Class Gives Students Hands-On Learning, On-the-Job Experience

Jeff Werner wants to design and build speakers.

He’s not sure what that type of work is called (acoustic, electrical or audio engineering?). But the 16-year-old hopes to find out and figure out if it’s a career he wants to pursue.

"It's just fascinating to me how they're made," he said. "Like, how do you engineer the best shape to create the best sound? I don't know, but I want to."

That’s where iQuest comes in. It’s a new class at that assigns seniors a yearlong project that gives them hands-on experience in a given field.

For some students that could mean getting an old car up and running or learning the ins and outs of medical assisting. Or, for Jeff, it could mean building his own working speakers with help from a commercial manufacturer, if they agree to take on a high school intern.

Learning outside the classroom

Cindy Bonagura's the teacher who created the course, and she's looking for businesses and mentors to team up with students to make it work.

Jim Werner – Jeff's dad – jumped at the chance to help his son come up with a class project. He has two other kids, both in college, who had a tough time pinning down a major, let alone a potential career.

"Most kids don't know what they want to do halfway through their college career," Werner said. "If they find out at Jeff's age, then they can know what scholastic hoops they have to jump through to get there."

Or Jeff can learn that the whole speaker business isn't his thing and move on to something else without the hassle of changing a major like his two older siblings.

Working with experts

The point is to give kids that exposure.

"It's about helping a kid find their spot in the world," Bonagura said.

Bonagura got into teaching with that goal in mind. For the past six years, she's taught a class called of elementary schoolers to give them real teaching experience.

It's one of the oldest styles of learning, to pair an expert with the inexperienced. But it's a style buried over the years by a push to make every student qualified for the University of California system.

Cal High and the school district as a whole have proved remarkably successful on the college-readiness front. Some 97 percent of Cal High grads this past spring were college-bound, according to the school. That's one of the reasons .

But what about being work-ready?

“We have very few rites of passage, if you will," said Steve Enoch, superintendent of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. "And I think one rite of passage is commencement. Students come up on one side of the stage, we hand them a diploma, and suddenly on the other side they’re to be adults. But have we really prepared them for that transition?"

Finding a passion

Classes like iQuest fit Enoch's goal of doing more than preparing students for advanced-level classes, but helping them find a passion or at least come closer by ruling one out.

Out-of-class experience is one of the best ways to do that, to give students an idea of how knowledge plays out in an actual workplace with higher stakes and actual results.

There's been a movement nationally to bring back that type of learning.

The three 'R' words

Rigor, relevance and relationships. Those are the buzzwords educators have been throwing around recently. Studies have shown that students immersed in all three are better prepared for life after high school and college.

"Research shows that successful high schools provide rigorous academic coursework, relevant learning opportunities, and meaningful relationships with instructors who are qualified to help students achieve high standards," according to an article from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Bonagura's class lives up to those criteria.

Enoch said he's eager to see how it pans out and what projects students choose.

“I believe that the senior year should look different than the freshman year," Enoch said. "I think that our seniors should have experiences outside the school ... and iQuest gives them that opportunity."

How to help

This school year's iQuest is a pilot class. Bonagura needs enough students and willing businesses and mentors to make it work.

San Ramon is full of people and companies that could help. Global corporations call it home. It's also home to some very successful individuals who could become mentors, depending on what students express an interest in studying.

Once student decides on a project, they blog about their experience throughout the school year. The class culminates with a final project, which they present to the school board.

Want to be a mentor? Or are you a parent or student who wants to learn more about the class? Email Bonagura for more info at cbonagu@calhigh.net.

To reach reporter Jennifer Wadsworth, email jenniferw@patch.com or call 925-238-5742. Follow @SanRamonPatch on Twitter and Facebook.