Applied Learning & Linkages

"'Oh no! Not only do I have to go to school, I'll have to work too?!' This was my reaction to the Galileo's newly required Career Exploration Experience. However, after Applied Learning and Linkages helped get an internship at the Embarcadero Pharmacy, I discovered that there were a lot of unfortunate people, some with minor illnesses and other with very serious diseases such as cancer or AIDS. I really longed to help them in some way, at least to relieve just a little bit of pain. In school, I got to learn about some of the same illnesses and how we get them and how science tries to fight them."

"Because of this experience, I have decided to become a doctor or a pharmacist. After interviewing my supervisors, I learned that it will not be easy to reach this goal. I will have to work as hard as I can to do well in college and medical school, but I'm sure I can succeed. Without the ALL Program, I would not have established my career goal and would not know that I could actually become a giving part of our society!"

-- Jennie, Senior at Galileo Academy and ALL program participant


What is ALL?

Applied Learning and Linkages is a pioneering effort to create the first high school in San Francisco where all students can learn in classrooms that integrate real world experience into academic learning. Working closely with teachers and administrators at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, ALL redirects classes according to the philosophy of School-to-Career reform. In ALL classes, the emphasis shifts from lectures and textbooks to interactive projects, and achievement is measured not in terms of rote memorization, but in terms of skills gained. Students find themselves working on problems they may one day confront on the job, and frequently, they find themselves working on these problems in an actual work place. With partners ranging from George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic Students to the California Pacific Medical Center, ALL gives students of a variety of strengths and interests the opportunity to learn in ways that suit them.

ALL is a means to re-engage students previously not concerned with school, but it is also a way to trigger the interests of those who have always been academic achievers. For both kinds of students, ALL is a challenge to think critically about their futures. Whether they are college-bound or headed straight into the workforce, students today cannot afford to be sheltered from the realities their futures may hold. At Galileo, ALL is helping tear down the walls of traditional education to prepare them for what lies ahead.

Student Projects
Mountain Lake
One of the only freshwater lakes in San Francisco, Mountain Lake has been heavily impacted by human activity. In 2000, ALL facilitated a partnership with the California Academy of Sciences to dispatch an environment science class from Galileo to Mountain Lake to study the population and habitat patterns of zooplankton species. For two semesters, Galileo students worked on this project. Now, their data is being used by scientists at the California Academy of Sciences in their lake restoration efforts under way this year.

Radio Technology
In a partnership with Western Public Radio, an English class at Galileo became a Radio Technology class where students embarked upon a highly personal journey to honor a recently deceased Galileo teacher with a radio piece about his life. With help from their professional mentor from Western Public Radio, students learned how to operate studio equipment, conduct interviews, write copy, and edit their story. In the end, they created a piece that eventually aired on National Public Radio.

Accomplishments

In the 2000-2001 school year, ALL received extremely positive feedback involved with the program at Galileo. Selected results from a survey of students and teachers are listed below:

• 85% of students reported that ALL had a positive effect on their level of engagement in classes.

• 77% of teachers reported that ALL had a positive effect on improving student engagement levels

• 97% of students reported that ALL had a positive effect on their understanding of their post-secondary college and career options

• 85% of teachers reported that ALL helped them plan and lead more interesting and effective classes

For more information on ALL contact:top 

Celine Jo, ALL Program Director
celine@cessf.org

Darin Ow-Wing, CES Executive Director
darin@cessf.org