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Learning, the Tech Valley way

COXSACKIE - For several years, a select handful of students from the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District have headed out to Tech Valley High School for a unique high school experience.

Some of those students shared at a recent meeting of C-A Board of Education their experiences and outlined some educational differences between the district’s schools and Tech Valley’s programs.

One of the biggest differences is that Tech Valley students are immersed in a project-based education, said senior Isabel Gerrain, junior Tim Williams, sophomore Troy O'Neill and freshman Melia Piazza.

Much of their learning takes place in a hands-on manner, oftentimes working on projects and doing internships in the real world, rather than learning based largely on textbooks.

Students there are also challenged to guide their own experiences and be responsible for their own progress. The project-based learning starts off slowly in ninth grade, with more responsibility placed on students' shoulders as they get older.

“As you go on, things get more serious, Gerrain said.

She said that each student gets a unique perspective on what they are learning, and each student's experience differs.

“The good thing about project-based learning is that everyone may learn the same facts, but we all get something different out of it,” Gerrain told the board. “I love learning what other students on my team learned.”