Experiential education
Published 9:47 am Wednesday, April 24, 2019
We would like to take a moment to offer wholehearted commendation to Central High School, the Lunenburg Rotary Club and the governments of Lunenburg County, the Town of Victoria and the Town of Kenbridge.
It was the partnership of those institutions that led to the creation of something that we think is an outstanding educational opportunity — the annual Student Government Day.
In the classroom, often important and hard-to-explain ideas are conveyed on the verbal level, through lecture, with some supporting illustration included on a marking board or chalkboard or maybe via a video. Perhaps a teacher may employ other innovative methods, but what if they didn’t have to in some instances?
The partnered institutions listed above took that question seriously, affording students the chance to observe county and town officials in person at their offices as they perform their daily tasks.
It is a special thing when every part of a student’s sensory experience supports the learning process because they are in the environment they are learning about.
This circumstance likely enabled students to ask questions and to interact directly with the people and organizations that are the subjects of some of their lessons at school, taking them from the conceptual to the actual. Who could ask for a better learning opportunity?
Now some of this opportunity would obviously be difficult to arrange. After all, if students were going to observe the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors during one of its regular meetings, that would involve them assembling at school on a Thursday evening and being bused to the Lunenburg Courts Building.
But the board removed those scheduling and transportation difficulties by simply holding its April meeting during the morning in the school gymnasium, bringing the learning experience to the students.
Students were even joined at the meeting by a couple of state government officials — District 75 Del. Rosalyn Tyler and District 15 State Senator Frank Ruff.
We thank the aforementioned institutions for facilitating the phenomenal learning experience known as the annual Student Government Day.