My name is Andi. I am an Assistant Principal at dauphin County Technical High School. I love that we help students find and develop their passions every day. I also love when we encourage our students to problem-solve, collaborate and reflect: when I see students working together to create a solution to a real problem—especially one that has relevance to their field.
As an example, our Building Construction team went to build a playground for a community that was hard-hit by a hurricane. They had a limited budget from fund-raising and other sources. Once there, they encountered several unanticipated situations that presented the team with several building challenges. With research, imagination, planning and deep knowledge of their field content, they were able to solve the problem with the constraints that they had– and make a community very happy in the process. They shared their story (with amazing images) with our Joint Operating Committee Board. The whole endeavor was student-driven: selecting the site (i.e., a community in need), raising the money, designing the project and overcoming the obstacles. I love that they did it all with their teacher to facilitate (and monitor) their vision.
Check out more about DCTS Building Construction Cares here: https://sites.google.com/a/dc-tech.org/building-construction-cares/