This ongoing, deep professional learning has been made possible thanks to a generous multi-year grant from the Barr Foundation. Beginning in 2023, PHA partnered with High Tech High’s Center for Love & Justice to train our faculty on how to implement relevant and impactful project-based learning (PBL) that places our students at the center of their own learning. PBL is based on the idea that students are more engaged and learn more deeply by actively exploring real-life problems and demonstrating their skills and knowledge through meaningful projects.
On this particular Wednesday, teachers were learning to design units that incorporate a project throughout rather than tacked on at the end. Each grade-level team worked with four to five students to unpack a unit and work through the sequence of activities while receiving real-time feedback, ideas, and insights from the students who will ultimately be engaged in this unit.
Not only was this collaboration hugely beneficial for the teachers who gained a deeper understanding of how to actively engage their students in their learning, but also for the participating students who were in awe of how much work goes into designing their learning experience.
In the students’ own words:
"Being a part of this made me want to do school and be in school. I didn't realize how much work teachers put into planning and creating stuff."
"The more variety there is, the more students will be creative and passionate about the projects. If students can choose to express themselves in different ways they'll be more passionate about their work."
"I appreciate all that the teachers do for us and for allowing us to be a part of the change for the students so that the students can learn. And I appreciate them for inspiring us to push ourselves as we think about our futures and how we can enjoy ourselves while we're in high school."