At Ridgewood High School, we know all students are capable of learning at a high level. Sometimes we are tasked with finding out what students are passionate about and allowing them to learn in ways that are meaningful to them.
Our Geometry in Construction (GIC) course has been active and progressing since 2015. This year we were able to evolve this course even more by creating the METT Cohort, which is a combination of English, Science and Math classes. These classes all revolve around the general idea of construction. For example, in the science classes they are learning about renewable energy along with waste management pertaining to “the house.” The Students are able to learn about all the different energy sources that can be used along with the pros and cons of them. Although it is a science class, it also dabbles in World Cultures because the students are able to see where the energy comes from a global standpoint and see how it impacts the regions where the energy comes from.
About 32 students signed up for the program and are in the METT Cohort together. Through recruitment, these students have shown interest in diving deeper into the world of construction. In this cohort the students are all in the same GIC, English and science classes. In those classes, the work they are doing revolves around the work they are doing in GIC.
“It’s in the initial phases, but the goal is every year the projects become more, they do more combined projects,” said Assistant Principal, Dr. Eric Lasky. “We want to focus on helping students learn in areas they are interested in.”
This cohort allows students, as they learn reading, writing, communication skills along with science and math, to see the reason for learning and the relevancy. This gives the students more motivation and they are able to see they are capable of doing high quality work.