In 2012, the Center for Efficacy and Resiliency began a school improvement project (Your Future Now) at Scriber Lake High School in Edmonds, Washington.
Funded by College Spark Washington, the
goal is to create a culture of self-efficacy and resiliency, thereby increasing
the number of low income students who graduate from high school and enter
college.
Scriber Lake is an alternative school, often described as a “last
chance” for most of its students. A few months earlier, narrative writing
students at the school had published a book of their personal stories, titled We Are Absolutely Not Okay. Two more
books and two plays followed, and the fourth student-authored book is in
progress.
Although Your Future Now came to Scriber Lake
after the first book was published, it has had an impact on subsequent narrative
writing activities, including a curriculum designed around the Common Core
Learning Standards. The writing instructor describes the project’s emphasis on
resiliency as being “a crucial part of everything we do.”
The Scriber Lake culture has changed significantly since Your
Future Now began two years ago. Suspension rates are down,
adult/student power struggles are fewer, and students who once “just wanted a
diploma” are now talking about college and making plans for the future. Adult-student
conversations are also much less confrontational.
An article in the Seattle
Times, ”Education
Lab Blog,” features current narrative writing students at Scriber Lake. Although
not mentioned specifically, Your Future Now has had a
significant impact on how these students view and describe their pasts and
futures. It illustrates clearly how a simple event here can become a game changer
over there, which in turn affects the culture of an entire organization. A
wonderful example of complexity in action.
