In Joe’s class, students completed an engineering project where they designed and built trays.
“The project’s challenge was that hotels were using boring trays,” Joe said. “The objective was that students had to use their skills to construct new trays using the design process.”
According to Megan Sanders, projects at METSA aren’t focused on one type of learner.
“They’re for all learners. Projects create relevance and the need to find out information, and the want to find information and learn. For the student who is not a straight A student, it’s an incredible opportunity to find out information, learn at their own pace and be pushed in different directions,” she said.
Through teamwork and project-based learning, METSA students increase their understanding of how to succeed in college classrooms and eventually, in the workplace.
“Using teamwork, you can interact with other people and learn from other people, and utilize each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” said Ashley White, a freshman at METSA. “This school helps us realize how it’s going to be when we get older and have jobs. We’ll know how to work together as a team.”
Even though the school uses a non-traditional approach to learning, academic success is expected.
“We get graded based on our teamwork and the project we worked on. Even our fellow team members give us grades based on leadership and accountability,” said freshman Paul Perez. “We evaluate each other to learn how to do better next time.”
Megan Sanders, who teaches English, believes that project-based learning, and the teamwork that it requires, lays a good foundation and teaches students how to communicate effectively. “I think it gives them real-world skills, social skills,” she said. “They’re stuck in that group. It’s for a grade, and they gradually learn communications skills. We hope they apply them to the real world.” She continued, “These are skills that kids need to be successful. Out in the industries and when communicating with peers or fellow students to get a project done, one of the design process steps is brainstorming, and the more communication between students, the better.” |  |
Innovative teachers, engaged learners
METSA employs almost exclusively first-year teachers to implement project-based learning, a new concept on most high school campuses
“In the end, I thought it would be harder to un-train experienced teachers, so we decided to go with a combo approach,” said Mansoureh Tehrani, director of METSA. “One teacher was already familiar with project-based learning, but the rest were brand new.”
Although METSA teachers are new to the classroom, the school offers extensive support systems to ensure success for both the students and the educator.
“The teachers have three periods per day that they do not teach,” said Ms. Tehrani. “In one of their off periods they work together on planning projects, sharing ideas and becoming critical to one another’s project. During other off periods, they meet with team leaders and have a conference period when they can meet with parents. This has been a huge help.”
METSA students recognize and appreciate the differences between teachers at typical high schools and their own.
“We interact with teachers more. In a regular school, teachers are busy dealing with students’ behavior and can’t communicate with you,” said Ashley. “They help, but they also encourage you to ask questions of your peers. When you’re in a classroom and a teacher tells you a lesson, in a group, at least one person understands it and can help the others.”
Graduating conscientious citizens
Although the academy is housed inside a traditional ninth-through-twelfth grade high school, its focus on college preparatory math and science classes, atmosphere of Respect, Responsibility and Trust, and project-based learning achieve success in a non-traditional manner.
 | “Most projects that we do are related to the real world. In ‘normal’ school, they teach you to pass the TAKS test. Here, they prepare you for the real world,” said Tyler Gardner, a freshman at METSA. Students and teachers recognize the project-based approach as one that gives them a variety of skills, all which will help them become ‘life ready,’ and able to achieve success through graduation and beyond. “We’re teaching them to take notes. Teaching them where pertinent information is and how to recognize it, along with things like English and writing skills,” said Megan Sanders. “Even in their science and math classes, they’re given a grade on writing. There’s an emphasis on group work. We’re teaching them how to look at information and organize it in a relevant way.” |
Inspiring lifelong learners
METSA students have many reasons to work toward academic success, but family is at the forefront.
“My motivation is to be first in family to attend college. I\'d5m looking forward to completing that,” said Paul Perez. “Here at METSA, you basically get a sneak peak of college. How it’s going to work…letting us know what’s going to happen.”
Ashley wants to inspire younger generations.
“I have a brother who’s younger than me,” she said. “I want to show him that he can do it too. It is tough here because it’s hard to work with different people, but in college we will work with other people.”
The leaders at METSA aspire to serve as role models while leading students toward their individual goals.
“There’s not a single day that we don’t reiterate that we’re here to learn, and will continue to learn, and they see us learn from each other. Students see that we expect the same thing for ourselves that we expect for them,” said Ms. Tehrani.
“When I think of how far the students have come, I think of how far I have come as a teacher and a person. I’ve learned to really listen to the students, that’s the most important thing,” said Megan Sanders. “They see that, so when they come to the classroom, they feel it’s their home, where people listen to them and care about them. They take more pride in their work and take more responsibility for it.”