Loose Leaf Notes

– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press newspaper on January 7, 2016

Springhouse Community School (SHCS) had its first of the year Presentation Night Thursday evening, December 17, 2015, at the Floyd EcoVillage, where the school is located.  The event was open to the public and featured student exhibits, tri-fold table displays and multi-media project presentations.  Attendees were encouraged to ask students questions about their presentations.
School Advisor and Director of Family Engagement Jenny Finn explained the project based learning model to about 100 family and community members who attended. Along with project based learning classes – such as this semester’s civics, conscious consumerism, Spanish, language arts, math, and a green building design class – students “have the opportunity to study and deepen what they love through projects of their choosing,” Finn said.

She described the rigorous process the students undertake in developing a project proposal, meeting with advisors and mentors, researching and preparing to present what they have learned to the community.  “We apply learning targets of Virginia Standards of Learning to their project work,” Finn said.

Two students acting as defense and prosecution lawyers replayed opening arguments from a mock trial they had recently engaged in during a civics class.  The class, which also covered American Government, was taught by local lawyer Alan Grof with Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Hupp acting as judge in the mock trial.

Gabby Howard (above), who commutes from Blacksburg to attend the project-based high school, presented a film trailer to a documentary on abandoned buildings in the NRV that she is working on.  Howard explained that her project is ongoing and involves filming, script writing, interviewing and editing.  She said she became curious about the different laws around abandoned buildings and that in some countries the homeless can inhabit abandoned buildings and even eventually own them.  Her research also covered organizations that are reclaiming abandoned buildings and developing them into useful spaces.

Four students presented their collective work on a green building design project, which concluded with the presentation of a 3D on-screen walking tour of their final design.  Challenged by EcoVillage owners to design an off-grid, 500 square foot cottage with a $30,000 budget, the students designed scale model floor plans, learned to use google sketchup, researched materials and costs, explored the use of a solar electrical system and were introduced to Autocad.  The students were mentored by local timber framers, solar electrical contractors, a soil scientist, students from Virginia Tech and spent time with the local building code inspector to learn about building code requirements.

Yeshe Cooley’s exhibit on Japan included Japanese food, some of which she made for the evening.  Cooley (above), a ninth grader who is being mentored by a Japanese Outreach Coordinator from Ferrum College, has proposed a study abroad in Japan for her junior year. She is being supported to plan a fundraiser and has set up an internet Gofundme page for that purpose.  Another student is working towards a student exchange in France. 

Thirteen-year-old Ben Pierce (far right) presented some history and technical background on the harmonica. He was mentored to learn to play the instrument by Jake Retting (left), an intern from Radford University who assists with language arts at the school.  As part of the presentation Pierce and Retting performed a song for the audience.

One student who presented a Graffiti art exhibit said he is pursuing creating a mural for a local business. Other exhibits focused on endangered sea turtles, computer programming, gardening, creating a youtube channel, exploring the standards of beauty in modern culture and more.  – Colleen Redman

At the close of the evening of presentation Joy Gardner (GM) and Greg Sapp (CEO) from Citizens Telephone Cooperative presented a check and pledge of support for an upcoming hydrogen fuel cell car project that SHCS students will be working on next semester.  Students will be designing and building a remote control car and traveling to Florida in April to compete with other high school teams in the Horizon Hydrogen Automotive Challenge. The total value of support from Citizens is worth $1,820 in technology and cash.  Clark Gas and Oil has also contributed financial support for the project. Pictured are SHCS board member Beth Quinn, Joy Gardner, Greg Sapp and SHCS Board Chair Steve Weber.  – Colleen Redman

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