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08-20-2010
Oak Park Students Receive National Award
Shreveport, LA— Move over Baby Einstein, and make room for a new seri ...

10-11-2010
Oak Park MicroSociety Is Now A Two Star School
Oak Park MicroSociety Elementary School sheds its academically acceptable l ...

 
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What's New » Oak Park Students Receive National Award

Shreveport, LA— Move over Baby Einstein, and make room for a new series of DVDs. Introducing Swing for Dummies, a student-created product that has fellow classmates up on their feet and has danced its way into the hearts of the entire community of Oak Park Elementary School. MICROSOCIETY, a leading national nonprofit organization known for motivating students to succeed using real-world learning environments, recognized the Oak Park student program as a 2010 Outstanding Student Venture of a MicroSociety School at its recent 18th Annual National Conference on Real-World Learning.

The MicroSociety School is a nationally-recognized school reform model that provides a real-world context for rigorous academic learning. Traditional academic subjects are studies, then applied on-the-job during program activities. It is an innovative design where children create a microcosm of the real world inside the school, with each student having a role in running that world. Young entrepreneurs produce goods and services, elected officials establish laws, crime-stoppers keep the piece, judges arbitrate disputes, and reporters track down stories. All citizens earn wages in the school’s “MICRO” currency, invest in product ideas, deposit and borrow money from “MICRO” banks, and pay taxes, tuition and rent. Classroom connections are made throughout the day. Happy Feet is a highly-successful student-led venture that is part museum, part dance studio. Students researched the history of swing dance, learned the dance moves, and

then produced their debut instructional DVD, Swing for Dummies, an instant hit. Students also provided additional dance lessons for a fee. Kindergarteners through fifth graders were manufacturers who traced their own feet to create dance mats which carefully show the correct steps and are sold in another student-led business, the MicroSociety gift shop. Grade level expectations are completely aligned in K through 5 so that “employees” as well as “customers” are demonstrating the benchmarks in their state standards in math, language arts, music and art. The popularity of the video led to the development of a whole series of dance tapes.

“The students deserve this recognition for being leaders, entrepreneurs, and critical thinkers. This venture is not only a model for wannabe Happy Feet dancers in other MicroSociety schools but one for parent and community engagement as well,” noted Carolynn King Richmond, President and CEO, of MICROSOCIETY. “Teachers Shannon Henderson and John Collins, who facilitated the business, never took the lead! They empowered students to be creative learners who dream big and act on those dreams.”

Oak Park MicroSociety Elementary was officially removed from state-mandated corrective action this summer, after making tremendous gains on the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) test.