Casey Fletcher: I’m wondering if you’ve learned anything about each other.

Student: I feel like us bouncing off of each other and trying to help each other really pushed us.

Student: As a whole crew, I kind of learned that we can really buckle down and get our stuff done when we need to.

Arria Coburn: Because our students participate in crew every day, they have safety, consistency, and accountability. And they have people that they can count on.

Student: School-wise, we all have the same things going on, and then, we have our lives. It’s like we all are in the same boat.

Teacher: Life isn’t all about going at it alone. We’re up there to support you when you don’t necessarily have the skills or tools that you need.

Arria Coburn: The Springfield Renaissance is a six through twelve expeditionary learning school. Our mission is to provide a rigorous academic program in a small, personalized setting for all students. EL education gets at character development in the academic piece. And so, it’s educating the whole child.

Student: Life is filled with events that can change you all the time. And that’s why life is really the way it is. It’s a beautiful thing.

Casey Fletcher: So our version of advisory is called crew. And the reason that we call it crew is because of the foundation of expeditionary learning being we are crew, not passengers. And so, this idea that, as a crew, we are on the journey together. We’re all rowing the same boat.

We have been in a crazy week. Right?

Every day, the same 13 students meet, and we are together from freshman year up until senior year.

Student: Last year, I came in with absolutely no knowledge.

Casey Fletcher: Crew is everything about personalized learning, because it’s the place where we get to know our students as people. How many teachers get to say that they engage deeply with the same small group of students every single day with the intention of digging into who they are as learners, as people, their interests, their hopes, their dreams, their fears?

Arria Coburn: A solid crew is one that feels like a family, operates like a family, and is a support system for all students.

Student: I remember in the 8th grade —

Casey Fletcher: Every day, you’re going to see a circle up. There’s the physical act of circling up, that establishing of community, of looking at each other in the eyes, of greeting each other, of saying I see you; I am here.

So we’re going to continue the energy around the circle. And just remember respect of the talking piece. Right?

Maurice: The talking piece is a rock. Our crew’s very hectic. We all have opinions. We all like to talk. So the talking piece is a sign of respect. Like, you have the talking piece, so you talk, and I’m just going to sit here and be quiet and listen to your opinion, until the rock comes to me.

Casey Fletcher: Having those daily routines and structures in place anchors them in each other because the routine is predictable. And that helps students feel safe.

Student: Yeah. I feel like we could all get it done.

Casey Fletcher: What we do in that circle is going to look different from day to day.

Maurice: I will stop working on everything else and focus on that one thing and then be late to pass at something else. So I just got to get my time management under control.

Casey Fletcher: This has been the crunch week. So in the midst of all of that, I’m wondering how you’re feeling.

Maurice: Looked at my– what my final overall grade will be–

Casey Fletcher: Sophomore year, there’s a lot of do this, meet these deadlines, make it happen. If we don’t give them the chance to debrief for themselves, the meaning behind why we’re doing these things is completely lost.

Student: Even if you do good on a piece of work, it’s like, you can still look back on it and be, like, yeah. I could have did that better.

Karelys: Until this year, to be honest with you, I wasn’t actually doing anything in my life. I was going to school just to go to it. That’s it.

It’s like class where I get to relax and you get– if– it’s like a sense of like calm, because we talk about all the stress that’s building up with us and how we could help each other.

But this year, a lot of stuff happened. I have two jobs now. I’m actually trying to get a good grade in school.

Arria Coburn: Your crew teacher is saying, yeah, you can do this. And when you fall short, your crew teacher is there to say this is not what we agreed to. How can I support you? And also, your crew teacher is advocating for you. And so, there are crew teachers who are sending e-mails to their colleagues saying, hey, my crew son is really working hard, but needs a little bit of help. And so, crew is just so important for that character development and social-emotional support for our students.

Student: Seeing everyone working together as a team, knowing that we really struggle with that sometimes, it kind of felt good, like we’re actually doing things together and actually trying to make a difference.

Casey Fletcher: There’s a level of intimacy. And having such a small group–

Let’s circle up, you all.

We’re going through the highs and the lows that any family would, but, in the end, we’re there with each other.

Students: One, two, three, go crew.

Casey Fletcher: All right.

Schools That Work

The Springfield Renaissance School