Windham High students continue learning through summer ELOs

By Masha Yurkevich

Most students spend their summer vacation on the beach, but four students from Windham High School spent their summer vacation doing an Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO). This student-initiated learning allows students to earn credit while stepping into real-world learning experiences.

WHS rising junior Morgan Willey, second from left, did an
Exploration in Community Service Extended Learning
Opportunity while participating in an MS Bike Ride this
summer in Biddeford. He helped with fundraising and
promoting the MS Bike Ride. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Lorraine Glowczak is the Director of Community Connections for the RSU 14 school district and is the ELO Coordinator at WHS. She acts as a facilitator in the student's learning and assisting them to meet their personal and academic goals and research questions.

“ELO at WHS began in earnest in the Spring of 2022 and are becoming a popular way to explore a career and/or an interest while gaining academic credit,” says Glowczak. “ELOs are offered year-round including the summer months.”

Each ELO is designed around the student to make learning personal and meaningful. Whether it is exploring a career path, connecting classroom knowledge to everyday life, or discovering new passions, ELOs help bring learning to life in exciting ways.

“These opportunities blend academics with experience. Students might complete papers or presentations, but they’ll also take part in project-based learning, internships, or job shadows which are experiences that can’t always be found in a textbook,” says Glowczak. “Most importantly, ELOs give students valuable skills and experiences that can open doors to future careers and college pathways.”

ELOs require the support of local communities and are designed to highlight local expertise and to give students insight into new career options in their communities. Students interested in an ELO must first complete an ELO application and submit it to Glowczak. Once the application has been accepted, the student will meet with Glowczak to develop an essential question and goals. and then will continue to meet with Glowczak on a weekly basis.

Each student provides a final product that will capture all the hands-on research, reflections, and learning in one document, and will then get to showcase their work, reflect on their journey, and demonstrate the skills and knowledge that they have gained by presenting to a small team of ELO mentors and educators.

“ELOs meet Maine's Department of Education 21st Century Life and Career Ready Standards and students are graded on the Maine's Guiding Principles that each Maine student is expected to learn prior to high school graduation,” says Glowczak.

This summer, four students participated in a summer ELO at WHS.

Clayton Johnson, a rising sophomore, did an ELO on Exploration in Ministry and Community. Julia Grondin, a rising senior, did an ELO on Exploration in Environmental Science. Morgan Willey, a rising junior, did an Exploration in Community Service (MS Bike Ride). Mahiro Hammond, a rising sophomore, did an ELO Exploration in Japanese Culture and Language.

Willey’s summer ELO explored Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that disorders the central nervous system, making one paralyzed. Willey decided to help by doing fundraising and spreading the word by participating in an MS bike ride.

“I decided to do my ELO on the National MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Society because I found it to be a great community service project through which I can spread the word about MS, through the project and the bike ride,” Willey said.

For Johnson, this was his second ELO. During his first ELO in Religious Studies, Clayton launched a Bible Club at WHS. This summer, his ELO focused on Street Ministry, where Johnson would go out into highly populated areas and ask people their opinion of Christianity.

“I asked people questions regarding Christianity and would then tie in preaching on a personal level,” says Johnson.

According to Glowczak, a popular question among WHS students is, “What subject can I study in an ELO?”

“The quick answer is if you are interested in learning more about something for career, hobby, interest, etc., then an ELO can be created for you,” she said.

Group ELOs are also available. Last spring, 11 WHS students participated in a Civic Leadership Group ELO. As part of the project, they interviewed their peers about what works well – and what doesn’t – within the school community. They then collected and analyzed the data before presenting their findings to the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, MA in May, WHS staff and administration, as well as RSU 14 Superintendent Christopher Howell and Assistant RSU 14 Superintendent Christine Frost-Bertinet. The Group ELO will be continuing their work for the next school year.

Other Group ELOs to be offered during the upcoming school year include:
"Roots to Ripples" - Exploring Agriculture and Aquaculture.
"Build Your Own Adventure" - through United Way of Southern Maine.
"Time Travel Through Storytelling" - students will get the opportunity to interview people 60 and older to capture their stories, life lessons, etc. <