I believe that excellent health, cultural astuteness, strong communication skills, and technological savvy are key traits that will empower students to become the dynamic global citizens that they will need to be if they are to understand, respect, and work collaboratively with others in our multi-cultural world. In order for students to become enthusiastic participants in a global context, they must feel good about themselves and know intimately their own academic skills and personal strengths. In our schools, teachers must model this self-knowledge and engaged participation.

Out of this belief comes my dream to spark students in our rural, Pre-K through 12 school to develop the stamina and broadmindedness that will allow them to participate in solving the problems we face on our increasingly threatened planet. To achieve this outcome, my project will address the reality that the ideologies of risk-taking, cultural acceptance, self-help, collaboration, and free exchange of ideas that characterize the philosophy of our emerging global society, may often contradict some of the attitudes and values that students have grown up with in rural communities.

My initiative will provide students with two integrated curriculum strands to help counter this situation. The first is a wellness strand that will equip students with lifelong tools to maintain their own wellbeing, and the second is a multi-cultural strand that will encourage them to learn about diverse cultures and global issues through the use of arts and communications technology. A vertical team of teachers will become an in-house resource for designing curriculum materials, pursuing professional development opportunities, and embracing the use of up-to-date technology for student collaboration within the state and around the globe. We will also participate with our students, administration, school board, and community in implementing our district’s strategic action plan, which focuses on developing curriculum in wellness and cultural diversity.

The Blue Mountain Union School has created a professional learning community comprised of faculty, students, administration, school board, and community to design, oversee, and implement the many facets of our cultural diversity and wellness curriculum.

What follows is a list of the major components of the work we have completed to date:

1. A physical activity route with a cluster of fitness stations designed and installed by the PE instructor and a team of faculty has been utilized by PE classes, students during recess, faculty in an after school wellness program, and the community since May of 2012. Signage for two running loops designed by a team of students will be put in place this year.
2. An outdoor classroom, designed by a student using action research and under the mentorship of two faculty members has been used by all ages of our school community since September of 2012. The classroom combines elements of Asian design and local materials with a Torii gate, granite block seating, a raking garden, and a mosaic pathway comprised of tiles made by each student in the school. The space allows us a greater connection to the outdoors, opportunities for change of state, and a laboratory for ongoing artistic creation, multi-cultural study, and celebrations.
3. A chapter of Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together (YATST) began last year to increase student voice in areas of rigor, relevance, and relationships as we work to transform our school. Action research and projects conducted by students led to a student design for this year’s new block schedule, a student protocol for self-assessment and for assessing instruction, increased student participation in parent-teacher conferences, and use of brain research to influence lesson planning. This year, YATST has been worked into the school day as a credit bearing course with multiple pathways for achieving that credit.
4. A long-term artist-in-residence has worked and studied with our students, in partnership with our art teacher, to create the mosaic for the outdoor classroom.
5. Components of a multi-cultural curriculum in the elementary school and a new World Literataure curriculum that includes a technology and a multi-media component for all ninth graders are currently underway.
6. Yoga became part of the elementary school day last year as we participated with a teacher from the community hired to guide elementary faculty and students one day a week over a period of several months. At the high school level, an elective “Eastern Cultures Through Yoga” offers students multiple pathways for credit and combines wellness with diversity in its curriculum.
7. Still to come is artistic and cultural exchange through books written by students that will be shared with pre-schools in Tamil Nadu, India.