biggest anxiety is making sure that I give the kids room to take ownership in their work and service. I’m a hands-on type of guy; I want to “show” and “do” and “solve” how all of this SHOULD work. My anxiety: learning to sit on my hands and let the kids show, do, and solve. It’s a long voyage towards a new philosophy of teaching… and sometimes I feel like I left my passport somewhere between Little Rock and Springdale.

It has been a humorous road in recent weeks at home, and my wife is feeling the pain of being my EAST guinea pig. One Saturday afternoon we were having some trouble with our washer and dryer. “Josh, I think the dryer is broken. It won’t turn on.” I replied “Well, what have you tried to do to fix it? Have you used Google to find any answers?” in my best Melissa Gallegos (EAST Director of Professional Development) voice. Unfortunately, I received an odd look and was pointed in the direction to go fix the dryer. Maybe I should warm up slowly toward the EAST philosophy at home.

I’m truly excited about the new school year. I’m looking forward to meeting our new students and getting started on our first projects. I’m looking forward to getting to know the local businesses and groups in this more rural region of town. I can’t wait to point the kids in a new direction, with a unique teaching philosophy, and the amazing resources that have been given to this facility. Will it all happen in a matter of weeks and will my preconceived vision of this amazing EAST program at Sonora Elementary take off like a rocket?  I guess we’ll see in a short time. You’ve got to start somewhere, right? Time to hit the ground running!

Josh Worthy
Sonora Elementary School
Springdale, Arkansas

Point of View

Today’s post was written by Darren Waddles, Mountain View High School EAST student. This is what EAST is all about!

I went into EAST last year for the first time thinking it was just one of those computer tech classes that would look good on your resume. I was wrong; EAST is much more…it is an experience.

EAST is the get-up-and-go for kids to help others, work, and… improve their communities. My EAST program —which I must say is one of the hardest working in Arkansas — helped raise money for our local animal shelter, helped the Arkansas Game & Fish with Stream Team and even tried to give kids a chance to fly over our community with the help of our local airport, just to name a few of our projects.

EAST to me has become a complete game changer in the way I think. I used to just not care about what goes on around my city, but EAST made me want to be involved. I started off with helping out with the MVHS EAST website. I absolutely did not know anything about editing, fixing, making articles, or anything to do with a website. With the help of my facilitator, Mrs. Jackson, and the Internet, I taught myself how to do all this. This I must say was anything but simple!

I suppose you could call EAST a journey for each individual student — a journey were you find out what your goals are and where you are headed; and when you get started the obstacles appear. These obstacles conflict with the “want to”; but it is the obstacles that motivate us to keep on trucking. Once we have overcome our obstacles, the job becomes easier and our journey can end.

That is how I view EAST and all of our projects. EAST has affected my life extremely by teaching me skills such as answering the phone and talking to businessmen and women, and collaborating with others. (Such as when I collaborated with a man in Belgium to improve his Dooodl widget, which you can find on our website). http://www.mvschools.net/east/

I cannot express enough in words what EAST means to me. I believe if you have the “want to”, you will experience the beauty of this magnificent program that we know as EAST.