Models of Excellence

Tenth grade students at High Tech High in San Diego, California created a book of economic terms and concepts with original student art.

Third and fourth grade students at the Santa Fe School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Fe, New Mexico created a guide on energy sources and alternative energy. The book was created for younger children and though largely text-based, includes drawings as well.

Seventh grade students at the Harmon Middle School in Aurora, Ohio created booklets as part of a case study of Japanese internment within a broader study of World War II.

First grade students at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning in Denver, Colorado created this field guide as part of a learning expedition on birds.

Eighth-grade students at Pioneer Charter School (now Polaris Expeditionary Learning School) in Fort Collins, Colorado created a historical character file as part of a learning expedition on slavery. The process took two months and included multiple drafts of writing and artwork.

Eighth grade students from the Four Rivers Charter School, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, created a book of “monologues of community cultivators.” Students studied people from their community, who both through their vocation or avocation, worked on behalf of their local communities and “gave back”

After learning about DNA, students had to explain if the giant panda was a closer relative to bears or to raccoons by creating a comic strip.