Strength movement in the classroom
 POTTERSVILLE, N.J. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than 1.2 million high school students drop out each year. That's six thousand a day. Many educators believe that's because our schools have become too focused on our children's weaknesses. Now there's a new approach that doesn't only focus on the three R's when it comes to a student's success.
A bright and lively high school freshman, Grace Jenkins was an academic failure.
"Each student takes a class where they learn about what their strengths are." Jenifer Fox, president of the Purnell School and author of Your Child's Strenghs, told Ivanhoe. Fox created the strengths program. Grace began to thrive. "My strengths are relating to people. I am really good spicing up the room. I am really good at getting people motivated," Grace said. Now a junior, she was just accepted to college. "It's amazing to me how a school can do that to a person," said Grace. It does this through the school's affinities program -- an intensive, hands on four-year curriculum where students discover and develop their strengths. A strength is a skill that you love to do. Some critics, though, say the program fails to focus on fundamentals, especially for students like Grace. Especially when new reports from UNICEF show 70-percent of eighth-graders read below grade level and 30-percent of college freshmen need to repeat high school classes. The Purnell School is a college prep school and the Affinities program can be used as a compliment to traditional curriculum. "People will criticize and say, well she has to be able to read, and I say, she can read, and her reading will only improve in so far as she feels good about the other things she's doing," said Fox.
If you would like more information, please contact: Jenifer Fox |
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October 15, 2008
- Coos Bay / North Bend, Oregon
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Grace was flunking most of her subjects, and read no better than a fifth grader. Her confidence took a dive. So her parents moved her to a new school with an innovative approach. Instead of focusing on weakness, they nurture strengths.
Like drama, which lifted Grace's confidence, and in the process, her English grades. She's now rehearsing for the lead in the school play.
