Can you imagine one person teaching five sections of Success 101 to a total of 110 freshmen in addition to also teaching French 1 and 2 classes? Well, Brenda Carr of Hatch Valley High School in Hatch, New Mexico, is doing just that and, most importantly, she is doing it successfully!
With the enthusiastic support of her principal, Tomas Lucero, and her own personal philosophy that “every single person is different,” Ms. Carr has Career Choices deeply infused throughout the Hatch Valley Bears’ curriculum. Possibilities is used in the English classes and Lifestyle Math plays a significant role in the math classes.
Holding a Master’s Degree in Curriculum, Ms. Carr says that Career Choices establishes a solid foundation while reinforcing and transitioning seamlessly to New Mexico’s Next Step Plan requirements.
Chapter 10 of Career Choices (“Attitude is Everything”) is Carr’s absolute favorite! She speaks passionately about the changes she sees in her students when they complete this chapter. As part of the in-class discussion, students talk about coming to realize that their own attitudes might need adjusting in order to clear the way for their own personal success. Ms. Carr observed that soon after being exposed to the ideas in Chapter 10, many students begin taking positive steps to make those needed attitudinal changes in their own lives.
Ms. Carr also credits the curriculum support team at Academic Innovations for greatly reducing initial anxieties. By following every step of the Instructor’s Guide, any first-time user’s fears are quickly dissipated and are replaced with a confidence in, and a comfortable familiarity with, the program. “It is such a dynamic program that students early on begin to internalize the long-term benefits of applying themselves academically,” says Carr.