THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 4, 1995 TAG: 9504040309
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Fuse the Eastern Shore's past, present and future into a single unit, and you'll come up with the Legacy program at Northampton High School. There, 15 students are learning about their region's history and ecology, while developing skills that could shape the Shore of the 21st century.
Sound complex?
Not to the kids. To them, it's as easy as building . . . kayaks.
``We get to learn a lot of new stuff, and we have a lot of freedom,'' said Vernon Smith, 15, of Cape Charles. His teachers use boat parts, and the way they fit together, to illustrate lessons on sentence structure or DNA.
``It's fun,'' said Smith.
Legacy was born two years ago in a brainstorming session for educators, members of the local historical society, employees of the Nature Conservancy and parents. They wanted to teach students about the Eastern Shore, said Bill McCarter, ``particularly those cultural quirks that make it a different place.''
McCarter teaches English at Northampton High. For three hours each afternoon, joined by history teacher Doug Coburn and biology teacher Tom Bonniwell, work with the Legacy students. Their classroom pulses with energy. Here, the focus isn't on teaching, instructors say; it's on learning.
Legacy students are given a list of the state's Standards of Learning for history, English and biology - descriptions of the information and skills they need to master to pass each course. Then they decide for themselves what they need to do to meet those goals.
``Student-orginated activities are a fundamental element of the program,'' said McCarter. ``The students must feel like they own the learning.''
Last year, among other projects, the kids built a Native American village and produced a cookbook called Fifty Ways to Eat Clams. Chocolate covered clams are actually good, said McCarter.
More importantly, last year's students showed a ``significant increase'' in their standardized test scores compared to the year before, he said. And they got into less trouble than the average student.
Now Legacy students are building kayaks - a project they chose for themselves. Bill Young, a master boat-builder in Willis Wharf, designed the prototype and pattern. Young cut the pine and plywood pieces, and the students assemble them with glue, screws, and teamwork.
By May, each pupil will have a personal boat to use and keep. The class plans to take day-trips to Northampton's seaside marshes to study the wildlife and look for historical artifacts.
``I see it as a nice coupling of skills training and environmental awareness,'' said Warren Flint, director of the Virginia Coast Institute, which donated $1,500 to buy boat-building supplies.
Flint hopes the gift will be an investment in the Eastern Shore's future. Some locals are talking about starting a camp where people would build kayaks and use them to explore the marshes, he said. Legacy graduates would be prime candidates to become camp employees.
Meanwhile, the teens have amazed themselves with the boldness of their project. Most have never been on the water, and few swim well. Andrea Richardson of Birdsnest helped test the prototype, which they named a ``marsh-ak,'' in a pond near McCarter's home.
``I was laughing so hard I had to start crying because I was terrified,'' said Richardson. She was afraid the shallow-drafted, flat-bottomed boat would flip over. But it didn't.
That type of success - the confidence that comes with accomplishment - tastes sweet to the Legacy teachers. It's what they're looking for.
``What we're doing is showing them the relationship between their school work, and what they need to learn,'' said McCarter. ILLUSTRATION: JIM WALKER/Staff [color photo]
Learning by doing
Legacy participants Sharon Logan and Greg Harmon caulk the joints on
a kayak. They will use the completed kayaks to explore Northampton's
seaside marshes to learn about the wildlife and look for historical
facts.
by CNB