Edutopia

The Super Subs event was covered by a reporter for the George Lucas Educational Foundation's EDUTOPIA magazine.  HERE'S THE ARTICLE...

How Did It Go?

The Super Sub day at La Puente High School was a huge success with the students and staff.  What a great team of people, dedicated to helping our students to feel motivated to learn.  Here are comments from some of the English Learners who participated:

"This day was incredible."

"The day was awesome.  This day will make history in my life and the lives of others. What I really liked was the experience that all the Super Subs have and all their energy."

"They told us to remember that if you want something, do it now."

"It was a good time I will never forget."

"The Super Subs day was one of the greatest days of my life."

"My inspiration was Bob."

"It was amazing.  I've never seen something like that."

"They inspire me to continue trying and not give up."

"The most important thing for me was that they said we can do all the things we want."

"It was a special day for the Multilingual Academy."

"They inspire me to meet my goals."

"The atmosphere was so awesome.  I will never forget that."

"They told us about dreams and ambitions and how to make them come true."

New Article

Planning

Super Sub Program Creator, Bob Barboza, thought it would be a good idea to have a journal of the planning that has gone into the Super Sub visit from the school's point of view.  Of course, PNN is the best place to do this!

Setting up the student groups is a key piece, especially since the majority of the students are English Learners.  For our Super Sub Day, we are combining our Multilingual Academy students with our Folklorico dance class students. To be sure that all students get the best possible experience, our academy student mentors (mainstreamed English Learners) will be a support system for our Beginners and attend most of the Super Sub classes with them.  The groups are organized so that there are no more than 25 students in each, and the English Learners will also have staff members available for translation as needed.

A group of students will be joining some of the Personal News Network staff as a student media team.  This team will consist of three of the MLA Mentors joined by six students who are being groomed for the new LPHS Multimedia Academy that will be launched in the fall of 2008.  They will be joined by our school's journalism teacher/newspaper advisor who will be the lead teacher for this new academy next year.  This team will be reporting on, and photographing, the events of the day. 

(NOTE: When our students register for school, their parents complete a form which includes an item regarding giving permission for pictures of their students to be made available to the media; these clearances are checked in advance of the event to make sure that everyone has permission.)

The Super Subs aren't taking over the entire 1600+ student body, so to simplify things, the participating students will be going to lunch with the rest of the school while the Super Subs, their teachers, and the student media team gather in the lead teacher's room for lunch and some one-on-one interview time.  Lunch is being provided by a local deli, thanks to our very supportive principal.  Since the school lunch period is fairly short, this enables everyone to gather together rather than try to find something to eat off campus and get back on time.

Prior to the event, the students who are participating must take a release form to their teachers for signatures to allow them to miss their non-academy classes.  Each student will receive a schedule to follow for the day so that they know exactly where they should be at what time.  Teachers who are supervising each area will have a roll sheet for the group that will be attending each period.  The Super Subs will also receive a schedule showing them to whom they will be speaking.  This will be helpful for the presenters who are just meeting the students for the first time.  It will also enable them to tailor their presentation to the language acquisition levels of the students, and it will keep them informed of times and locations throughout the event.  The lead teacher will have a copy of all of the schedules to keep track of who is where and doing what.  Bob, the Super Subs and the lead teacher will stay in contact as needed via cell phone throughout the day.

Since this event involves about 130 of the school's 1600+ students, badges will be given to the students to identify them as they travel around the campus to the different venues.  The school's security staff and assistant principal of student services will receive information in advance with a sample of the badge (copy of design shown above on this page) to watch for during the day's events.  Since our campus is 40 acres, that will help them with their job.  The badges will also add to the importance of the event, making it more like an adult conference.  Lanyards are attached so that the students will be able to wear the badges comfortably throughout the day and keep them as a souvenir. 

Click here for a good place to get these at a reasonable price.

Bob Barboza and the academy lead teacher met in advance to go through the available rooms and decide which Super Subs would be assigned to each room.  We were able to reserve the multi-purpose room, where the event will start with introductions.  We are also using the Little Theater for the drum class and the whole group performance.  Our Library Media Center will be the location of the PNN class, and two classrooms, one with an adjoining lab room, will be used for the rest of the activities.

Another important planning item is to have a Plan B in place in the event of a Super Sub not being able to attend or having to come late.  Since two of the venues, the multi-purpose room and the Little Theater, have lots of space, student groups can be doubled up in those areas as needed.  Also, thinking ahead, Bob has more than one Super Sub in a room in most cases, so one can take over for the other as needed.

The event will begin with awards in the multi-purpose room.  The custodial staff will set up chairs and the speaker system for this activity.  Every six weeks, students in the Multilingual Academy are given certificates if they improve their grade point average or if they have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.  After the awarding of the certificates, the Super Subs will be introduced by Bob Barboza.  Cinnamon rolls and juice will be served before the break, thanks to the cafeteria manager.  Then everyone will follow their schedule to their first Super Sub class.

E-mail has been a great help in the process of planning as many little details were addressed seamlessly.  A few phone calls in between e-mails, and we appear to be ready to rock and roll!

Super Subs @ LPHS

A special day is approaching soon for the Multilingual Academy students and the Folklorico Dancers.  On Thursday, May 8th, the Super Subs are coming to La Puente High School! 

WHO ARE THE SUPER SUBS?

Click on the link above to learn more about this amazing group of musicians, writers, storytellers, dancers, journalists, software engineers and more who become powerful substitute teachers for the day - bringing new energy and a new way of thinking about teaching and learning.  Lucky us!