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Nimitz VISTAS
"You cannot educate or know a kid whose voice
you don't listen to, whose interests are a mystery, whose
family is excluded, and whose feelings are viewed as
irrelevant to the educational process," states Dennis Littky
from The Big Picture.
About seven years ago, the Nimitz
administrative team and the counselors decided to implement
a student/teacher advisory session. Since then, the program
has evolved into what it is today.
The primary goal of this program is to
help develop relationships amongst the teachers, the
students and the parents. It is our belief as a campus,
that if you want to help in the development of the successes
of a student, then you must first build a relationship with
them. A few key components to a students academic
development include:
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- Guidance
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- Motivation
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- Leadership Skills
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- Effectiveness
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- Community / Parent Involvement
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- Life Lessons
These are just a few
highlights of the skills that the Nimitz VISTAS program
strives to teach their students. We encourage our parents
to become active participants in the development of their
son or daughter. Every year, the Nimitz staff spends a
Saturday afternoon communicating with parents about the
academic progress of their child. This event is held in the
Nimitz cafeteria on the first Saturday of April.
The VISTAS program is divided into four
different curriculum areas. First, the ninth grade students
receive lessons that deal with character development and
building relationships as their primary focus. Second, the
sophomore students spend the majority of their time talking
about and formulating ideas on careers and goals. Third,
the eleventh grade focus is centered around college and
career goals. Last, twelfth grade students learn how to
develop a plan of action for college and their careers.
Probably the most beneficial aspect of
this program is that from start to finish, from 9th grade to
12th grade, the students have an advisory teacher that
service them and stays with them for their 4 years at Nimitz
High School. Basically, this program has given us a more
localized or individualized approach to teaching our student
about ways to become productive assets in society. |
