Elizabethton High School students participated in a national documentary about the XQ Institute’s Super School Project this week. This was the second visit by a film crew to document the progress of the student-led Bartleby Project. The documentary will highlight other XQ projects and be broadcast nationally.
In the fall of 2016, students were awarded $200,000 plus individual scholarships for their Bartleby School submission into the Super School Project. They were one of 13 national winners and now plan to add two new classes in the 2-17-18 school year at EHS: Bartleby Entrepreneurship and Bartleby Community Improvement. They also spearheaded the addition of a student liaison to the Board of Education.
The XQ Institute visited Elizabethton Monday and Tuesday to get input from students and community partners. The first board meeting of community partners was held on Tuesday afternoon and included Kayla Carter with Carter County Tourism, Chandrea Shell with Milligan College and the Youth Leadership Program, Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw and Director of Schools Dr. Corey Gardenhour. The students and teachers involved discussed the direction of the project and opportunities with partners.
“The classes are the tool, but it’s how you use that tool that determine the project’s success,” said senior Ty Lawson.
Dr. Gardenhour praised the students for their vision and said he believes the ideas of the Bartleby Project will have an impact on the whole school. He emphasized the importance of students seeing the impact of their work and said he hopes to increase student access to project-based learning initiatives.
In addition, the crew interviewed Jilian Reece, a member of the Community Advisory Board which created the community gardens, and Thomas Davis, a philanthropist and financial advisor with Edward Jones Investments. The two detailed how they hope they can be partners and mentors in these classes.
The classes will give students the opportunity to identify a community need or business opportunity and to address the need or start a business. The partners involved may either serve on boards that oversee the projects or as mentors to the students. Senior Cody Dugger said the potential is huge because members of the community are already so well-connected.
“As a town, we’ve already linked hands, we just need to move forward together,” Dugger said.