HomeHomehttp://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2012-01-09T21:56:30ZSquarespaceScience program pushes the envelope at FBRA!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/11/9/science-program-pushes-the-envelope-at-fbra.htmlWill Yeiser2011-11-09T10:28:05Z2011-11-09T10:28:05ZParent volunteer Dr. John Ende (a physician at Asheville Radiology) assists 8th grade students in a "classic" biology lab activity--a fetal pig dissection.Eighth grade students at FBRA are partaking in a scientific experiment this year--they are all taking high-school level biology. Taught by former Asheville High biology teacher and FBRA founder David Byers, the students are now immersed in high-school level biology lectures, homework assignments, laboratory activities, and high-school level biology tests.
"The goal of this course is to have all the 8th-graders take and pass the North Carolina end-of-course (EOC) standardized biology exam at the end of the school year in May", said Byers. "That's a new challenge for both the students and teacher, as it is a course designed for students in grades 9-12. The students will all have to push themselves to learn all the new and complex biological vocabulary they'll need to know to pass the EOC, as well as fully grasp all the biological concepts covered throughout the course."
Recently, the 8th graders conducted a "classic" high school biology lab activity: a fetal pig dissection. "We were so grateful to have the help and expertise of a real medical doctor during the pig dissection", said Byers. Parent volunteer John Ende--a practicing physician at Asheville Radiology--assisted with the fetal pig dissection. "Parent volunteers have added tremendous energy and momentum to our entire program here at FBRA. Thanks to their motivation, expertise, and donated time, we have been able to boost our students' academic accomplishments to a whole new level."
]]>Dig the Du results!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/10/10/dig-the-du-results.htmlWill Yeiser2011-10-10T11:52:18Z2011-10-10T11:52:18ZRunners take off at the starting lineThe inaugural "Dig the Du" (DTD) Duathlon was a huge success...thanks to race coordinator Daphne Kirkwood, the race committee, and all the volunteers for making DTD such a safe and smooth event! We look forward to "Dig the Du" in 2012. Click on the links below to see the race results:
]]>Salamanders wrap up another successful year!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/6/15/salamanders-wrap-up-another-successful-year.htmlWill Yeiser2011-06-15T14:43:21Z2011-06-15T14:43:21ZYear two at the French Broad River has concluded with a bang. Students, staff, and parents gathered at the End-of-Year Celebration alongside with incoming students and their families with musical performances, food, recognitions, and reflections on the 2010-11 year. The salamander staff is working hard this summer to prepare for the upcoming year but also taking in some due relaxation. With nearly full enrollment, new opportunities in Costa Rica, access to the Nantahala river, and countless other developments, 2011-12 is poised to be the best year yet!
]]>Service Learning vs. Community Servicehttp://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/5/3/service-learning-vs-community-service.htmlWill Yeiser2011-05-03T13:12:59Z2011-05-03T13:12:59ZChristian Mace measures the pH of water during a field-lesson at RiverLink.Many students across the United States participate in community service activities throughout their school years. These activities often include serving food at a local shelter for the homeless or picking up trash at a local community center. While these activities fulfill an important need in a community and expose students to issues and conditions that they might not otherwise experience, “community service” projects tend to be isolated experiences with no clear connection to a school’s mission, vision, curriculum, or purpose. There is little to no preparation to provide contextual understanding, and there is often very little follow-up, reflection, or recognition of the activity.
On the other hand, service learning involves a whole new level of commitment, planning, and overall effort. “It begins with preparation and learning about the particular problem area or context the service experience will address and, ideally, is linked to academic subject matter being studied,” according to Maurice Elias of Edutopia.Students examine a raised-relief map at the headwaters of the French Broad.
Simply by being enrolled at the French Broad River Academy, students immediately have exposure and multiple experiences on the French Broad River. At the French Broad River Academy, the entire academic curriculum, the outdoor education program, the physical location of the school, the weekly field-lessons, and just about everything we do is connected to the French Broad River and the surrounding watershed.
For instance, all 6th grade students paddle the entire French Broad River from the headwaters in Rosman to the North Carolina/Tennessee border over the course of their first year. The journey down the river combined with the science, math, language arts, and social studies activities over the course of the year provides a powerful, unique level of understanding that can not be replicated by a textbook or magazine article.
This sets the stage for a powerful service learning experience as students continue to build upon their knowledge and understanding of the challenges facing the French Broad River. 7th graders participate in a three-week long “water quality” course taught by Hayley Smith, education coordinator from RiverLink, visit the waste-water treatment plant, year by partnering with provide a deep, meaningful connection to this unique waterway.
8th graders are planning to partner with RiverLink and local river keeper Hartwell Carson to help construct and maintain a campsite which will be part of the French Broad Paddle Trail during the upcoming 2011-12 year as their capstone project.
“In addition to producing academically prepared young men for success in the 21st century, our students and faculty are very clear about our academy’s purpose. Whether water-related or not, we want our graduates thinking deeply about how will they contribute to the betterment of society,” explains Director Will Yeiser.]]>Salamanders in Costa Rica!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/3/28/salamanders-in-costa-rica.htmlWill Yeiser2011-03-28T12:00:27Z2011-03-28T12:00:27ZWilly Kates and Rutledge Riddle dig into some coconuts.7th grade students from the French Broad River Academy are currently in Costa Rica as part of their 2011 international field-experience. In addition to staying with a Costa Rican host family, students will spend a week attending classes at a Costa Rican school, complete a service-project, visit local attractions, and make concrete connections to science, math, language arts, social studies, and Spanish learning objectives. Click here to see more pictures. ¡Pura Vida 2011!Drew Harrison meets his host student on the first day in Heredia. ]]>Jammin' for Japan!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/3/16/jammin-for-japan.htmlWill Yeiser2011-03-16T16:27:45Z2011-03-16T16:27:45ZFrench Broad River Academy and Hanger Hall raised over $200 funds for tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Music ensembles from both schools performed at Seven Star Studios, located at the south end of RiverView Station. Click here to see footage from the performances. If you were unable to attend but would still like to make a dontaion, click the following link: American Red Cross Disater Relief Fund for Japan.
]]>“Great Expectations” for FBRA readers!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/2/3/great-expectations-for-fbra-readers.htmlWill Yeiser2011-02-03T17:54:44Z2011-02-03T17:54:44ZFBRA students launched their novel study of Charles Dickens and the literary classic Great Expectations this week in Language Arts class. Although the text will be challenging at the middle school level, a recent Educational Leadership article makes a compelling case on the importance of mastering complex texts slowly and it’s connection to success in high school, college, and the competitive world beyond!
Emory University professor Mark Bauerlein presents some alarming statistics:
· 29% of students in four-year public colleges are required to take remedial classes.
· 43% of students in two-year public colleges must take remedial classes.
· 30 % of U.S. college freshmen drop out.
What’s the difference between students who are ready to succeed in college and those who aren’t? According to a 2006 ACT study, college-ready and college-unready students are similarly proficient at grasping the main idea, word meanings, and supporting evidence in most passages. The difference is that college-unready students can’t make sense of complex texts – passages with dense meanings, elaborate structure, sophisticated vocabulary, and subtle authorial intentions – for example, a U.S. Supreme Court decision, an epic poem, or an ethical treatise.
Why do so many students flounder with complex texts? They haven’t had enough experience and practice; they’ve skated through school reading texts that they could grasp with a quick, superficial reading. “Unready students might be just as intelligent and motivated as the ready ones are,” says Bauerlein, “but they don’t possess the habits and strategies needed to carry on.”
Can digital books and technology aids help? Actually, Bauerlein thinks they’re part of the problem since they’re geared to quick skimming and rapid-fire thinking. To be prepared to read complex texts successfully, students must learn to downshift and acquire the following qualities:
• A willingness to probe – “Readers need to be patient enough to ponder a single sentence for a few minutes,” he says, “because many complex texts aren’t just purveyors of information, but expressions of value and perspectivee.”
• The capacity for uninterrupted reading – Complex texts are too dense to allow for rapid exit and reentry. “They often originate in faraway times and places and discuss ideas and realities entirely unfamiliar to the modern teenager,” he says. “To comprehend what they say requires a suspension of present concerns.”
• An openness to deep thinking – “Readers can’t skim the opening paragraphs of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance and exclaim, ‘Yeah – that’s the truth!’ and rest,” says Bauerlein. They have to read it all the way through and wrestle with the ideas.
This is the opposite of what many teens experience in the world of Web 2.0, which celebrates quick response and empowers people to say what they think. “Complex texts aren’t so easily judged,” he says. “Often they force adolescents to confront the inferiority of their learning, the narrowness of their experience, and they recoil when they should succumb. Modesty is a precondition of education, but the Web teaches them something else: the validity of their outlook and the sufficiency of their selves, a confidence ruinous to the growth of a mind.”
Bauerlein isn’t suggesting that schools go Luddite, but he does believe it’s essential to give students more exposure to measured, thoughtful reading of complex texts. “The key is to regularize the instruction and make slow reading exercises a standard part of the curriculum.”
See Language Arts teacher Jason Martin in action below:
]]>Rockin' the River-by Jason Martinhttp://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/1/17/rockin-the-river-by-jason-martin.htmlWill Yeiser2011-01-17T20:18:45Z2011-01-17T20:18:45ZThe incredible potential of the French Broad River Academy music program was undeniable the first time I saw the Salamander Band rock out in Salamander Hall on a Friday morning. The enthusiasm shared between the core group of student musicians, their classmates, and their teachers was contagious. And who could dismiss the "coincidence" of having 4 out of 5 teachers be musicians of varying levels of experience?
Now look how far we've come. Now, every Salamander (including Mr. Kates!) is learning at least one instrument. The artists we have explored collectively are a Who's Who of modern and classic rock, ranging from The Raconteurs to Stevie Wonder, from Taylor Swift to The Beatles, from The Killers to Journey. We have created four different performance ensembles: Staff Rock, Guitar Ensemble, Keyboard Ensemble, and of course The Salamander Band. Our schedule has evolved into both performance and instrument study classes, and soon we will announce our upcoming performance schedule for Spring 2011.
Our future plans for the music program at FBRA are even more exciting. . .It's a setlist we are writing together in real time, drawing on the classics, the present, and the inherent love of music in all of our souls.
]]>FBRA wraps up year with Open Househttp://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2011/1/4/fbra-wraps-up-year-with-open-house.htmlWill Yeiser2011-01-04T15:29:39Z2011-01-04T15:29:39ZLesson plan for FBRA Open HouseThe French Broad River Academy (FBRA) opened its doors for its second annual Winter Open House just before the Winter recess. The event included a silent auction, a model classroom led by Language Arts teacher Jason Martin, a canoe simulator where participants where able to brave the rapids of the Grand Canyon, and a musical program showcasing four different musical ensembles from the burgeoning FBRA music program.
We look forward to an amazing year in 2010 as we prepare for our international field experience in Costa Rica and continue the mission.
Have a safe and happy New Year and we hope to see you in 2011!
]]>More exercise=more learning!http://www.fbriveracademy.org/home/2010/12/7/more-exercisemore-learning.htmlWill Yeiser2010-12-07T14:50:55Z2010-12-07T14:50:55ZIn addition to our belief that all children, especially boys, need more opportunities to move and exercise than a traditional school setting provides, recent research reinforces our belief that exercise actually improves student chances for academic success. In this recent New York Times article, researchers discovered the following:
9-10-year olds who ran on treadmills performed markedly better than sedentary kids on a variety of cognitive challenges, including the ability to filter out unnecessary information and pay attention to relevant cues.
M.R.I. scans revealed that the fittest children did best on complex memory tests and the scans showed that the hippocampus in these children, the part of the brain that deals with complex memory, was enlarged.
20 minutes of walking just before a test improved scores, even among students who were unfit or overweight.
Better fitness correlated with higher I.Q. scores and more lucrative careers, even among identical twins. There was no correlation between muscle strength and I.Q. It’s clear that aerobic exercise, not strength training, is best for the brain.
For these reasons and more, the French Broad River Academy has and will continue to integrate aerobic physical activity not only into its PE program, but also into outdoor activities such as paddling on the river or skiing on the slopes of Western North Carolina! Click here to see the entire article from the New York Times.
Parent volunteer Dr. John Ende (a physician at Asheville Radiology) assists 8th grade students in a "classic" biology lab activity--a fetal pig dissection.Eighth grade students at FBRA are partaking in a scientific experiment this year--they are all taking high-school level biology. Taught by former Asheville High biology teacher and FBRA founder David Byers, the students are now immersed in high-school level biology lectures, homework assignments, laboratory activities, and high-school level biology tests.
