The transition from Northwoods Community Elementary School (NCES) to Northwoods Community Secondary School (NCSS) was exciting for me because I was a student at NCES for six years. I knew some people from NCES who were coming to NCSS. I worried about how the school would fit my learning style. At NCES you can’t really go your own pace, but it is a good school and the teachers are really nice.

At NCES we did fun fundraisers like the Fun Run so we could raise money for school trips. The money went toward field trips like Bay Beach or Ski Brule. I think the Fun Run was the best fundraiser out of all fundraisers that we did because almost everyone had a great time. Also, we raised a lot of money doing that fundraiser. One thing I really loved about NCES is that the school owns a chunk of woods and we used nature for learning. For example, we studied animals, trees, and various parts of nature.  I really had a fun time at that school.

At NCSS I was worried a little at first because I wasn’t sure if the learning style would work for me.  By learning style, I mean someone who is an independent, self-directed learner who is able to take responsibility for their learning.  But my brother is a year older than me and he chose NCSS. When he was at NCES he didn’t really like school like I did. However, once he came here, he loved school. So I was also really interested in enrolling at NCSS.

At NCSS you learn at your own pace, choose topics for projects that you want to do, and you use hands-on technology. We use something called Project Foundry. That is how you get credit. But to get credit, you have to log time. You can log time for projects, math, SSR, etc.

Every hour equals .01 credit. Another thing that is different at NCSS, is scope and sequence. Scope and Sequence is the menu of items we pick from to meet the state standards. To get them, you have to look up the state standards and see what fits in with your project. To be on track at this school you should have at least 17 or 18 scope and sequence and 1.5 credit per quarter. The first quarter at NCSS went really well for me although I was worried if this learning style would work for me, but it did. I got 17 scope and sequence and 2.26 credits for my first quarter being at this school.  I am excited to see what I can do next quarter at NCSS.