The 2017-2018 school year will end with a five-day high-interest study program, YES – Year End Studies. During YES, students will be offered non-traditional, project- based, experiential courses. Students may choose classes based solely on personal interests or courses that expand on the subject matter students learned throughout the school year. These classes, designed by teachers to meet the interests of middle school students, expand student knowledge and skills beyond the South Carolina curriculum standards. Also, the learning opportunities go beyond the walls of McCracken and will allow students to make connections with our community.
Some objectives for the YES program are:
- Students will have the opportunity to learn beyond the SC standards for teaching and learning.
- Students will enjoy and engage in learning in which they are truly interested and were able to personally choose.
- Students will connect with the Spartanburg community and experience the meaning of citizenship.
- Students will develop an awareness of the community around them and how they fit into it.
- Students will be exposed to career opportunities.
The highlight of the YES program will culminate with a Presentation of Learning (POL) day. Parents and community members will be invited to POL to see presentations from students about what they have learned during the five-day program. We want our students to share with our entire county of stakeholders what they have learned through this experience and how they have applied traditional academics to a real life learning experiences.
We want students to fall in love with learning and Spartanburg! It is our desire to develop each student’s talent and help each student become aware of the many opportunities for them to be involved in the Spartanburg community. Hopefully, much of the talent we help develop in students will one day be invested locally and will provide a better future for Spartanburg. We are hopeful that through participation in the YES program students will develop the necessary soft skills to be successful in the workplace. Finally, our desire is for students to become engaged citizens, be proud of Spartanburg and to give back to a community that has been so good to them.
Finally, TransformSC is an education initiative of New Carolina whose goal is to create a new system of learning that will produce high school graduates ready to compete in a global economy without losing sight of soft skills necessary to keep a job. By adding YES to the McCracken school year we are enhancing student learning opportunities and their ability to compete in a global marketplace. Schools have always been good at passing on knowledge and skill sets to students, which are essential for getting and job, but soft skills, such as career and life characteristics are sometime hard to fit in the tradition. Some of those essential career characteristics are perseverance, self-confidence, communication, integrity and self-direction. The YES program is going to allow us to focus on the essential career and life characteristics that are going to make McCracken students well rounded and read to compete in our global society.