At SCVi Charter School in Santa Clarita, faculty members run their classrooms based on the belief that education should “belong to the kids,” empowering them to take ownership of their learning.

Matt Watson, host of SCVi Charter School’s “Eye on the Valley” on KHTS Radio, noted that this belief is evident in the terms school officials use, describing teachers as facilitators and students as learners. 

“We are not teachers, we’re facilitators,” Watson said, “because the learning, the knowledge doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to our kids. The education belongs to the kids.” 

Through a project-based learning model, learners are able to take ownership of their education by incorporating the things they enjoy and are passionate about into regular assignments, according to Kevin Becker, a facilitator at SCVi/iLead. 

“One of the nice things about project-based learning … is that it becomes a tandem journey for us and the kids together,” Becker said. “People ask me if the kids are in charge, (do) they pick what they learn. No, but they get to pick more how they learn it.” 

As an English facilitator at the charter school in Santa Clarita, Becker combines more traditional methods of learning, such as essays, with creative projects that learners get to choose for themselves. 

For example, his learners are currently focusing on kindness after reading a nonfiction book telling the story of a city that came together to help impacted travelers following the tragic events of 9/11. 

Becker asked his learners to find a recent act of human kindness, which so far has ranged from those who have supported the victims of the Orlando shooting to a man who paid for other people’s meals in the drive-thru at McDonald’s. 

“Our question is, how can we learn about that and bring it to our community?” Becker explained. “They do have to write a standard APA-style research paper, … but then afterwards they get to memorialize this act of kindness of theirs in any way that they’re interested in.”

Depending on the learners’ passions, some have decided to make short films, while others are writing songs or creating comic books, paintings and mosaics. 

Becker noted that when he was a kid, if he had been given just an essay topic alone, he would have completed the assignment somewhat begrudgingly before moving onto the next one. 

But if a creative project had been assigned as well, like the opportunity to use his love of theater by creating a play on the topic and performing it, it would have been an entirely different experience for him. 

“I would have been all about it and I would have learned so much more,” he said. “I think that’s why I love project-based learning and why I love being able to not be a driver, but to be equally in tandem with the kids.”

In addition to encouraging learners to pursue their passions, the unique approach of the charter school in Santa Clarita has been shown to help learners who were previously struggling with more traditional schooling find their purpose, according to Becker. 

“Sometimes kids need something different, and I think that we offer that difference in a way that is empowering and helps those kids who are struggling to find their purpose and struggling to find their path go, ‘Oh, I want to do this,’” Becker said. “Instead of (saying), ‘Well, I don’t know how to do that, I can’t help you,’ we can go, ‘Alright, let’s figure it out together.’”

Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent radio show with SCVi/iLead Charter School in Santa Clarita. 

SCVi/iLead is a tuition free charter school in Santa Clarita that uses project-based and social-emotional learning concepts to inspire and motivate lifelong learners with the skills they need to lead in the 21st century. Technology is incorporated into all components of the curriculum, and learners are given a firm grounding in the arts, humanities and sciences. School officials value and encourage development of leadership skills by inspiring character and confidence in learners. SCVi/iLead offers transitional kindergarten (TK) through 12th grade, providing a unique learning opportunity for those in need of a kindergarten in Santa Clarita, elementary school in Santa Clarita, jr high in Santa Clarita, middle school in Santa Clarita or high school in Santa Clarita. 

SCVi/iLead

28060 Hasley Canyon Rd.

Castaic, CA 91384

Lower School: 661-705-4820

Upper School: 661-705-8420

SCVi/iLead – Santa Clarita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cax6UX0a4fc

SCVi/iLead, High School in Santa Clarita, Middle School in Santa Clarita, Jr High School in Santa Clarita, Elementary School in Santa Clarita, Kindergarten in Santa Clarita, Charter School in Santa Clarita, Tuition Free